The unstable, cold weather on Wednesday didn’t stop fans of Philippine heartthrob Alden Richards from getting to see the Filipino star up close during a meet-and-greet session in Dubai.
The 24-year-old actor exuded the enigmatic charisma that has charmed his followers on television and social media. Richards, born Richard Reyes Faulkerson Jr., started his showbiz career in 2011 and his meteoric rise to stardom began in 2015 when he was paired with Maine Mendoza, a.k.a. Yaya Dub — the Philippines’ Dubsmash Queen.
tabloid! sat down with Richards to talk about his career and his experiences in the industry.
“There was this one time a certain fan followed me all throughout my schedule and I didn’t know how she found out about the things I’m going to do that day,” says Richards. “It’s like she’s stalking.
Despite the adoration — and the stalkers — Richards remains grounded and down to earth, never failing to recognise and express his gratitude to his millions of followers and supporters in the Philippines and abroad. Richards considers his fans and supporters as a source of strength.
“Well, my strengths of course are my supporters and fans and the talent the Lord has given to me,” he says. “Also, the discipline and right attitude towards people.”
Aldub (the name of Richards’ on-screen tandem with Mendoza) fever will continue to intensify for the rest of 2016 as Richards says fans can look forward to new projects between the two.
“There will be an Aldub movie this year and teleserye [television soap opera]. So it’s going to be a jam-packed 2016 for us,” says Richards, though he didn’t reveal details of the upcoming projects.
Richards also talked about the things that he wants to do as an actor. “I would want to do a heavy drama type of project with Maine. We haven’t done anything like that before. We already did My Bebe Love, which is a romantic comedy, so I want to try a different genre with her. I also want to do a horror film, hopefully.”
Surprise getaways
Many hard-core Aldub fans are also hoping that the reel tandem will be translated into real-life romance. Before he came to Dubai, Richards flew to Boracay island in a private plane on March 6 to surprise Mendoza at her birthday celebration with friends. He avoided a commercial flight so there was no way for Mendoza to find out about his plan.
“It was really a surprise for Maine for her birthday. I actually planned it after she asked me to come to Boracay with her. I thought it would be a nice surprise if I turned her down and show up on the day that she’ll be there. It worked, she was so surprised. Everything went well and we had so much fun, spent time together. We parasailed, jet-skied, we even did flying fish, banana boat ride and snorkelling,” says Richards, who showed tabloid! a bracelet, one of two that they got for each other during the trip.
“We went to a segregated beach in Boracay, the Puka beach. We got each other a remembrance — a shell bracelet. We basically spent time together to be more comfortable with each other. We had a great time.”
While he maintains an on-screen relationship with Mendoza, Richards also considers himself the number one fan and supporter of the Dubsmash Queen and has campaigned for Mendoza to win the 2016 Nickelodeon Kid’s Choice Awards (KCA) for the Favourite Pinoy Personality category.
“I’m claiming Maine will win. I already know Maine will win because of the help of the Aldub nation around the world, not only in the Philippines,” says Richards. “She will win because she’s the most-talked-about artist in the Philippines and also around the world because of Aldub. She deserves it. Maine is a good person and I know her. It’s one of her dreams to be slimed with the Nickelodeon award.”
Although Aldub is one the most adored and idolised loveteams in the Philippines, Richards admits that they have their fair share of bashers, which he says is inevitable in showbiz.
“We learnt that if we strive to be the best of ourselves every day and prove them wrong, it will just pass. You can never put a good person down. So you always have to stick to your values and your discipline and your attitude towards people. And you know people will bring you up.”
