Venus Raj opened up about her romance with her husband, North Orillan, sharing how they moved quickly from being acquaintances to being a married couple.
In her Major Major podcast, the former beauty queen revealed that they started out as acquaintances in their church in 2018.
“When I became a Christian, I really served in the ministry, and one of the ministries that I served into was the youth,” she began.
“So pumupunta kami sa iba-ibang satellites ng church, and North is from the south, from Mindanao, and there’s a satellite there na where he goes to church and serves,” she continued.
She added that North was in a relationship then, while she just devoted her life to serving the Lord. Things remained the same for them until they reconnected in October 2022, when she was tapped to host the wedding of North’s brother.
Since North was the groom’s best man, one of his duties was to assist her. It gave them a chance to know more about each other.
“I think it was during that time when we started having deeper conversations. Hanggang after the wedding, nag-continue ‘yung communication na ‘yon,” she recalled.
After being single for eight years, Venus finally found love in North in December of the same year. They got engaged seven months later.
Looking back, Venus admitted that their romance progressed fast. “Kung titingnan natin, mabilis ‘yung timeline natin,” she said.
The newlyweds opened up about their goals and plans for next year, including having their own child.
“There are a lot of goals naman. But for me, for us as a family, I want to start and have a baby,” North said. “We’ve been praying about this even until now, so that’s definitely something I look forward to.”
Venus, meanwhile, opened up about what surprised her as a newlywed, to which she answered, “It’s not as scary as people say it is, or scary as I thought it would be.”
“It’s not scary in the sense na matatakot kang pumasok sa married life dahil nakakatakot ‘yung papasukin mo. For me, it’s surprising kasi by God’s grace, our relationship, it’s light, beautiful, [and] open,” she explained. “We’re enjoying it.”
When asked for advice to their fellow newlyweds, Venus said that it’s important for couples to continue how they were before marriage, and to move at their own pace.
“Marriage is a beautiful thing,” she began. She then pointed out how people mention the “change of perspective” in married life.
“When we started, we would always hear people say na ‘Masaya pa ‘yan kasi bago pa lang kayo.’ Why not continue that habang tumatagal ‘yung relationship?” she said.
Venus emphasized that couples should not allow others to “dictate” their relationship.
“I’m not an expert, we’re not an expert here, but for newly married couples out there, I would say not to allow people to dictate where your relationship would go, or not to allow people to be the one to define the kind of dynamics that you will have as a couple, because it’s the both of you that will work in the relationship,” she emphasized.
She added, “So if hahayaan natin na ang sinasabi ng ibang tao ang magdidikta sa relationship natin, hindi siya maganda.”
Venus married North in Pasig last Dec. 12.
She represented the Philippines and finished as 4th runner-up in the Miss Universe 2010. She now works as a community worker and youth advocate.
