Kathryn Chandria Manuel Bernardo (1996-03-26)March 26, 1996 (aged 15–27[a]) Cabanatuan, Nueva Ecija, Philippines Daniel John Elago Ford (1995-04-26)April 26, 1995 (aged 16–28[a]) Manila, Philippines
Status
Dissolved (confirmed on November 30, 2023, Bonifacio Day)
KathNiel was a love team[c] consisting of Filipino actors Kathryn Bernardo and Daniel Padilla. Together, they often appeared in several film and television series together as fictional couples. Their romantic relationship in real life was also the subject of public interest.
History
2011–2017: Early years
Kathryn Bernardo and Daniel Padilla first appeared together in the 2011 television series Growing Up. Bernardo played the role of high school student Ella, while Padilla played her classmate Patrick.[2][3][4]
Bernardo and Padilla's romantic relationship was rumored to have begun on May 25, 2012.[2] However, the pair never explicitly announced a relationship until much later. They would appear in their first primetime series Princess and I, where they played main leads.[5]
In mid-2016, Bernardo and Padilla would say that they are "exclusively dating" each other but refused to publicly give any other label to their relationship.[6] The couple would later share their first on-screen kiss in the film Barcelona: A Love Untold.[7][2]
2018-2019: Confirmation and hiatus
In August 2018, at the media launch of their film The Hows of Us, the couple officially confirmed it hey have been in a romantic relationship.[8]
Though in the same year, Bernardo said they wanted to do separate projects to advance their own careers independently but not where they would have a different on-screen partner than each other, taking into consideration the sentiment of KathNiel fans.[9] They would mutually decide not take the same projects in both film and television for the following year.[10]
KathNiel's return was planned to happen in 2020, with both actors signing a new three-year contract with ABS-CBN.[14] This plan was disrupted by the COVID-19 pandemic and the revocation of ABS-CBN's franchise.[2] The pandemic also caused the shelving of the supposed KathNiel film After Forever, which was supposed to be set in the United States.[15]
The pair would reunite in the streaming series The House Arrest of Us which was first released in October 2020.[16]
KathNiel posted their first joint vlog in Bernardo's YouTube channel for a Valentine's day video in 2021.[2]
Their last television project together would be the 2022 series 2 Good 2 Be True.[17][18] They were supposed to return in a film announced in December 2022 to be directed by Cathy Garcia-Sampana.[19]
Dissolution
In early November 2023, talent manager Ogie Diaz claimed on his YouTube channel that an unnamed source told him that Bernardo and Padilla have already broken up.[20] The rumors were received negatively by KathNiel fans, who branded Diaz as a "fake news peddler."[21]
Apparently dispelling the rumors, the two appeared together at an Omega event on November 14 where they danced together.[22]
However, during Bonifacio Day on November 30, Bernardo confirmed the end of her relationship with Padilla through her social media account, mentioning that they parted ways amicably.[23]
Terms associated with the love team were searched heavily according to Google Trends in the Philippines following the confirmation.[24] News of the breakup were also reported in Malaysian[25] and Singaporean news outlets.[26][27]
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