YouTube fans everywhere rejoice as Dan Howell and Phil Lester, two longtime creators on the platform, announce they have been in a relationship for the entirety of their 16-year-long career.
Monday, Oct. 13, Howell and Lester posted a 45–minute video titled “Are Dan and Phil in a Relationship? The Truth.” The video covers the origins of their ship, when fans pair two people or characters together in a romantic relationship, called “Phan,” how invasive their fans got, why they decided to wait so long, and finally, the reveal of the relationship.
As of now, the YouTube video has over three million views, with fans online ecstatic at the reveal.
“Genuinely so happy for Dan and Phil … they’ve come SO FAR over the years,” X user @yeahitselliot wrote.
Howell and Lester, as a duo, first emerged on YouTube in 2009, when they met each other in real life for the first time. Following that, they spent the next 16 years together recording content, living together and growing their channels.
To Addi Hoar, a sophomore studying family consumer science and long-time fan, said the reveal was shocking but fantastic news.
“I am so happy that they were comfortable [enough] to announce that,” Hoar said. “This is such a big step.”
Since Howell and Lester’s most prominent era of popularity was from 2009-19, many people began watching them as children and have grown up alongside them.
“I just texted literally everyone I knew in 8th grade,” TikToker Ali Marie said on Lester’s TikTok about the relationship reveal. “I’m literally 25 now.”
Ultimately, the decision to wait to reveal their relationship was a cautious choice. As their fans, known as the “phandom,” had many cases of being dangerously invasive, including leaking private videos Howell and Lester posted, using them as “evidence” they were in a relationship.
Some harassed people Howell and Lester knew in real life, revealing the address of their apartment and overanalyzing mistakes not edited out of videos. This high surveillance caused a strain on the pair’s mental health, as well as their relationship.
“And I think this negatively impacted [our relationship] because when your relationship is a huge part of all of this stress, it's hard not to let that affect what's going on,” Lester said.
Being a fan of a content creator is a delicate balance of enjoying their content while also not crossing any boundaries. To maintain safe and healthy relationships with people who post online, fans should remember content creators are entitled to privacy, and they have the right to choose what personal information to make public.
“I go with the rule that we don't even know more than they tell us,” Hoar said.
Gay marriage was legalized in 2015, six years after Howell and Lester officially entered a relationship. Being openly out about sexuality was not widely accepted.
Howell admitted a lot of his reluctance to go public has to do with his homophobic upbringing.
“In my mid twenties, I felt we had to hide the relationship because I was still hiding who I was to my friends, my family and myself,” Howell said. “And this is why all of the digging from people online hit a nerve, because Phil was my safe space … so when other people tried to grab it and drag it into the light, I felt completely violated.”
That being said, the fact that the pair now feels comfortable enough to go public is big news for the LGBTQIA+ community, with Howell and Lester being an example of a healthy, long-term gay relationship that has grown through adversity.
The phandom was mainly popular on Tumblr and consisted largely of LGBTQIA+ teenagers. For many, watching Howell and Lester created a safe space and a community when it was hard to find one.
In both Howell and Lester’s coming-out videos, as well as their relationship reveal, they mentioned themes of growing up with feelings of shame and sadness. Being open about the realities of being gay creates a community and an open, honest conversation that’s needed.
Following the relationship reveal video, the couple plans to continue uploading to their main channels with a new, rebranded logo and office, as well as begin recording a podcast titled “Hard Launch.”
“Everybody's just really, really excited to see what comes next,” Hoar said. “And we're just really happy to see that they're so comfortable after everything they've been through,” Hoar said.
