Love team

In Philippine media, a love team (or loveteam) refers to a pair consists of an actor and actress depicted to the public as a romantic couple. Some of these onscreen pairs have become couples in real life.



Background
The concept of love teams can be traced back to the early years of Philippine cinema in the 1920s. The tandem of Gregorio Fernandez and Mary Walter who starred in silent films in the country during the 1920s is considered as the precursor of the love team concept in Philippine cinema. Other pairings became prominent such as Rogelio dela Rosa and Carmen Rosales in the 1950s, Tirso Cruz III and Nora Aunor in the 1960s and the 1970s, Gabby Concepcion and Sharon Cuneta in the 1980s, Rico Yan and Claudine Barretto, Marvin Agustin and Jolina Magdangal in the 1990s, John Lloyd Cruz and Bea Alonzo in the 2000s.

In the 21st century, love teams are also known by the portmanteaus of the couple's names. Becoming part of a love team in the Philippine entertainment industry can be a boost to the acting career of two people who are part of the pairing.

The two people in a love team often stars in television series and film with their characters where it is expected that their characters to be romantically attached to each other like in line with their public image as a romantic couple off-screen. There is some organized fan groups supporting love teams. However prospects of an actor or actress involved in a love team, especially the more popular pairings, to star with another actor or actress other than each other is limited.

Hardcore fans of love teams wishes for the pairing they support to become a "real-life couple". One example of this, is Gabby Concepcion and Sharon Cuneta, who eventually got married. However their marriage later got annulled.

Within the entertainment industry
Actress Solenn Heussaff after conversing with people she knows are involved in love teams, said that being in such a pairing is difficult. She remarked that the love teams may "lose a sense of who they are" by trying too hard to portray themselves as romantic couples both on-screen and in real life, which she says isn't good if its forced in the case of the latter. She also points out that love team fans may be limiting the career options of actors involved in a pairing "knowingly or unknowingly". Heussaff states if an actor or actress gets an assignment for a film or television series where they pair with an actor or actress other than each other as their love interest, "someone get's attacked". But she was quick to add that love teams could be beneficial and sometimes those involved in such pairing became romantic couples in reality and urged fans to respect the individuality of the actors and actresses.