What's the deal with 2026?
Cr: LING_奶不加茶
With 2026 just around the corner, I have seen a lot of discussion of the date, and of turtle expectations. I have also seen a lot of confusion about it.
Here are my thoughts.
Background
So I'm going to give you a bit of background on where this is coming from and what turtles tend to believe about it. I will also give a bit of information about what it isn't about, because that's confusing for people as well.
2026 is a big deal for turtles and has been for many years. While the idea originated with a statement GG made in an interview, it was given significance by turtles and has grown from there ever since.
In 2019, GG was asked about marriage in an interview*. He replied by saying that he didn't plan to get married until he was 35.
*He was frequently asked questions like this back then because in that part of the world everybody is expected to get married and have children, and he was approaching the age where people start getting nagged about it.
BXG began to semi-jokingly say that meant that GG and DD would be getting married in 2026. From there it continued to grow and gain significance for most turtles.
Some BXG have even had astrological readings done to try to find out what GGDD's future might hold, and for years they've been claiming that 2026 is going to be a big year for GG and DD - for their shared lives and careers.
Some fans took it to literally mean that GG and DD are getting married in 2026, or that they're going to start collaborating again in 2026, but most just seem to treat it as a sweet date with no serious/real significance beyond celebrating the CP.
Taking it further
Some people have expanded the significance of 2026 to include other things, such as:
GG and DD will no longer be banned from being seen together
GG and DD will begin interacting publicly again
GG and DD will come out as gay and/or in a relationship
These sorts of ideas don't really have any connection with the original meaning of 2026, and they're based on fan assumptions and (in my opinion) a misunderstanding/lack of knowledge of GG and DD's life and career circumstances.
Much of this seems to have come from the story of what happened to the actors and characters from Addicted, and a lot of discussions about these things end up also touching on Addicted.
For those who do not know, Addicted is a controversial Chinese web series that was based on a BL story. It began airing in 2016 and only got a few episodes in before it was shut down by authorities due to the inclusion of underage characters, drug use, sexuality and criminality.
Many people believe that the banning of that series was what led to the heavy crackdown on LGBTQ content in China, but the crackdown predates Addicted and had been escalating in the years prior.
In the story the two characters are separated and promised to reconnect in 8 years. Some fans of the show made the same promise to the actors - they'd wait for them to be seen together in 8 years.
This led to some turtles extrapolating that onto GG and DD, and claiming that they were banned from interacting. The whole thing got intertwined with 2026, and people began saying that they weren't allowed to interact until then.
As I mentioned in a previous post, there are a lot of reasons why this just doesn't apply to GG and DD (and there's no proof that it applied to the Addicted actors either).
The Untamed was never banned, and in fact is still available (and popular) in China.
GG and DD appeared together publicly many times during promotion of the series, and they were seen on the same stage multiple times after the series finished airing.
There is no evidence that GG and DD are being 'forced apart' by external powers or official mandates. It's simply not in their best interests to be seen together publicly, for reasons I have discussed elsewhere.
So for those who believe that 2026 will mark the lifting of some sort of governmental 'ban' on any public interaction between GG and DD, this is unsubstantiated, is based on multiple assumptions and misconceptions and - in my view - is false.
Will they come out?
As for the likelihood of them coming out, I think it would be best for fans to rethink their expectations and understand the circumstances that GG and DD are under as stars in China. There is simply no likelihood whatsoever that they are going to come out about their relationship, or even about being gay/queer.
The industry in China trades on ideas of romantic availability, and that means that most stars, whether gay or straight, will hide their relationships to avoid losing fans and opportunities. It's unlikely that GG and DD will come out about their relationship as long as they want to maintain a career in the entertainment industry in China.
There are other reasons that it would likely not go well for them.
As two of the most popular stars in China, they are expected to uphold certain values and ideals. Coming out as gay could put them at risk of being perceived to be promoting or glamorizing homosexuality, of corrupting the youth, of going against the values the government wants to see promoted, and even of being the leaders of a subversive movement.
LGBTQ relationships are highly censored in Chinese media, therefore there's a likelihood that any story of them coming out would be suppressed or avoided by media to some extent. Especially if it started generating the kind of attention I suspect it might, and led to an upsurge in discussion of queer rights.
Any decision to come out would also have a massive ripple effect onto every project, endorsement and platform they have any association with, impacting the livelihood of potentially hundreds of people. There is no way either of them would ever do that. Not only do they have legal and business responsibilities, they also morally would not want to do something personal that would have a negative impact on others.
I talked about all of that in more detail in this post.
More than anything, GG and DD are individuals whose lives do not revolve around being gay or being in a relationship. It's highly unlikely they'd choose to derail their careers or take the focus away from their projects and achievements.
They have worked so hard to get where they are right now, there's no reason to believe they'll want to take the spotlight off of all of that and put it onto something that is very private between the two of them.
So anyone who thinks GG and DD will come out in 2026, hopefully this gives you a better understanding of why that's unlikely to happen.
What will happen?
In fact, it is unlikely that anything will change in 2026. I expect that we will get some candy, because I believe GG and DD care about turtles and they know how much 2026 means to us, but I don't think we can expect anything massive to happen.
DD's contract with Yuehua ends in 2026, and some fans believe/hope that he will join forces with GG and his studio. This is also unlikely, for reasons I discussed in this post.
If he doesn't renew with YH (and I doubt he will), it is more likely that he will go independent so he can have more control over his career and reap more benefits from the work that he does.
But this is totally unknowable and pointless to speculate too much about. I talked about that more in this post.
Will they get married?
Getting back to the roots of where this initially came from - the idea that GG wouldn't get married until he was 35 - do I think that GG and DD will get married in 2026?
No.
I don't believe that will happen, because I believe they are already married.
Of course I don't have any earth-shattering 'secret proof' about it, it's just what I believe based on various factors. I'm not going to dig into that right now because this post is already a lot longer than I intended. You can read some of my past thoughts on their getting married here.
What does 2026 mean to me?
I see it as a beautiful fandom anniversary. A milestone of sorts. Something we have all reached together as turtles, where we can look back over the years and reminisce about everything that brought us here.
For years we've been talking about 2026, and it's finally just around the corner. Looking back, so much has changed and yet everything's stayed largely the same. We still love them as much as we did back then. More.
It's also a great opportunity to reflect on how far GG and DD have come in their lives and in their careers. How much they've grown as performers and as people.
A celebration of GG and DD, and of turtles.
Ultimately we don't yet know what's going to happen. Things might end up as I've outlined above, or they might not. We'll find out soon enough!
Regardless of what happens in 2026, I look forward to seeing more from them and their projects, and I think it's going to be a fun year to be a turtle because I suspect turtles are going to be very active and excited.
I wish everyone a very happy, healthy and fulfilling 2026!
Related posts:
Do you think they’re married?
Why aren’t they seen together anymore?
Are they banned from interacting?
Will GG and DD join forces under their own studio?
Will DD renew his contract with Yuehua?
Are GG and DD representatives of the queer rights movement in China?
Are the lead actors forced apart after a BL project?
