Will JakBie soon join the list of longtime celebrity couples who separated this year?
Ava Mendez_JakBie

JakBie is the portmanteau for real-life couple and Kapuso stars Jak Roberto and Barbie Forteza. They have been in a relationship for six years already.

While Barbie is also part of the BarDa onscreen loveteam with David Licauco, her pairing with Jak remains strongly supported by fans. They are also among the most popular celebrity couples in their home network, GMA.

Inquirer X પર: "'MY LIFE' ❤️ LOOK: Jak Roberto delights "JakBie" fans as he  shares snaps with his girlfriend and fellow actor Barbie Forteza at the  beach. | 📸: Roberto/Instagram https://t.co/utQkHRQo6g" /

‘Touchy when drunk’

In recent weeks, however, JakBie gained buzz anew after a TikTok clip of Vivamax actress Ava Mendez circulated online. The latter claimed that Jak was being “touchy” to her when drunk.

Ava in a sit-down interview with Madam LQ said that she and the actor were invited by a common friend to attend a birthday celebration.

She claimed that Jak had too many drinks and became “touchy” with her and other girls at the event, adding that the Kapuso actor also became a bit “aggressive.”

Ava then narrated that she becomes annoyed when someone touches her while she’s inebriated.

She, however, clarified that nothing happened between them and added that Jak is not her type. Ava also said that she does not want to get involved with someone who is in a relationship.

Barbie Forteza and Jak Roberto exchange cute, sweet messages on their  monthsary | GMA Entertainment

Reports of the clip made rounds online and reached showbiz blog Fashion Pulis.

This prompted some social media users to wonder if the JakBie tandem would be the next one to split this year, following the other controversial breakups of showbiz couples like KathNiel and KimXi.

“Habol ba kayo, Barbara???” a user on the X (formerly Twitter) platform commented, referring to Barbie’s real name.

“May hahabol pa sa 2023 ohh,” another Pinoy commented with a closed-eyes emoji.

“Hahahhahahahahhaha hahabol pa ang JakBie, pota hahahhahahaha,” commented another user.

2023 was a year of breakups, with Google Philippines saying that keywords related to stories of love and breakups were the most searched on the search engine this year.

Among the most famous showbiz breakups were the KathNiel and the KimXi tandem.

KathNiel refers to Kathryn Bernardo and Daniel Padilla, whose relationship lasted for 11 years.

KimXi, meanwhile, refers to Fil-Chi couple Kim Chiu and Xian Lim, who ended their nearly 12-year romance.

Separation rumors have also been hounding married couple Sarah Lahbati and Richard Gutierrez, although they have yet to confirm these speculations.