Kristel Fulgar on How She Ended Up Living a Real-Life K-Drama

A little girl enters show business to pursue her dreams of becoming a singer, eventually discovering that she excels in acting, too! She grows up to realize that fame is temporary, and permanence lies in the things you do for yourself—from studying and traveling to learning a new language and meeting people. It is the journey, fueled by important realizations, that brought her to walk hand-in-hand with destiny and marry her one true love. Sounds like a K-drama plot? Well, it’s Kristel Fulgar’s real life story.

Stepping into the limelight at only eight years old, Kristel has been in the public eye for more than 20 years now. Her first chance at stardom was Munting Miss U, where her charm and her talent for singing brought her to the grand finals. She also explored acting as part of the series Bituin with the late Nora Aunor and as a member of the Goin’ Bulilit cast.

It had been instilled in her early on by her mother that fame and show business won’t last forever. “One day, gigising ka, wala nang nakakakilala sa’yo. Ganun kabilis ang buhay (One day, you will wake up, no one knows you anymore. Life is that fast),”  she said, highlighting the importance of a solid back-up plan. With that, she was sincerely ready to step out of the glittering industry and focus on her studies by the time she was in college.

Kristel persevered as a student, and just like everyone, explored hobbies that brought a little more joy in her everyday. Reply 1997, a K-drama released in 2012 starring Jung Eunji, Seo Inguk and Lee Sieon, introduced her to a whole new world that she now knows all too well. Being an actress herself, she felt a longing to look away from the subtitles and into the actors’ eyes. She said, “Tingin ko mas lalo kong hahangaan yung emotions ng actors (I feel like I will admire the actor’s emotions more),” which encouraged her to learn the language gradually.

While Kristel was ready to let go of being in front of the camera and enjoy television shows as an audience, it turned out that show business was not ready to let go of her. More doors opened and she made a career comeback at 16 or 17 years old in the series Dahil Sa Pag-ibig. However, she told herself that she no longer wants to feel the instability and anxiety that comes with being in the industry. “After ng isang show or teleserye, hindi ko alam kung kailan yung kasunod (After a show or series, I don’t know when the next one will be).”

Since Kristel has always been one to explore and carve her own path, she walked further down the road than what the doors revealed. She went back to her singing roots and started posting song covers online, gaining half a million subscribers and getting invitations to perform.

So why did she create an entirely new channel despite already having 500,000 subscribers then? Monetization was never the goal for Kristel; it was always about showcasing her talents and recording her memories. With the help of her big sister in the industry, Yeng Constantino, she overcame the introvert within her, learned how to comfortably film and edit her videos, and shared them through KrisTells Vlogs, which now has 2.84 million subscribers.

Documenting her daily life, it was only natural for her content to shift when she moved to South Korea in 2022 and lived alone for the first time. “Pagkapunta po, para siyang dreamland (When I went there, it was like a dreamland),” Kristel shared. Her day-to-day consisted of visiting iconic K-drama locations, studying the Korean language further, and eventually being signed by an entertainment agency that led to her garnering a prestigious Influencer of the Month award. What once was foreign land to Kristel is now an extension of her home, and it will stay that way forever.

Without knowing her story, many would think that her admiration for Korean culture meant that she set her eyes on ending up with a Korean man. It’s a common misconception, but Kristel merely focused on improving herself, and it was God’s plan to bring Suhyuk Ha into her life.

The dating culture in Korea, as explained by Kristel, is fast-paced. If you like somebody and they like you back, then there’s no reason not to be together! Well, that was never going to work for her, and neither was it acceptable for Suhyuk. “Classic type of man po siya. Ayaw niya rin yung modern style of dating ng Korea.” They share a patient love, and if their story were to really be in a K-drama, the grand gesture would be Suhyuk converting to Kristel’s religion, committing to their beliefs and practices even when she wasn’t around. It’s easy to believe that they shared their first kiss after Suhyuk’s marriage proposal.

With Kristel’s destiny finally being reality, we know for a fact that her fairytale is far from ending. It had only just begun. Congratulations, Kristel!