Josh, the viral contestant from the YouTube dating show “Pusuan or Laruan,” has reacted to the online bashing after he described himself as a “golden retriever” person.
The 22-year-old network engineer participated in the second episode of the online dating series hosted by content creator Marion Aunor. In the show, male contestants introduce themselves to seven female participants, who then decide if they find them romantically desirable by either keeping their balloons intact or popping them. A popped balloon signifies rejection.
During Josh’s introduction, multiple women eliminated him early on, citing his young age as a dealbreaker. Others took issue with his self-description as a “golden retriever boy,” which became a point of ridicule among viewers.
Although the episode aired five months ago, Josh continues to face intense backlash across various social media platforms.
In his Reddit post, Josh revealed that he initially chose to stay silent, following the advice of his friends and family, who suggested deactivating his social media accounts to shield himself — and his loved ones — from the backlash.
“So my friends and sister told me na to deacc all accounts, lalo na sa X coz sobrang lala ng hate sakin and being doxxed. Ayaw ko naman madamay fam ko sa ginawa ko, right? So yeah, I deleted my twt and removed my username sa IG,” he wrote.
However, Josh decided to break his silence after repeated waves of online attention, fueled by meme pages and content creators featuring him in their videos.
“It started around the first week of January when meme pages I follow started to post me again. I was like, ‘Grabe, binubuhay na naman nila.’ In a week, super trending na naman siya, and some folks could recognize me na,” he shared. “Imagine mga fave content creators ko […] dating pinapanuod ko, then now kino-content ako.”
Adding to his stress, Josh also discovered that an impostor was posing as him online, which further pushed him to speak out. Fortunately, he confirmed that the fake account has since been taken down.
Josh admitted that dealing with sudden online notoriety has been difficult, especially since he is not used to being in the public eye — let alone in a negative light.
“Of course, as someone who isn’t really used to being known, lalo na on a negative light, it’s very stressful and taking a toll on my mental health,” he admitted.
To cope, he has been focusing on his work and spending time with his family, saying, “Nagpapakabusy lang ako sa work and sa fam because sila lang naman mahalaga sakin. Huwag lang madamay yung mga hindi dapat, it’s all good.”
Despite the ongoing attention, Josh remains hopeful that the issue will eventually die down.
