After being criticized online for “getting special treatment” during an episode of the popular show in China, “Keep Running,” Chinese actress Angelababy finally speaks out.
On her Weibo post on Monday, Angelababy went into details explaining that she was having her period when she appeared on the show, which was aired last Friday, May 18, according to Straits Times.
“What I can do is to absorb those ugly words, and transform them into positive energy,” Angelababy, whose real name is Angela Yeung Wing, wrote on her post in Chinese, as translated by Straits Times.
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“While filming that day, I was having my period. It wasn’t my first time entering the water on my period, but this time it was the first day of my period and it was a little harder,” the 29-year-old actress continued, adding, “But I’ve never said that I can’t go into the water. If I couldn’t live up to it I wouldn’t have sat on that chair. Being cold and scared – those were all real, because I didn’t know what words or actions would trigger the chair and water.”
The waves of criticism came after Wing appeared on the show where people noticed that the other contestants were dumped repeatedly with water while the actress was only doused once. They immediately called her out on social media for receiving “special treatment,” while another person wrote, “’Keep Running’ is not for you, go home and be a princess!” Cosmopolitan Hong Kong reported.
Menstruation is a taboo topic to discuss in China and most people feel uncomfortable talking about it, according to BBC.
While that may be the case, some netizens still came forward to back up Wing on what happened to her and supported the actress.
“Only women understand the pain of women’s menstruation, but we women are always striving for perfection. You need a little more love and a little less darkness in your hearts,” a user said.
“It’s not easy, really. When you’re on your period, it does feel hard, sometimes it’s especially painful, so painful that you doubt what you’re doing. Going in the water takes an even greater effort, if it had been me, I wouldn’t have been able to handle it,” another netizen said in the comment.
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