Former “CHUANG 2021” trainee, Zhang Xinyao (张欣尧), finished in 20th place on the survival show. After the show ended in April, Zhang Xinyao has been one of the more popular and active trainees among those who didn’t debut with the group.
On August 14, Zhang Xinyao was trending on Weibo when some of his comments from 3 years ago surfaced. These comments were made prior to his debut.
Zhang Xinyao posted this on August 8, 2018 talking about taking pictures wearing a jacket under 37 degrees celsius weather.
A netizen left a comment portraying to be a concubine and referring to Zhang Xinyao as the emperor, “Allow me (concubine) to dress you (formal).”
Zhang Xinyao responded: “Get on the bed first and wait for me (emperor)”.
Another fan left a comment saying, “You, right now, are really handsome. If you’re hot, then go back and rest a bit or I’ll blow it for you?”
Zhang Xinyao responded: Blow it for me, blow”
He replied to another commenter, “You’re too pure.”
Zhang Xinyao left a comment on someone’s post, saying, “When I saw the view of your back, it was really mesmerizing. I got shigeng (石更, internet slang that refers to a man getting an erection. The characters are a combination of the character, 硬, which means hard) at the time.”
Zhang Xinyao posted his apology, saying, “I am sorry! Thankful to everyone for their supervision and corrections. I was already aware of the inappropriate comments and deleted them a while ago. I am also deeply reflecting upon myself. I understand that regardless if I am a regular person or become an artist, I still need to be responsible for my comments and behavior. As a public figure, I should cherish my feathers and must set a good example, guide, and be a good role model to the people around me and the public. I will have strict self-discipline, regulate my words and actions, and strengthen my ideological education. Once again, apologizing to everyone!”
Most netizens and fans thought Zhang Xinyao’s apology was genuine and responded quickly: “I hope you learn your lesson and reflect on it because the positive energy you normally spread to us is not fake, the love and kindness you share with us is not fake, so I am willing to continue walking with you and see you change.”, “Correct your mistakes, there is no next time!”, “Really great that you came out immediately to respond! If you know your mistakes, then change!”, “I’ll speak honestly, I don’t feel that because of this you can evaluate a person’s characters and morals are bad, it really isn’t that bad.”, “It’s not that bad…fans have said even more explicit words.”, “Honestly speaking, it’s not that bad.”