Actress Kylie Padilla has candidly expressed her lingering heartbreak and regret over her early exit from GMA Network’s hit fantasy series ‘Encantadia’ in 2017, saying it still hurts to see her character, Amihan, missing in the latest installment ‘Encantadia Chronicles: Sang’gre’.
In an interview with ’24 Oras’ aired on June 19, Kylie admitted that seeing her original co-stars—Glaiza de Castro, Gabbi Garcia, and Sanya Lopez—reunite onscreen without Amihan brings her both joy and sadness.
“Bittersweet, because I knew about my role in the whole series. Amihan had such a beautiful storyline, especially when it comes to the birth of the new Sang’gres,” Kylie said.
“But then, also sad, because… patay pa rin si Amihan. She’s still an Ivtre [spirit]. So sad ako every time I watch it and I see my three sisters nang wala si Amihan. I’m heartbroken every time I watch it.”
Kylie, who was at the height of her rising career when she played the iconic role in the 2016 reboot of the fantasy drama, left the show after unexpectedly becoming pregnant with her then-boyfriend and now estranged husband, actor Aljur Abrenica.
“Sobrang pinaghirapan ko para lang magustuhan ‘yung Amihan ko, ‘yung version ni Amihan. And then, at the height, I got pregnant. It was unexpected. And I really didn’t know how else to handle it,” she recalled.
Kylie acknowledged that her pregnancy caught the show’s creatives and writers off guard, requiring them to make sudden changes to the storyline.
“Sobrang malaking ano—not just regret, it’s a huge—feeling ko kaya ko pang bumawi. Sana. ‘Yun ‘yung expectation ko dito. Dream kong mapanood kami ulit na kumpleto kami nang hindi patay si Amihan. Pambawi lang sa mga kapatid ko,” she added.
“It’s really painful to see them not complete just because of me.”
Despite the closeness among the original four Sang’gres—Amihan, Pirena (Glaiza), Alena (Gabbi), and Danaya (Sanya)—Kylie shared that they never really talked about her sudden exit.
“Siyempre kinongratulate. ‘Congratulations. Happy for you,’ ganiyan. Pero never namin napag-usapan ‘yung how they felt after I left. Never. Siyempre ako din may fear ako na baka may disappointment,” she said.
Kylie also previously shared in a separate interview with BB Gandanghari that her departure from Encantadia was one of her biggest career frustrations.
“I was scared because I was shooting a very beautiful show… I became one of the most favorites. And then I got pregnant. So I said, ‘Sayang naman ‘yung pinaghirapan ko.’ It is a frustration, I was on top of my career, and there were endorsements coming in,” she said.
‘Encantadia Chronicles: Sang’gre’, which premiered on June 17, introduces a new generation of Sang’gres—Terra (Bianca Umali), Flammara (Faith Da Silva), Adamus (Kelvin Miranda), and Deia (Angel Guardian). While Kylie’s Amihan appears briefly in flashbacks and as a spirit, the show’s narrative continues without her in the physical realm.
Kylie is set to return to television in the upcoming GMA Afternoon Prime series ‘My Father’s Wife’, where she stars alongside Jak Roberto, Gabby Concepcion, and Kazel Kinouchi.
