Cindy Kurleto reveals she was depressed and tired when she left the Philippines

Cindy Kurleto was at the peak of her showbiz career when she left the country in 2007.

In an interview with Just In, the Filipino-Austrian model, actress, and host admitted that she decided to quit after she consulted her doctors who found out that she has a health problem.

She said, “I developed a hormonal imbalance that made me ill and that made me gain weight and made me very depressed and tired.”

Cindy confessed that she slowly lost her energy which eventually led to weight gain.

“Parang wala na akong energy, wala na ako sa face... You know, it's not fully about really the talent of acting. It's also about how you come across on screen.

"Parang weight gain and the sudden energy loss didn't help me and my job.”

Cindy also related that she was diagnosed with polycystic ovary syndrome or PCOS.

PCOS is known as a health condition that is one of the common causes of infertility. Mayoclinic.org describes it as “a hormonal disorder common among women of reproductive age.”

Cindy said that when she was diagnosed with PCOS, she was working on different projects simultaneously.

Some of her projects on TV at that time were acting as Cassiopea in Encantadia, she was also one of the hosts of Eat Bulaga, and a part of the comedy show Daddy Di Do Du.

“The moment I got diagnosed with PCOS, I had 12 different jobs running simultaneously at that time.

"I was working for MTV, I was working for Encantadia, I was working for Eat Bulaga, I was working for Daddy Di Do Du and I had little pictorials for billboards scheduled at the same time.”

She said that a doctor told her that her hormones were affected by her hectic lifestyle.

In connection to this, Cindy was also advised to slow down if she wanted to have children.

“I was maxed out. Then, the doctor told me, 'Your hormones are going crazy. You need to rest if you want to have a chance at family life at motherhood. You need to give your body some relaxing energy.'"

According to Cindy, she took meditations and decided to quit showbiz.

Cindy and her British-Bajan businessman husband, Daniel Joseph Navalia, then moved to Peru.

Photo source: @cindy_kurleto

“That's when my whole journey with meditation started. That's when I quit show business, that's when my partner said, 'You know what, let's move to Peru. My job is offering me a different job there. Let's go, let's check it out.'

"So that's where we were for 10 years. That's where my first daughter was born, in Peru.”

Cindy and Daniel have two daughters named Noa and Lima.

After leaving the limelight more than a decade ago, Cindy stated that she is willing to take another shot in showbiz as it is a job that she loves.

"Absolutely. I super loved being part of the showbiz family," she said.

"I super loved working with directors, working with actors, working with likeminded people who have creative sparks.

"We're a certain type of people. Minsan they say we're maarte and whatnot but I don't care. That's part of me.

"I'm 43 this year, I've accepted those kaartehan that's part of me and I've accepted the Austrian hard accent that is part of me. It's the package, what can you do.”

See more of Cindy Kurleto's life outside showbiz in this gallery: