LOVE-struck as she was, Mariel Rodriguez admitted, ?I can?t compete with 20 years of marriage. They had four kids together.?

She?d gladly settle for the title of Robin Padilla?s ?one true love,? Mariel said on Saturday on ABS-CBN?s ?E-Live.?

She could never be Robin?s ?one great love,? she conceded, obviously referring to his ex-wife, Liezl Sicangco.

At the time of the TV interview, Mariel and Robin had just come back from India, where, during their visit to a Muslim school, she was introduced as his ?would-be wife.?

Mariel didn?t deny that they?d been talking about the prospect of marriage. ?It?s nice to dream and talk about it,? she said.

The actress/TV host added: ?Robin said we wouldn?t keep it a secret if we got married. It?s just that now is not the appropriate time. We came home to fix his problems with his kids.? She said his youngest, Ali, was flying back to Australia to live with Liezl.

When Inquirer last sat down with the action star, he had waxed poetic about an earlier trip to India.

That first time he visited the Taj Mahal in Agra, a monument to everlasting love, he was by his lonesome. This time around, he had made sure he wasn?t. The ?E-Live? report showed him impatiently waiting for Mariel in New Delhi (he had gone ahead by a few days), and then meeting her at the airport.

Together they visited the Taj Mahal, and now?judging from the interview?even Mariel is well-versed on the story of Mughal Emperor Shah Jahan, who built the tomb, a wonder of the world, in honor of third wife Mumtaz Mahal.

Robin and Mariel?s Indian trip was the subject of much speculation. Did they get married secretly while there? Apparently not, but they just left the country again for another ?holiday.?