After nearly 16 years of Internet speculation over romance rumors, British YouTubers Dan Howell and Phil Lester finally confirmed their secret love for each other on their channel Monday.
‘We fell into it hard and fast in 2009,’ Dan announced.
‘It was so fast that we never labeled it. We just ended up living together and here we are!’
Phil added: ‘We’re partners in everything. And no, it’s not always perfect. Don’t get into your head that we are the ideal of human partnerships.’
In his mid-20s, Howell admitted he was so ‘deep in the closet’ that he ‘felt we had to hide the relationship because I was still hiding who I was to my friends, family, myself.’
‘A big reason why I’ve been like I never wanna talk about this is I wouldn’t handle people’s reactions,’ he added.
After nearly 16 years of Internet speculation over romance rumors, British YouTubers Dan Howell (L) and Phil Lester (R) finally confirmed their secret love for each other on their channel Monday
‘We fell into it hard and fast in 2009,’ Dan announced. ‘It was so fast that we never labeled it. We just ended up living together and here we are!’
Meanwhile, Lester ‘felt like I’d gone back in a mini closet in a way, which was weird.’
‘I knew this was all very sensitive, uncomfortable and scary for you,’ the blond 38-year-old said.
‘So I kind of just wanted to give you time to figure out what you wanted to do.’
The inseparable roommates eventually came out as gay and queer, respectively, two weeks apart in June 2019 but the brown-haired 34-year-old stipulated at the time: ‘Am I totally gay? No.’
Another reason Dan and Phil kept quiet about their private bond was they preferred being professionally known as a comedy duo than gay boyfriends.
‘It hits different,’ Howell noted.
‘Who’s to say there’s anything wrong with having the cute gay couple show? It’s just that we wanted the focus to be on what we were doing.’
Lester agreed: ‘Being funny, entertaining. Let’s be honest, there’s a lot of homophobia out there.’
Berkshire-born Dan added: ‘There’s a lot of straight guys that would simply have never watched us on YouTube because it made them uncomfortable.’
Lancashire-born Phil wanted to avoid the ‘dystopian nightmare that is couple vlogging’ but admitted it’s ‘hard to stop yourself’ when you notice the kind of engagement you get with relationship content.
In his mid-20s, Howell admitted he was so ‘deep in the closet’ that he ‘felt we had to hide the relationship because I was still hiding who I was to my friends, family, myself’
Meanwhile, Lester ‘felt like I’d gone back in a mini closet in a way, which was weird’ saying: ‘I kind of just wanted to give you time to figure out what you wanted to do’
The inseparable roommates eventually came out as gay and queer, respectively, two weeks apart in June 2019 but 34-year-old Dan stipulated at the time: ‘Am I totally gay? No’
Another reason Dan and Phil kept quiet about their private bond was they preferred being professionally known as a comedy duo than gay boyfriends: ‘Being funny, entertaining. Let’s be honest, there’s a lot of homophobia out there’
The former supermarket staffer and the former dog walker have amassed millions of subscribers across multiple channels, hosted BBC Radio 1 shows, hosted Brit Awards livestreams, published two bestselling books, and headlined three joint tours (pictured in 2016)
‘You are sharing your life and you are selling the perfect relationship on Instagram. Look at how we kiss. Look at how we vacation in Santorini,’ Howell described.
‘And then when your relationship inevitably goes wrong, not only do you have a personal problem, you’ve destroyed your entire professional life because congratulations everybody got invested in the storyline of your relationship.
‘And when you f***ed it up, because God forbid you’re just living your life like a normal person, you’ve ruined their favorite TV show. How dare you destroy that for them!’
The content creators announced they’ll soon launch the Dan and Phil podcast.
’15 years of suppressing all of these stories and opinions and they’re finally gonna come out,’ Lester joked.
The former supermarket staffer and the former dog walker have amassed millions of subscribers across multiple channels, hosted BBC Radio 1 shows, hosted Brit Awards livestreams, published two bestselling books, and headlined three joint tours.
