RACHELLE Ann Go will have her first stage kiss with Erik Santos: “It’s kinda awkward.”

With refreshing candor, singer Rachelle Ann Go confronted head-on the rumors linking her with married actor Cesar Montano.

“It was a big joke,” she gasped. “I didn’t know whether to laugh or get upset when I first heard it.”

Cesar has since apologized for the needless intrigue. “Pasensiya na raw ako,” she recounted.

His wife, actress Sunshine Cruz, reportedly made snide remarks on her Twitter page about girls who get involved with married men.

“I don’t need to comment on that because that’s between her and her husband,” Rachelle said. “My conscience is clear.”

She insisted that her love life has been zero since her controversial breakup with actor John Prats. “We last saw each other at the wake of his sister Camille’s husband,” she related. “We just said hi-hello. We’re okay.”

She has grown up a lot in the last few months. In her new CD “Unbreakable,” she wrote a song titled “Whispered Fear.” Rachelle explained: “It talks about fears of being alone, then realizing that you have nothing to be afraid of … that you can be happy on your own.”

She insisted that she has moved on since that stormy chapter. “I’m focusing on my work,” she said, especially since she has been tapped to play the iconic role of Ariel in Atlantis Productions’ staging of Disney’s “The Little Mermaid,” which will run at the Meralco Theater starting tonight till Dec. 11.

“I relate with Ariel. I’m also a dreamer,” Rachelle said.

She has always wanted to venture in musical theater. “My costars in ‘Party Pilipinas,’ Gian Magdangal and Mark Bautista, have been encouraging me to try. They said it’ll help me grow as a performer.”

Costar and theater vet Jinky Llamanzares described Rachelle and Erik, both first-timers, as “consummate pros.”

A production staffer recalled that Rachelle attended a rehearsal with a 40-degree fever.

“I didn’t want to miss a single day,” she explained. “We can’t afford to get sick. Since we have no alternates, we will be doing all 24 shows. I’ve been taking lots of vitamins.”

She will share her first onstage kiss with Erik in this. “It’s kinda awkward because Erik is my best buddy… but it also helps that we’re at ease with each other.”

Apart from her new job, she’s relishing her role as mentor in the GMA 7 show, “Protégé.”

“As mentor, I’m more like a big sister,” she said. “I also have younger siblings who are into music. I believe in my protégé Nomer Limatog Jr. I choose tough songs for him, like ‘Bohemian Rhapsody,’ because he’s so talented.”

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