True, Alden Richards and Maine Mendoza aren’t exactly star-crossed, but their split-screen story is the stuff of social media legend. As in, their ongoing romance has captured the attention of five continents and counting.
The actors, who appear on Filipino lunchtime series Eat Bulaga! have been dubbed “AlDub,” a combination of their names (Mendoza’s onscreen character is named Yaya Dub) but also a tribute to the nature of their romance. For months, these two characters on the series courted but took their sweet, sweet time actually meeting, communicating instead via Dubsmash—the social media tool that allows users to lip-sync to popular tunes and upload their videos to share online.
The duo was first introduced on the series back in July, after producers learned Mendoza had a real-life crush on Richards but had never met him. She had originally come to the long-running series (Eat Bulaga! has been on the air for 36 years and counting) because of her Dubsmash popularity and social media prowess. As she was performing one day on the series, she realized Richards was watching her segment from another area. Her visceral reaction—which included a rare smile and a flirty wave known as a Pabebe wave in the Philippines—captured the attention of the nation.
One thing seems clear, and that is that AlDub is only getting started. When asked by Bloomberg if marriage would be a natural endpoint for this couple’s 15 minutes, Ehden Llave Pelaez indicated it could surge well beyond that.
“They were able to establish a very unique and very strong fan base, which they were able to accomplish using social media,” she said. “Even if they do get married it will go beyond that.”
No wonder #AlDubTheRing is already a thing on Twitter.
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