Dan and Phil Confirm Their Relationship After 16 Years

This article is written by a student writer from the Her Campus at UCF chapter and does not reflect the views of Her Campus.

On Oct. 13, Phil Lester of the notorious Dan and Phil YouTube duo tweeted something that got fans’ attention.

This caused people to immediately start speculating on what the tweet could be talking about, with many users expressing their excitement and nerves. 

Then, about two hours later, the duo released a video titled “Is Phan Real? The Truth.” In the comments, fans immediately prepared themselves for clickbait. However, the clickbait never came. In the 46-minute video, Howell and Lester confirmed that they had been dating for 16 years. This might seem obvious, as the two have been making videos together for over a decade, and fans have always speculated that the two were dating. With many on the outside assuming that the relationship was already confirmed, this is the first time the two have publicly confirmed their relationship. As they said in the video, they were aware that a lot of people knew, or rather had correctly assumed, that the two were together.

That is not the only thing that this video contained, because, as mentioned, the video is over 45 minutes. The video was more than just a confirmation; it was a commentary on parasocial relationships. They discussed how people would deep dive into their personal lives, filming them in public and dissecting any interaction they had in videos. It wasn’t haters or people who had bad intentions; instead, the people dissecting them under a microscope were their own fans, which made it all the more difficult to handle. They would be infantilized by their audience if they didn’t say anything, and if they did address the comments, the fans were unhappy with their denial. 

“Forgiveness and growth is such an important part of life. And in the same way that we all want the people in our lives to give us patience and grace and the benefit of the doubt, if we ever make a mistake. I have to extend that to the world in regards to this story.” 

The duo also addressed the fact that fans do not have the right to every private thing that happens behind the scenes. They admitted that a big part of the reason they hadn’t said anything about the rumors was that Howell was scared of fans’ reactions. They are two gay men, and unfortunately, that was something they had to factor in when considering others’ responses. Howell, in particular, has been open about the bullying and harassment he faced in his youth due to people’s assumptions about his sexuality. With all of the assumptions and digging and tweets, it was as though their entire fanbase wanted to out them, whether they felt comfortable or not wasn’t a variable.

At the end of the video, the two confirmed that yes, they have been together since 2009, and no, their relationship is not perfect, but they feel the most compatible with each other and are happy with that.