SB19’s Josh Cullen disclosed his painful past experiences in a “tell-all” YouTube vlog. Like any other celebrity, Cullen has a backstory to share that is different from where he is now.
“So sino nga ba si Josh ano nga ba yung mga na experience ko bago ako makarating sa kinatatyuan ko ngayon?” Josh began.
He revealed on a YouTube vlog that a single mother raised him. He never met his biological father and only had her sister and her mother as a family.
“Explain ko pala muna. Meron akong single mom syempre siya lang yun nakilala ko yung father ko di ko pa nakikita ever meron akong tatlong siblings pero isa lang ang kasama ko,” Josh said.
The artist then detailed one of his earliest childhood traumas, in which their nanny domestically assaulted his sister and him while their mother was away.
“My first trauma experience when I was 2 or 3 years old yung lumipat kame sa Cavite everytime na lalabas si mama or papasok sa trabaho pinagkakatiwala niya kame sa katulong.”
It even got to the point that Josh and her sister didn’t only get beating but also get tortured with candle waxes to the point that he still has noticeable scars to this day.
“Tinu-torture niya kame lahat ng pamamaraan ng pamamalo ginawa niya sa akin. Pinaghuhubad niya kame pinapatakan niya kame ng kandila. Sa lahat ng parte ng katawan namin meron pa nga akong scars eh.”
Apart from domestic violence, they were forced to do the housework instead of the nanny while her mother was away.
“Si Mama pag kaalis siya yung supposedly maglilinis sa bahay pero ang ginagawa niya kame ang pinaglilinis niya nahuli naman siya nakulong.”
He then started to talk about his school life, where he became a repeater as a result of their family’s financial difficulties.
“Naging repeater ako ng two years hanggang sa ilang years nabaon sa utang ayaw i-release ang card kahit gusto namin lumpita sa public.”
He said it’s gotten to the point where they only eat once a day, the SB19 star can’t help but be emotional.
“May mga times na di na kame kumakain ng tama sa isang linngo, swerte na kami makakin ng isang beses sa isang araw may maihain na pagkain sa lamesa kung din nababayaran ang bills, asin, toyo o ketchup ang uulamin dumating ang point na walang wala na umabot ako ng 14 siguro na umabot na ganun ang nagyayari sa amin.
“A lot of people took advantage of me syempre bata pa ako. Maraming experiences na pangit talaga na madadaanan ka. Then, successfully naka-graduate ako nakakuha ako ng diploma for high school.”
When asked about his feelings as the group’s eldest member and whether he feels pressured about it, the SB19 star admitted that he does, but it’s not stumping him.
“Yes Na pre pressure ako, yes na nag wo worry actually late na ako yung ka agae para sa mga gusto kong gawin nagkataon na unfortunate ako nung bata ako. Wala akong masyadong resources.”
https://youtu.be/s-nv_W89Ky0
Furthermore, Josh shared one lesson that he learned from his traumatic experiences: never equate your performance to others.
“Magkakaiba naman tayo ng phase yung Level 1 mo at Level 10 niya wag mong iku-compare iba iba pa rin tayo ng pinagdadaanan. You just have to work smarter than the others hindi ka man ang pinaka magaling pero kung maparaan ka naman. Mararating mo rin yan.”
With all the hardships that Josh experienced, he is currently the lead performer of SB19, a five-member Filipino all-boyband that made its debut in 2018.
They are the first Filipino act to debut in the Philippines after being trained by a Korean entertainment company. They’re also the first Southeast Asian act to chart in the Billboard Social 50 top ten and the first Filipino group to chart on the Next Big Sound chart.
SB19 promotes its music as Pinoy pop (P-pop), a common sub-genre of original Filipino music, despite the K-pop influence.
