Kylie Verzosa, Harry Hartman are untied and boundless

Different bodies, different souls. Beauty queen Kylie Verzosa and fashion guru Victor “Harry” Hartman are two distinct individuals who’ve been excelling in their respective fields. But despite being polar opposites of each other, they’ve somehow developed the same understanding of how things work. Their shared belief in the importance of equality in our society makes them an ideal combo in building quality relationships. With constant forces that continue to tear down their hard work, Kylie and Harry show that boundaries are nothing more than stepping stones.

Village Pipol Magazine February 2020 issue Digital Cover

For them, each person is connected regardless of their differences. They believe that people can and must be supportive of one another instead of setting gaps. Through their four-year friendship, Kylie and Harry prove that gender doesn’t limit anyone from fostering any serious and long-lasting relationships outside the parameter of romantic connections.

Village Pipol Magazine February 2020 issue Print Cover

Two Worlds Meet

Kylie and Harry have known each other for seven years. When Kylie was still modeling back in 2016, her and Harry’s worlds drew closer. When Kylie joined Binibining Pilipinas in which she was crowned as Binibining Pilipinas-International, Harry was in charge of her dresses as General Manager for Francis Libiran, one of the Philippines’ premier fashion designers.

“Kylie was very dedicated to get a crown for Binibini in 2016, and right after the design process when she would come over for fittings, she ended up practicing there. She would just do the runway walk with the gown,” Harry reminisced.

Kylie felt at home seeing Harry for the first time. Her best friend would always be the first to support her, especially in pageantry – not to mention that he was at the back stage throughout the Question and Answer portion of the 2016 Miss International competition.

“Once they gave me the question, I answered it and I’m looking for confirmation I did well, and then I see Harry jumping talaga, na parang, so okay. Okay yung sagot ko. I answered well,” she says.

Aside from being her best friend, Kylie sees Harry as “the hottest thing in Manila right now.” However, many people don’t know that the hot, young man has contributed a lot to Francis Libiran. The beauty queen-turned-actress says that Harry doesn’t take so much credit for the things he’s done and achieved.

“Parang I think now, it’s time for him to get noticed as an individual, as Harry and for all the work he’s been doing.”

Behind The Crown

It’s been three years since Kylie was crowned but only a little is known about “Kylie the Actress”. Aside from being the beauty queen, she emphasized that acting is another side of her.

“Well right now, I’m getting into acting. I’m focusing on furthering my craft as an actress,” she said. “I really want to be good at it and hopefully work internationally,” she adds.

Trench Coat from Bershka; Inner Bra and Skirt from ZARA

Kylie’s quiet into business, too. But another thing behind Kylie’s crown story is her mental health advocacy. Although she has so much going on in her schedule, she’s had support from people who get to do her job. She assures that she keeps tabs and approves everything.

“I guess right now, my direction is putting my advocacies out there. It’ll be an achievement in itself kasi it’s saying that I have helped overcome the taboos of depression and mental health,” she says.

Her advocacy was also a great part in passing the Mental Health Bill. For this, another goal Kylie has for 2020 is education about mental health.

Behind the crown, the camera, and the advocacy, there’s “just a normal Kylie Verzosa” that only a few know. The beauty queen loves to enjoy her normal life by hanging out with friends (mostly Harry), reading books, going to the gym, or feasting in a restaurant. She even takes care of her two dogs, and of course spending time with her other half, actor Jake Cuenca.

Victorious in Life

One of the names behind the famous Francis Libiran brand is the general manager and marketing director, Victor Harry. This incredible person has spent eight years in this company. But like anyone who enjoys their job, Harry admitted that he’s kept being tested.

Black net tank and latex pants, Kaye Morales

“There was a point in my life when I had to, of course, call Kylie like ‘Babe, I feel like medyo stagnant, like I’m busy – busy is good but I want more challenges,” he recalls. “I want more adventure because looking at it para kasing life required me to be matured at a very early age. So right now, parang the child in me wants to come out and wants to explore other things that I know I can do,” he adds.

The general manager inspires his followers at the beginning of the year with his tweet, “follow your passion, but don’t leave your profession.” He explained that his tweet means he’ll never leave Francis Libiran but will venture into something that he knows will ignite the fire inside him.

Being in this journey of life, Harry expects so much high and lows. For him, the milestone of his personal life was after he met his father three years ago. He admitted that he thought it would be just a casual meet-up, but it turned out to be much more. With a now beautiful father-son relationship, he’s already using his father’s surname “Hartman”.

On the other side of his work life, being considered at the top of Francis Libiran’s company during their 20th anniversary is a great milestone. Although he wasn’t there for all of the twenty years, the general manager has spent so many years seeing the growth of the brand.

Indeed, the life of Harry Hartman is nothing but victorious.

Best Friends For Life

Asked what makes their friendship special, Harry says it’s being low-maintenance. The longest time they haven’t seen each other was six months. Nevertheless, nothing on earth could destroy what they have, not even their absences due to personal works.

As a trivia, Kylie and Victor were almost born on the same date; Kylie’s birthday February 7th, while Victor’s on the 8th. “The thing is, Harry and I are like the same person. We’re the same person in two different bodies,” Kylie claims.

Kylie’s Dress from Realisation Par; Harry’s Leopard Print Loungewear from ORIAS Essentials by ORIAS Studios

Harry loves Kylie’s tenacity because when she wants something, she knows she can get it. He revealed that Kylie has a journal where all her aspirations in life are written. He says he was mind blown the first time he accidentally read it because he was at the lowest point of his life. Kylie introduced him to write down his thoughts and it actually helped him a lot.

In fact, they already treat each other as siblings. Harry thinks of Kylie as both an older sister and a younger sibling. But most of the time, it’s Kylie who’s guiding him over the things he isn’t sure about like dating.

“Sometimes when you’re in a situation parang you’re so blinded by everything. And it’s always nice to have someone there who gives you a clear and honest perspective,” Kylie explains how important Harry is to her.

Like a typical friend, going out together is a key factor in maintaining their friendship. “We know each other like we can’t lie to ourselves. Because we are the same person,” Kylie adds.

There are many things Harry learned from Kylie throughout the years. Believing that you can be unstoppable (you have to be unstoppable when you want something that’s good for you) is one of them. Kylie never fails to mention how grateful she is for having Harry in her life, especially now that she’s in show business. According to her, Harry grounds her and makes her centered.

YES to SOGIE

Without any doubt, both have admitted that they support the SOGIE bill – that it should take place in our government because it’s important for Filipinos to be educated about equality. “We can be anything and anyone we want to be,” Harry says. He also pointed out that those who go about equality more are sometimes the same people who like to insult others.

In fact, Kylie mentioned that a lot of LGBTQ members really run the industry today. “They are super creative and you know, art is always a collaboration of minds. It’s a perfect mix of everyone’s idea in a positive manner so the positive reinforcement of everyone’s energy is important.”

De-stereotyping

Although being crowned Miss International in 2016, Kylie revealed she hates being stereotyped as a beauty queen who has to be always prim and proper.. “I’m not Kylie the Beauty Queen. I’m also Kylie the Person. I can be whoever I wanna be whether I can express myself through different types of fashion or my sense of speech,” she explains.

Over the past years, Kylie’s been trying to break out of her shell but people always find a way to criticize her. “Maybe that’s just something you chose to see or ‘yon lang ‘yong tumatak sa isip ninyo. Honestly, if you are fat-shaming anyone or criticizing anyone because of their weight, get a life or mind your own.”

She worked hard to achieve her body, so for her, showing her curves in a sexy bikini isn’t wrong. “I’m at a beach or on vacation. It’s not like I’m just wearing a bikini just to shoot, diba? I’m on vacation and I’m rarely on vacation so let me be.”

Just like Kylie, Harry points out how he hates some of the stereotypes when it comes to gender. The first thing that popped into his head was dressing men up. However, Harry is too independent that he doesn’t care anymore whatever people say about the way he dresses. “There is a certain stereotype na you should be dressing like this, but if they see me wearing this in public, they would call me out or they would laugh at me, but who the hell cares?” he stresses.

Being best friends for several years – and counting, these adorable, yet hot personalities continue to build on their friendship, making it unbreakable and fruitful. Although their bodies and souls differ from each other, they become one. They value the importance and uniqueness of everyone. They foster good connections regardless of gender.