Award-winning documentarist and GMA news reporter Mav Gonzales and Fil-Am actor Matthew Valeña have sealed their love in marriage with a quiet ceremony last September in the US.
Mav and Matthew initially met on the dating app Bumble. So, while it may feel like finding “The One” on a dating app is rare, Mav and Matthew are proof that it really happens, and I am pretty sure they weren’t the only ones who did.
I was initially clueless about how a dating app works, but it was not until Mav explained how a digital dating site can help someone find a match or a partner.
“There are many dating apps, and that’s where we met, on Bumble. When you swipe right on someone, and they swipe right back, it’s a match. On Bumble, the lady must send the first message or leave a prompt, and only then can the guy respond. That’s what happened with us,” said Mav when she and Matthew sat down for “The Talk” segment of “Fast Talk with Boy Abunda,” their first-ever guest appearance as husband and wife.
The matching pair can officially be in a relationship even if they have never met in person. In Mav’s case, she needed to be sure that her match was a real person. So, she asked for Matthew’s social media accounts for a reality check on his identity.
While anyone might think they made a hasty decision, Mav and Matthew said they already knew from the start that they were meant for each other.
According to Matthew, their fast-paced romantic journey was guided by honest, intentional conversations about their plans and values.
“Maraming conversations because we wanted to know like, ‘What are your plans?’ And then they just lined up, so it was very easy to, like, instead of trying to find someone that fits all 10 checkboxes of something, try to find somebody who has nothing wrong with them. I couldn’t find anything wrong with her.”
Mav described Matthew as very intentional. “When we were dating, parang start pa lang sinasabi na n’ya ito ‘yung plans n’ya, ito ‘yung ayaw n’ya, which was nice for me because we agreed on a lot of things about life.
“And I think we’re also close in age, pareho kami na pa-settle down na, and we have this mentality that we’re not dating to play around, we want to meet the person we will spend the rest of our lives with.”
The now husband and wife were matched in March, met face-to-face in April, got engaged in June and tied the knot in September in Seattle, USA. It all happened in just a few months, which many of Mav’s friends found surreal.
“I think more than the two of us, mas maraming apprehensions ‘yung mga tao sa paligid namin,” Mav amusingly shared. “I introduced him through video call to them (her colleagues), sila Ate Kara (David), and to the reporters, and the next thing they knew, we were engaged. So, when they saw me, they were surprised and asked me if I was sure (of her decision to marry Matthew).
“There was even one who offered to do a background check on him dahil may kakilala daw s’ya sa FBI. Sabi ko, there’s no need,” she laughingly recalled.
Matthew revealed that he will be staying in the Philippines, leaving behind his acting career in the US. His last acting stint was in the 2023 American action thriller “Plane,” topbilled by Gerard Butler, but according to Matthew, the film was banned in the country. Matthew also starred in the 2013 Filipino drama film “Shift” alongside Yeng Constantino.
“He moved here for me,” said Mav. “Before and after our wedding in the United States, LDR (long-distance relationship) kami. And after the wedding, I was crying all the time kasi parang kakakasal ko lang, tapos wala siya.”
Now that Matthew is in the Philippines, he is open to making more films. And he knows that he must first polish his Tagalog.
The couple also announced that they are expecting their first child. For Matthew and Mav, I wish you a lifetime of wedded bliss.