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After living in the US for 21 years, actress Kim delos Santos is here to tell the tale of why she left showbiz.

In Snooky Serna's latest YouTube vlog, Kim opened up about why she stepped away from showbiz, saying, “Ex ko talaga. I needed to get away from the situation in order for me to grow.” She was referring to her ex-husband, Dino Guevarra.

When asked if she regretted leaving her career in the Philippines for a more ordinary life in the US, Kim was firm: “No. Kasi I was able to experience my family. Bumalik ako sa family ko kasi, di ba, matigas ang ulo ko. Aminado naman po ako. I learned through experience.”

Kim openly shared how she rebuilt her life from the ground up after moving to the US, noting that she didn't even have a college degree at the time.

Mahirap. If you don't have education, you have nothing to fall back on. Ano'ng magiging trabaho mo? If you don't have a degree, what job will they give you? Coming from someone who didn't have a degree, I was a high school graduate and then I was like looking at myself, I was mopping floors, second job I was stuffing insurance cards in an envelope... tapos nag-receptionist ako," she revealed.

Kim eventually decided it was time to chase her long-held dream of becoming a nurse.

"One day, I said to myself, I was like 28 na nun, this is my favorite question: 'What do you want? Where are you at? What are your goals?' Self-reflection, na-practice ko siya and I realized, kailangan ko na yata mag-aral. Kinausap ko na papa ko nun," she recalled.

Kim revealed that she asked her dad's help to support her in going back to school.

"First time ko lumapit sa daddy ko kasi ma-pride nga ang lola, matigas ulo... Nung time na 'yun nag-swallow na ng pride ang lola mo, [sabi ko], 'Daddy gusto ko pong mag-aral... Daddy, 10 dollars lang ang kinikita ko ang tanda ko na, ayaw ko ng ganito. Pwede ba ako mag-aral? Tulungan mo ako."

She also opened up about dreaming of becoming a nurse ever since she was a child. "Maliit pa lang ako when I was five, when we were still in America, hindi pa kami nagpi-Philippines, gusto ko na maging nurse kasi ang daddy lagi nagba-banggit because he used to work in a hospital, engineer siya ng hospital so laging nurse ang binabanggit niya."

Her father was in full support of her decision. "Tuwang-tuwa ang tatay ko... My dad would worked overtime hangga't maka-graduate ako and sinigurado kong ga-graduate ako [na] may honors."

Kim currently works as a nurse in the US but she remains open to going back to showbiz.

"I miss showbiz," she told Snooky Serna.

"Yes, it took me a while to get here. I was thinking to myself before I really take on the full responsibility of being a psychiatric mental health nurse practitioner, maganda na ang fall back ko, I just want to give it one more try and see how it goes," Kim concluded.

Learn more about Kim Delos Santos in this gallery:

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