MANILA – With a major solo concert coming up, Matteo Guidicelli admitted he also gets his fair share of bashers who question his ability to sing.

In an interview on Thursday, Guidicelli seemed resigned that there will always be negative things that could be said about him. But for him, what’s more important is how he deals with criticism.

“Siyempre we are all human. When I say something bad about someone, I’m sure that person would be affected. So all those bashers out there, we get affected but I think you guys are the reason why we push harder. I believe any successful person will go down, will fall before they rise up. These are all challenges that we have to surpass,” he said.

Asked what’s the worst thing that has been said to him, Guidicelli said: “[That I’m] trying hard. I tell Sarah (Geronimo, his girlfriend) this. She says, ‘Matteo, ako rin I get stuff like that.’ You just have to take it as a creative criticism and learn from it and move forward.”

“As long as you know you love it, you know you’re making people have a good time, that’s the whole point,” he added.

Almost a year since his first concert, Guidicelli is bringing back his music to the concert stage and pay homage to his hometown un his show “Matteo Made in Cebu,” which will be held at the WaterFront Cebu City Hotel & Casino on November 18 to mark his 10th year in showbiz.

Meanwhile, aside from the negative comments about his singing, Guidicelli shared that he also comes across people who are not in favor of his relationship with Geronimo.

“Meron naman talaga diyan. To the people who inspire us, maraming salamat. To the people na mga nega, wala na tayong magagawa diyan. Our relationship is not a game. Our relationship is not showbiz, it’s not a love team. It’s something real,” he said.

While he sometimes responds to his bashers online, Guidicelli said: “Hindi naman sa pumapatol. Parang ‘Sige bigay mo ‘yung number mo, mag-usap na lang tayo.’ Kung tatahimik ba sila or magsasalita pa. It’s a joke. I don’t treat it seriously. I just laugh about it sometimes.”

Admitting that his relationship with Geronimo is his longest one by far, Guidicelli said he is just happy to be with someone who does nothing but inspire him.

Will Geronimo be at his concert in Cebu?

“I don’t know yet. What matters is that she’s one of the few that inspires me to do the show, to do my work. She’s an inspiration. That’s more than enough for me,” he said.

As to the possibility of working with Geronimo in the future, Guidicelli said: “People have been asking. People have been offering but I don’t think so. We are not a love team. We are not a couple because of the industry. We are a couple because of real life, because two people love each other and we want to be together. We’d like to keep that separately.”

Guidicelli and Geronimo have been a couple for over three years now.