Looking Back at AlDub

Ten Years Later

- By JANUAR JUNIOR AGUJA

A hard pill to swallow for those sick of the revolving doors of romantic leads on screen: the Philippines will always be a nation that adores its loveteams. Look no further than the AlDub phenomenon ten years ago.

Not being in the same location and communicating through lip-syncs of popular songs and viral soundbites popularized by Dubsmash, the strong chemistry between Alden Richards and Maine Mendoza as Yaya Dub was undeniable. Their short interactions through a split-screen evolved into the Kalyeserye kit within the “Juan for All, All for Juan” segment of Eat Bulaga that got the whole country talking.

AlDub was the cultural force of 2015. Everyone spent their lunchtime tuning in to GMA Network to watch Eat Bulaga for AlDub. It rattled the ABS-CBN management, which aired EB's competitor, “It’s Showtime,” to the point it was on the brink of cancellation. AlDub's de facto theme song, Bryan White's “God Gave Me You,” was the track on repeat that year. It even disrupted political discourse less than a year before the 2016 elections.

With the loveteam constantly trending online globally, especially on Twitter (now called X), Western media outlets took notice. The BBC featured the phenomenon and interviewed Richards and Mendoza, while BuzzFeed uploaded a video of Americans reacting to AlDub scenes with amusement, some even mimicking the iconic “pabebe wave.”

AlDub shaped the Richards and Mendoza we know today and changed the way the public supports loveteams, not just in how they're packaged, but in how hardcore fans mobilize, both online and on the streets.

The pairing also proved to be a double-edged sword: it brought them massive success in their careers, but also backlash when it turned out that their romance only belonged in the storybooks.

History