Dani Barretto recalls parents’ fights, grateful mom left abusive marriage

Dennis Padilla vows to respond, calls Dani conceited, says she believes half-truths.

It seems that the relationship between Dennis Padilla and his children may become even more complicated after Dani Barretto opened up in an interview on Kylie Verzosa’s podcast about the struggles they went through during their childhood.

According to Dani, their childhood was somewhat traumatic because they witnessed the constant arguments between her mother, Marjorie Barretto, and Dennis.

“I believe that I have one episode where I said that sometimes mas nakaka-build ng trauma sa mga bata if hindi ka umaalis, kasi mas nakikita nila ‘yong back and forth, ‘yong away (fighting), ‘yong tension. Childhood namin ‘yon e. Iyon ang childhood namin ng mga kapatid ko,” she shared.

Dani also said she is proud of Marjorie for deciding early on to leave her marriage with Dennis, the father of her half-siblings Julia, Claudia, and Leon.

“We saw the yelling, the screaming my mom went through, and tumatak sa amin ‘yon noong mga bata kami, and it stayed with us. So I’m just glad my mom left. I’m just glad my mom really saw that she didn’t deserve that and she left,” she shared. “Because she did that, I feel like we are all strong women.”

Dennis Padilla hits back

After Dani shared her side, Dennis could not help but air his reaction after being mentioned by netizens on the social media pages of Verzosa’s podcast.

According to Dennis, he responded by saying: “Dani… Abangan mo sagot ko… Point by point… Mula nung nasa tiyan ka pa ng nanay mo… I felt abused… I felt liberated nung nakawala ako sa relationship na sinasabi mo… Huwag masyadong mayabang… Wala kang alam… Half lang alam mo…” followed by an angry emoji.

Marjorie has five children: Dani, with former actor Kier Legaspi; Julia, Claudia, and Leon, with Padilla; and Erich, with politician Recom Echiverri.