Xian Lim Talks About Breakup W/ Kim Chiu And Admits New Relationship With Iris Lee
Xian Lim was ready to talk and he did. In the cover feature of Esquire PH, Xian briefly discussed his break up with Kim Chiu and his new relationship with Iris Lee, a senior associate producer from Viva. Read the excerpt below.
Lim and Chiu officially broke up in October 2023, although they announced their conscious uncoupling (to borrow Gwyneth Patrow’s verbiage) two months later in December after a dozen years together. Both posted touching tributes to each other on their respective Instagram pages, and while they were unequivocal in their statements that they had, indeed, broken up, both declined to mention the exact reason for the separation.
But it seems that, no matter how much one tries to drown out the noise that distracts from the most essential things in life, sometimes it gets too loud that you eventually have to uncover your ears and see about tuning it out yourself.
When I ask Lim if he’s finally ready to talk about the break-up four months after the fact, the answer is steady and definite.
“Yes, I am ready to talk about it,” he says. “It’s just all over the place and I think, ang dami nang dagdag, ang dami nang bawas. Naglabas naman kami ng statement to clarify things. Of course, we have so much respect for our supporters. And yung na-build namin over the course of 12 years.
“But things in life happen,” he adds. “The unexpected happens and we broke up. It just pains me na maraming hearsay, maraming dagdag-bawas sa kwento.”
I ask him to settle the issue once and for all about the reason for the break-up, but, like Chiu, he chooses to keep that information private.
“No one will truly know what is going on in a relationship,” he says. “Kaming dalawa lang makakapagsabi. And that is why it was our conscious effort to release that statement, and let’s just leave it at that. It was a mutual understanding between me and (her) and that we’re going our separate ways. Hindi na kailangan pang magsabi kung sino’ng nagkulang.
“Because it was a beautiful relationship, it was a beautiful 12 years,” he adds. “And we worked it out. That’s why it lasted that long.”
Lim also takes this opportunity to clear the air about his current relationship, something that has been speculated about ever since the announcement of the split. It specifically concerns Iris Lee, a Filipino-Chinese senior associate producer who works at Viva.
“Yes, I’m seeing Iris,” Lim says. “Just to clear everything, to clear all the speculations. We are seeing each other and we are very happy.
Lim was quick to note that he and Lee started dating only after he broke up with Chiu.
“Una sa lahat, Iris is a talented filmmaker,” he says. “She’s my producer and she’s also my creative partner.”
Lim then starts to address the rumors that have swirled around him since December last year.
“These are the things that I want to clarify,” he says. “Number one: that there was a third party (involved in the break-up with Chiu). There’s no third party. That’s it. That plain and simple. “Another rumor: when I see my friends—the people who are the last to even care about these things—kino-congratulate na ko. They say, ‘Congratulations on the marriage in New York!’ And I’m like, no, I am not married. “And there’s also this one absurd article, or a thing said about me, that I have been living with someone for years na daw,” he says rolling his eyes. “The only people I live with is my mom, my lola, my lolo. These are the things na, parang, it’s just so absurd and it’s just…why?! “Things happen in life that we’re not going to be able to control. And as much as we don’t want it to happen, life happens. And it just pains me na parang may mga taong nadamay. That just really saddens me and that’s very unfortunate.
“Ang busy-busy ni Iris, ang busy-busy ko. She has a lot on her plate, and I have a lot on my plate. And, you know, she doesn’t deserve all that flak. We don’t deserve that because all the things na people are saying, there’s no truth to any of it.” (SOURCE/FULL ARTICLE AT ESQUIRE PH)
