It’s hot topic on your newsfeed and you overhear people talking about it. We’re pretty sure you can’t escape AlDub these days. What the hell is AlDub, did you say? If you have been living under a rock, this basic primer is for you. Start reading, you’ve got a lot of catching up to do. 
 

1. Who is AlDub?

AlDub is actor Alden Richards and his love interest Yaya Dub (complete name: Divina Ursula Bukbukova Smash). He is a matinee idol in the Philippines who appears on the TV network GMA 7. She is a character played by Maine Mendoza, a fresh college graduate who was planning on being a flight attendant before turning into an Internet sensation for lip-synching (using the selfie-video app Dubsmash) to sound-bites of controversial host Kris Aquino.

2. What is AlDub?

AlDub is the love team that appears in a segment called “Kalye Serye” on the long-running afternoon variety show Eat Bulaga. Before “Kalye Serye” was conceived, Alden was co-hosting the show from the studio, while Yaya Dub played the non-speaking role of a snooty nanny of another Eat Bulaga character, Lola Nidora, on field. While they both worked for the same show, they never interacted, until…

3. How did the love team start?

On Jul 16, the camera caught the normally unflappable Yaya Dub lose her composure upon seeing Alden on a split screen. Her co-hosts teased her about having a crush on the good-looking and bedimpled host. The viewers, who likely had been harboring a crush on Alden themselves, were just as giddy. The producers smelled a hit, conceptualized a segment starring the two, and called it “Kalye Serye.”

4. So what happens on “Kalye Serye”?

“Kalye Serye” is now a daily segment (it’s uploaded to Eat Bulaga’s Facebook page at the end of each day). What happens there? The segment is still played out on a split screen. It is mostly unscripted. From the studio, Alden seeks Yaya Dub’s affection. They communicate by Dubsmashing, writing on a placard or with facial gestures. In the segment’s early days, the week’s sexual tension would culminate in a plan to meet up on a Saturday, meant to keep fans on tenterhooks: Will they ever meet? Will they still like each other when they meet in person? What’s the first thing they would say to each other?

5. What is keeping AlDub from having a happy ever after?

After several botched-up Saturday meetings, the two finally met in person for the first time on Sep 19 — nearly two months after the love team was born. They have met four more times since, but they still face weekly challenges that keep fans on the edge of their seats. The hurdles are mostly set by Yaya Dub’s conservative boss, Lola Nidora, the epitome of old-fashioned Filipino values. She does not want AlDub to rush into a relationship, so she sets the ground rules and acts as a chaperone whenever they go on a date. Observers praise the show for subtly promoting traditional values to its largely young viewers. AlDub has since become a franchise. Alden and Yaya Dub have already done two commercials, set records on Twitter and sold over 30,000 tickets to their concert within three days.