Team Philippines double gold medalist Carlos Yulo has addressed his rift with his mother in a now-viral TikTok video.

Team Philippines double gold medalist Carlos Yulo has addressed his rift with his mother in a now-viral TikTok video. The Filipino gymnast accused his mother of taking money from his account, to which she had access. He also confirmed that his girlfriend is a major reason for the rift.

Yulo scripted history in the Paris Olympics 2024 by becoming only the second-ever athlete from the Philippines to win an Olympic gold medal. He became the first to ever win two gold medals. While his legendary win made headlines in the country, Yulo is now in the news for different reasons.

In a TikTok video which shows him sitting next to girlfriend Chloe Anjeleigh San Jose, the Olympic gymnast accused his mother of draining his bank account.

“Apart from the incentives, my mom also had access to my bank account and my monthly allowances for gymnastics. When I finally got control of that bank account, I found out she had been draining it. I have the bank statements showing the withdrawals she made,” Yulo said in Filipino, according to news website Inquirer.

The Olympic gold winner said he never received the six-figure incentive he was supposed to receive from an earlier tournament, and asked where the money went.

“I wouldn’t have known that she had received them if I hadn’t looked for them myself. I have never received those incentives, and I never asked them for it. I have given up on it; it’s no longer mine,” Yulo said.

Angelica Yulo’s response

Carols Yulo’s mother, Angelica Yulo, said she transferred the money out of her son’s account for safekeeping.

In an interview with Bombo Radyo earlier this week, she said: “it was given to me. As a mother, I felt that my child might run out of money in the future. So, what I did was deposit it under my name at BPI here in Vito Cruz. Then, I held on to it and turned it into a bond for a credit card.”

Yulo, however, has accused his mother of lying about how much incentive money he actually received. He also said the issue is not the money, but the principle. “The issue here is not on how little or big the amount was that she handled, but her hiding and handling it without my consent, which I’m pointing out to her,” he added.

Rift over girlfriend?

Angelica Yulo claims that her son’s girlfriend is the root cause of their rift. Carlos Yulo, 24, also addressed the girlfriend issue. He said his mother has never liked Chloe.

“She said our misunderstanding started because of Chloe. That’s true. Ever since the beginning, she didn’t like Chloe, even though she hadn’t met or seen her in person. Our relationship worsened when I started setting boundaries. I stood up for Chloe because I like her,” he said.

Chloe, a Filipino-Australian who was raised in Australia, has her own income, he said.

“First of all, Chloe has her own income. Everything you see her using and all her travels come from her hard work,” he said. “My mother judged Chloe right away because of how she dressed and acted. Chloe and I grew up in different environments. Chloe grew up in Australia, and that’s the culture she knows. It’s very different from how we move, talk, and dress in the Philippines.”