Back in August 2023, SEVENTEEN’s Joshua was involved in dating rumors with model Cho Mi Young. Netizens at the time “fitted the pieces together” after noticing how both the SEVENTEEN member and the model had matching items, making it the root of the rumor. Other gossip included how the two were cohabiting, and how the model was seen attending a SEVENTEEN concert in a guest seat.
Neither of the parties involved, nor their agencies had responded to the rumors, and the issue has quieted down since then.
However, the rumors had once again flared up following the rumored girlfriend posting an Instagram story of her driving. While that description was harmless enough, eagle-eyed netizens saw that there was a piece of paper by the windshield, which looked similar to a “pregnancy badge.” A “pregnancy badge” is something given to expectant mothers that allows them to make their conditions known while using public transport.
An X (formerly Twitter) account posted that Cho Mi-young had “lost her mind,” and had called the fangirls “trolls” in a former IG story before posting the one that had gone viral.
https://twitter.com/ichamnim287716/status/1734159291798741053?s=20
Cho Mi-young’s most recent Instagram post (birthday related) was later terrorized by comments, which mostly questioned the pregnancy badge seen in the IG story and how she was celebrating her birthday with her ‘boyfriend’ away in Japan.
Reactions to the rumors by fans were a mix of “I want to cyber bully this b…” and confusion at the turn of events.
Rumored girlfriend of Seventeen's Joshua receives hate comments on SNS https://t.co/7woaiWo4bM pic.twitter.com/6easok3rw4
— Netizen Buzz (@netizenbuzz) December 13, 2023
She’s doing it for the clout. She knows those rumours put the spotlight on her and now she’s just making a spectacle. Very evil woman.
— Shuahae🙊 (@Mingoobies) December 12, 2023
I still think that’s not his actual girlfriend but just some wannabe influencer giving fake hints for the clout
— malia | EN- VIP 2x | IVE VIP | NCT127 | BAMBAM VIP (@miisooyaa) December 12, 2023
I feel like I just jumped on season 5 episode 8. I'm confused https://t.co/hB0sUozyiS pic.twitter.com/wcoBYFv5FZ
— meringuecupcake | IS MEETING OOO (@meringuecupcak2) December 12, 2023
Gonna be in every group’s business now that BTS left me… omg wooooaaaah he got a girl? I thought he was gay https://t.co/G3mtSN3QVt
— 👀 (@jiminpicsbot) December 13, 2023
this is like the most insane thing ever shes catching attention and yall fall for it @ pannchoa u better delete this or imma come right at ur ass u moron https://t.co/TQMEVdThTf pic.twitter.com/GM0XRBKYUQ
— fina (@yesitswonu) December 12, 2023
https://twitter.com/Millenial_Jimi/status/1734929681756066238?s=20
kcarats about to unleash all kinds of hell pic.twitter.com/0UYgzaKQKs https://t.co/hE987NHZCX
— ashley (@gyvntae) December 12, 2023
she's actually such a troll im sorry https://t.co/XXFBtWnhXj pic.twitter.com/excg5pkLv7
— amaka🍉 (@neosjubiles) December 13, 2023
If you're a real girlfriend of an idol, you know you need to be careful. You're the first person who should protect your boyfriend, but this girl??? It's obvious that she's using the attention she's getting! And she even left mean comments about JS on her IG.
— 💤 | 🌱 🤍 JHHJ (@cheol2jihan) December 13, 2023
This the comment in her post on 12th sept before she totally close the comment section pic.twitter.com/WVbWpWqzjZ
— mel's (@isamelaan) December 13, 2023
According to some fans on the TL, the rumors have long been debunked after Joshua had remained radio silent on the issue, and the rumored girlfriend in question is just an “attention seeker” who has just been using Joshua as a way to trigger fans and generate clout.
1) joshua never confirmed the rumors and said he's in a relationship
2) you can't just joke about this issue esp with the amount of hate he have been getting bc of that
3) STOP INTERACTING WITH PANNCHOA why tf all of you are still following and interacting with it— 🦦 eurydice. (@loveurydicee) December 13, 2023
So, we guess that that’s that. Anyway, idols are truly free to date whomever they want, okay?
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