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For popular artists, "whether to date" and "whether to announce a relationship" is actually just a matter of facing one's inner heart, and it has nothing to do with right or wrong. Some people think that love is more important than anything else, so they may "take the risk" to officially announce their relationship; some people think that career is more important than love, so they may choose to focus on their career.

Author | Charles

Editor | Lone Pigeon

On July 14, Huang Zitao, whose career has been relatively quiet in recent years, suddenly became the number one trending search because he and his girlfriend Xu Yiyang announced their relationship.

It seemed like a hot news, but in the latest episode of the variety show "Come with Me", a large amount of material related to their relationship was released. The scene of the two discussing their relationship in the flower field was also secretly photographed by the program crew from a "tricky" angle.

It turns out that this was a carefully planned exposure, and the purpose was obvious, which was nothing more than to increase the popularity of the show.

As expected, netizens not only did not send blessings, but were mostly mocking. Below "Huang Zitao and Xu Yiyang's official announcement" was an entry "Do you think you are Lu Han?" - Lu Han's official announcement of his relationship caused Weibo to crash, but Huang Zitao did not achieve the same effect.

Because he just disclosed a secret that everyone knew. Their relationship had been exposed several times before, but Huang Zitao repeatedly denied it, so that now that the truth has come out, it has become a farce.

Obviously, this is another typical case of "a popular star's official announcement of a relationship backlash", which also leads to a commonplace topic: Is it necessary for stars to announce their relationship status to fans? How to announce it to avoid "harm" to the greatest extent?

Are you not stubborn anymore?

Objectively speaking, the negative public opinion Huang Zitao attracted this time did not stem from his relationship, but from his "dishonesty".

The relationship between Huang Zitao and Xu Yiyang can be traced back to 2020. At that time, Huang Zitao joined "Creation Camp 2020" as a mentor, and Xu Yiyang, as an artist under Huang Zitao's company, participated in the draft as a student.

The close interaction between the two on the show made netizens doubt their relationship. But Huang Zitao quickly denied it, saying that he only regarded Xu Yiyang as a sister, "They are all my sisters, and the artists in my company are all my family."

In the four years since then, the two have been photographed by netizens many times in intimate pictures. Whether it is a gathering with friends or a family dinner, the two are always inseparable, and their life trajectories are highly overlapped: they use couple accounts in games, their WeChat profile pictures are suspected to be couple profile pictures, they wear couple outfits to go shopping on Valentine's Day, and Huang Zitao himself publicly confessed his love for Xu Yiyang on a big screen in a Korean nightclub...

However, in the face of all the "hard evidence", Huang Zitao refused to admit it and repeatedly denied the relationship, so much so that some netizens sarcastically said "Huang Zitao has the hardest mouth, even if the sky falls, his mouth will hold it up."

Anyone who has heard the story of "The Boy Who Cried Wolf" too many times will become numb. Because of this, when the moment of his official announcement came, netizens no longer bought into it.

Huang Zitao is not the first idol to be stubborn about his "personal love and marriage" and he will not be the last. Before this, Andy Lau, Wu Zun and other male stars also kept their "love and marriage status" secret, which caused "traffic backlash".

However, Huang Zitao's official announcement this time is more complicated. In a nutshell, he turned all his fans, netizens and even guests in the variety show into a part of his love play, with the purpose of hyping up the variety show "Follow Me".

"Come With Me" is a "familiar face" variety show produced by Huang Zitao. He plays a strong leading role in the show, controlling the direction and process setting of the entire variety show, and inserting his own love affair as a "gimmick".

Through the show, we can clearly see his mental journey of announcing his relationship: he first discussed the public matter with Xu Zhisheng, AK, and Yan Min, causing the three to look at each other in embarrassment; then he privately discussed the official announcement with Xu Yiyang, and the discussion process was "accidentally" captured by the camera; then he opened his heart to the camera and began to tell their love story...

Watching the whole process, there was a sense of deliberate affectation. Sometimes he called this relationship "forbearing love", and sometimes he boasted to Xu Yiyang, "I protected you so well."

Huang Zitao's words and deeds are typical of "narcissism", self-centered, and immersed in self-touching. At the same time, he also wants to pass this "touching" to more people, so that everyone can be moved with him. Little did he know that this "narcissism" is actually a social offense, which offends the guests and the audience.

Therefore, when Huang Zitao's "cheating" outside the variety show collided with his "pretending" in the variety show, it became a double act. People suddenly realized that Huang Zitao's "true nature" that he was proud of did not seem so true, at least in the matter of "boldly confessing love", he was not frank enough.

Traffic anxiety

Why did Huang Zitao remain silent about the exposure of his relationship before the official announcement?

Although he responded in "Come with Me" that it was inconvenient to announce the good news due to family reasons, many netizens still believe that this is mainly due to his self-awareness that "idols cannot fall in love."

As a trainee who debuted in a Korean group, he has always considered himself an "idol". However, as a "fantasy derivative", "idol" mainly sells the image of a single person.

It is not easy to make a living by relying on traffic. Once the commercial attributes of idols exceed their personal attributes, they are destined to lose some of the freedom of life that ordinary people have. Therefore, in order to maintain their commodity attributes, idols must keep a low profile on their emotional status.

Business ability and emotional life have always been the two swords of Damocles hanging over idols' heads. Huang Zitao's business ability has been declining in recent years, and he has indulged in playing "dominant bosses" in various film and television dramas. Last year alone, he "waded into muddy waters" three times: elite lawyer Lu Xun in "Don't Fall in Love with Your Boss", popular star Song Yang in "Warm Spring", and young talent Shen Mi in "Sweet You".

Therefore, when the works are not enough to support the fame, and when the professional ability is either stagnant or declining, they can only make a fuss about their love life, thus leading to the current situation of "being both a role and a position", which is a slap in the face.

In fact, the so-called "idols" are ordinary people with emotions. Since dating is a normal emotional need, it cannot be suppressed or restrained. From this perspective, Lu Han's bold official announcement is unique in the domestic entertainment industry.

In 2017, Lu Han chose to announce his relationship with Guan Xiaotong at the peak of his career, which paralyzed Weibo and the entire Internet. People had different opinions about this relationship: some sent their blessings, thinking that "he is more manly than anyone else with his delicate appearance"; some thought that he was "unqualified as an idol" for being in a relationship as an idol; and some pointed fingers at the woman, thinking that Guan Xiaotong was not worthy of him...

Many years later, in an interview, Lu Han talked about the official announcement of his relationship and answered without hesitation, "This is a kind of responsibility." In his opinion, dispelling the rumors, giving his girlfriend enough sense of security, and making sure that she is the "one and only" is more important than anything else. This is a decision he made after careful consideration, and he is willing to bear the corresponding consequences. And the fans' choice to stay or leave is also their own choice, which deserves respect.

From the time they officially announced their relationship to now, Lu Han and Guan Xiaotong have been together for seven years. Every year on their birthdays, they would send each other blessings on social media platforms. Last year, when Lu Han held a concert, Guan Xiaotong even attended the concert as his "sister-in-law". They proved their seriousness about this relationship with their actions, and the public's attitude has changed from "badmouthing" to "urging them to get married" today.

Another top star, Xiao Zhan, has a different attitude from Lu Han. His statement in a variety show, "If I fall in love now, it means I will be unemployed," was dubbed by people as "clear-headed" and also won him endless favor from fans.

In the final analysis, for popular artists, "whether to date" and "whether to announce a relationship" is actually just a choice to face one's heart, and it has nothing to do with right or wrong. Some people think that love is more important than anything else, so they may "take the risk" to officially announce their relationship; some people think that career is more important than love, so they may choose to focus on their career.

Finally, we have to return to marriage

Fans' expectations for their idols are more clearly expressed in idols who are trained as talents.

Looking at the domestic entertainment industry, whether it is a limited idol group that debuted through a talent show or the youth idol training under Times Fengjun, they all belong to the category of training system. However, the former is a short-term training, while the latter prolongs the training cycle.

The cultivation system is based on the fan economy, with girlfriend fans, mother fans, and career fans. If the "single persona" is unsustainable and the main consumer group of "girlfriend fans" is lost, the impact on the idols will be difficult to estimate.

But even so, idols whose love affairs have been ruined are still emerging one after another. In the "first year of ruin (2020)", Yan Xujia, Huang Junjie, and Ding Zeren were successively exposed, and farces continued; recently, Zhang Junhao from "TF Family" was pushed to the hot search due to inappropriate verbal interactions with the opposite sex. Their management companies are even more distressed by this, and issued statements one after another.

What was originally a personal relationship, became a complicated web of interests due to the idol's own interests being linked to the group's. Involved are not only the teammates who share the same spirit and honor, but also the agency and its film, television, music, and business resource providers.

In Japan and South Korea, many brokerage companies have set up "love bans" to control the love affairs of idols. For example, JYP President Park Jin-young stipulated that his idols were forbidden to date within five years after their official debut, and later shortened it to three years. The setting of a "love ban" may seem to deprive people of human rights, but it is indeed an effective way for brokerage companies to ensure input and output by disciplining idols' words and deeds.

If anyone crosses the line, they will be punished accordingly. Minami Minegishi, a member of the girl group AKB48 under the Japanese AKS Corporation, once shaved her head to apologize to fans because of her love life.

But the ban is time-limited, because traffic is not eternal, and as they age, the golden age of idols will slip away. At this time, how to balance career and love will become a problem that most idols have to face.

After the peak of popularity, many idols will return to love and marriage, get married and have children. For example, Super Junior, a South Korean boy band that debuted in 2005, has many married now. For example, all 13 members attended Ryeowook's wedding a while ago, which set off a wave of "nostalgia" on the Internet. The familiar Chinese member Han Geng is married to actress Celina Jade and has a daughter.

When idols reveal their love affairs after "semi-retiring" from their careers, it is also a way that fans are more likely to accept. For example, Changmin of the old boy band TVXQ was praised as the "benchmark of boy bands" for his hard work after his debut. It was not until 2019, 16 years after his debut, that he revealed that he was in love with a girlfriend outside the circle, and got married in a low-key manner the following year.

During this period, whether in love or married, Changmin always guarded against leaking any photos of him and his lover. He protected his lover and fans very well.

It is not difficult to see that Japanese and Korean idols have already followed a common pattern in maintaining the "idol halo", the main purpose of which is to maintain their good image in the minds of fans and strive to keep the fans' fantasy filter longer.

It is reasonable for Huang Zitao to choose to announce his relationship after the golden period of his career has passed. However, he did not protect his privacy during the relationship and was too high-profile when announcing the relationship, which caused a backlash from the public opinion and turned the happy event into a farce.

In fact, whether it is public or hidden, if you meet someone you like, idols should take this relationship seriously. After all, time will prove everything, as long as you are sincere enough, the public will accept and bless you one day.