Fans of 2gether: The Series, if you wished for the two male leads to fall in love in real life, you might be sorely disappointed.
Because Bright, one of the two male leads has instead confirmed his romance with Nene, one of his co-stars in 2gether: The Series.
On 22 April, Bright, whose real name is Vachirawit Chivaaree wrote on social media platform X, formerly known as Twitter, to confirm the romance after a video of the two stars holding hands made its round on social media on 21 April.
Pornnappan Pornpenpipat, better known as Nene followed up with her boyfriend’s post with an Instagram post herself confirming the news for her fans.
Lost in Japan
Just like Shawn Mendes was in his song “Lost in Japan”, Bright and Nene was lost in each other’s eyes in Japan.
The 26-year-old singer-actor was in Japan, Tokyo for his solo performance, Bright’s Home Party In Japan at the Tokyo Gymnasium on 20 April to 21 April.
Nene who is also 26 years old, was reportedly in Japan to support Bright and the couple were on a date when the video was captured and subsequently uploaded onto social media.
Nothing but Love
In their respective posts, both stars apologised for the sudden news and emphasised nothing but positive comments towards each other.
Bright came forward on X, to address the rumours first and said, “I know there is recent news that might have caught you off guard. I just wanted to clarify a few things, especially for my fans who are always so caring and curious about how I am doing – yes, we are really dating. I’d like to apologise for shocking you with this news.”
Nene soon followed up with a post on Instagram to apologise to her fans and said, “Sorry for not being able to share this with you earlier before it made the news. You know me, I usually keep my personal life separate from my music because my focus is always on spreading love and positivity through my music and performances for all of you wonderful people.”
Support from Fans
In their posts, both Bright and Nene have asked for fans to cheer them on and support their relationship.
It is not uncommon to see fans boycott celebrities when they start dating, so it’s no wonder Bright and Nene are being so cautious and asking for support.
In the past, Kpop idols like Exo Chen and Kang Daniel was heavily criticised by their fans for dating and there was even a small, organized boycott movement which ultimately failed, when Chen announced his marriage.
This news has already caused a small furor in China, where Nene, also known by her Chinese name Zheng Naixin, was a member of the C-pop girl group BonBon Girls 303 after finishing fifth in the idol reality show “Produce Camp 2020”.
After the show, Nene cultivated a strong fan base in China, participating in Chinese variety shows, releasing music and even acted in a Chinese micro drama.
This criticism stemmed from Bright’s previous controversy, where he was seen liking and retweeting a photographer’s post that referred to Hong Kong as a separate country.
The post was swiftly deleted after backlash from Chinese netizens and Bright apologised, saying that he did not read the caption of the post clearly and meant no ill will towards China. Following the incident, Nene unfollowed all of Bright’s accounts, in a bid to create distance and to prevent herself from being seen as Bright’s supporter.
However, it seemed that Chinese netizens still bore a grudge as after winning the show, it was discovered that Nene had liked an Instagram post of Bright’s and netizens accused Nene of feeling the same about Hong Kong.
Nene came forward then to deny doing so and cited a lack of internet access. She clarified her love for China and revealed Chinese ethnicity through her parents.
With this confirmation of their romance, Chinese netizens are now feeling betrayed by Nene who feels that she should not be dating Bright.
Who else feels that this is too much drama over a couple?
Screenwriters, time to start writing your next award-winning storyline.