Such Great Heights

Like the historic Luneta Hotel—the bond between Julia Barretto and Joshua Garcia remains steadfast—untarnished by intrigue, strengthened by time, and whose beautiful facade is matched by its interior intricacy.

- Geolette Esguerra

 

If I could just show it, then you would know. Then everyone would know. That the secret, magic, special “something” between Joshua Garcia and Julia Barretto is impalpable. That Joshua’s eyes follow Julia across every corner of the room, his body orienting itself to her location, as if opposing poles of a magnetic field. That he surges forward and backward in his speech and his position to accommodating her little movements and tiny laughs. That Bubba is always watching.

“Bubba?” I asked with a raised eyebrow.

“Bub. Bubba. Baby,” Joshua clarifies.

Their term of endearment for each other. They’re unapologetically open about this fact, because, well, why shouldn’t they be? One of the biggest romantic tandems on screen and offscreen, JoshLia, the portmanteau of their nicknames, has delivered hit after hit since Vince & Kath & James in 2016—a Metro Manila Film Fest holiday film that propelled them to greater fame.

By all accounts, it was an unlikely combination. Julia is showbiz royalty, born from an acting family—mother Marjorie Barretto, father Dennis Padilla, and aunt Claudine Barretto. Her beauty is often comparable to that of her other aunt, La Greta—Gretchen Barretto. And then there’s Joshua, an aspiring pilot who took a chance to be “Tatay’s Boy ng Batangas” in the reality show Pinoy Big Brother.

But their pairing wasn’t designed by the cogs and wheels of stardom, it was designed by the public. It was the public who chose them and “shipped” their pairing together. That the public clamored for JoshLia—loudly—says so much about how instinctively the audience reacts to them. Even the peers of fashion—designers, photographers, and the like—mention they are fans of these two, despite claiming not to have watched any of their films.