KathNiel searches dominate Google Philippines following breakup

MANILA, Philippines — Google Trends recorded the highest interest in actors Kathryn Bernardo and Daniel Padilla right after the celebrity couple officially called it quits after 11 years.

Kathryn and Daniel, fondly called KathNiel by fans, jointly announced the end of their relationship last November 30, sending the Internet into a frenzy.

Searches for either actor and the KathNiel love team as a whole fully dominated Google searches for the week of November 26, the highest numbers they have obtained since 2018.

That was the year of KathNiel’s last headliner movie “The Hows of Us” and when their show, “La Luna Sangre,” ended.  The couple’s next projects after these were “The House Arrest of Us” and “2 Good 2 Be True,” as well as the music video for Ben&Ben’s “Sa Susunod Na Habang Buhay.”

Related: Kathryn Bernardo shares new hair color after Daniel Padilla breakup

Daniel’s individual searches reached 200,000 on November 30, ten times more than Philippine hero Andres Bonifacio, whose birthday was celebrated that day.

Google even noted that KathNiel is the most-searched love team both locally and globally, trumping the likes of JaDine (James Reid and Nadine Lustre), LizQuen (Liza Soberano and Enrique Gil), KimXi (Kim Chiu and Xian Lim) and DonBelle (Donny Pangilinan and Belle Mariano).

Rising interest in KathNiel online began when talent manager Ogie Diaz teased Kathryn and Daniel’s possible split early last month.

In last year’s top trending Google searches in the Philippines, half of the Top 10 were related to lifestyle and entertainment.