Miss Universe 1999 1st Runner Up, Mirriam Quiambao opens up about verbal abuse during marriage

MANILA – Television host-actress Miriam Quiambao has finally broken her silence on her failed marriage to Italian Claudio Rondinelli.

Quiambao told “The Buzz” host Boy Abunda in an interview Sunday that her marriage had fallen apart because of her husband's affair with a younger woman.

The “Patient X” star confessed that her husband admitted about his infidelity over the phone. She was in the country then for a guesting in a reality-based television show here.

She recalled: “We were already having problems then. And I wanted to follow to Italy to spend Easter with him, but he wouldn’t let me. And I was wondering why. I came here and guested."

“I was here. He called me and he said he wanted a divorce. And I was wondering why. I said, ‘Is there a third party?’ He said, ‘Yes.’ Sabi ko,(i said) ‘Let’s talk when I get back in Hong Kong.’ And ‘yon na inamin na niya.(he admit)”

In 2004, Rondinelli and Quiambao got married in Boracay before moving to Hong Kong. Quiambao had relocated at the height of her career in the local entertainment industry. They separated two years later.

Many people speculated that Rondinelli had physically abused her. On Sunday, Quiambao for the first time denied the speculation.

She, however, admitted that she had suffered emotional and verbal abuse during their two-year relationship.

“Hindi naman po ako binugbog (i was not abuse physically) pero(but) I experienced verbal and emotional abuse… and then toward the last three months of our relationship, that’s when he also fell in love with a much younger girl, a different nationality. And that what caused our separation,” she said.

After their separation in 2006, she returned to the country and resumed her hosting and acting jobs here.

Divorce proceedings

It took her three years to publicly discuss her marriage because Quiambao was prohibited by law to talk about it while the divorce proceedings in Hong Kong were ongoing.

On Sunday, she revealed that the proceedings are now in the “last stages.” The result of the hearings might come out either this week or by the end of the month, she said.

The former beauty queen is set to seek an annulment in the Philippines once the Hong Kong case is over.

She broke down in tears as she admitted that it was liberating and a big relief for her to finally talk about it in public.

“Ayoko sanang umiyak pero siguro(i dont want to cry but maybe) it’s such a freeing experience to finally talk about it,” she said.

Life after Rondinelli

If she stayed longer in the relationship, Quiambao knew that her “spirit was going to die.”

In spite of what happened, she still cares for him and wants him to be happy, she admitted. She also doesn’t harbor any ill feeling toward him.

After the divorce, she said it’s her goal to remain friends with the Italian businessman, who spent his birthday “soul searching” in Bali, Indonesia.

Likening her experience at the 1999 Miss Universe pageant where she slipped and fell on stage, she said she knows that she can rise again after the divorce has been finalized.

“I feel that what I need to do is to stand up and move forward and trust that God is there behind me. Mas marami pa akong magagawa ng malayo sa kanya,(i can do more if im far from him)” she said.

She is also optimistic that true love will find her again. If that time comes, she vowed that she will be more careful.

“And if ever that happens again, sana naman po siya na ang tipong binigay sa akin ni Lord para hindi ko na siya pagsisihan in the(i wish he is now the one which god given to me so that i will never be regret again) end. I have to trust Him,” she added.