Viral Video Of Teen Surprising Her Boyfriend At College Has Convinced TikTok Users That He’s Cheating
Do you see anything wrong here?
TikTok Whispers of “couch guy” have been drifting across the internet as social media weighs in on a polarizing viral video.
Originating from TikTok, "couch guy" has sparked quite the debate about cheating, gaslighting, lying and exactly how someone is supposed to react when surprised by a long-distance partner.
What is 'couch guy' on TikTok?
This viral trend refers to a video that was posted by TikTok user laurenzarras in which she surprises her boyfriend who has been at college and hasn’t seen her in a month.
The video is about 20 seconds long and has been viewed over 52 million times since it was posted on September 21st. The original TikTok has spawned a viral wave of videos reacting to, analyzing, and commenting on the people and events depicted in the video.
In the video Lauren, accompanied by several friends, enters the room with her bags to see Robbie sitting on a couch with three other girls.
Robbie, now more commonly known online as “couch guy” sees Lauren and slowly gets up to hug her. On first viewing, the video seems fairly innocuous, but in the following days, viewers began to come to conclusions about the video.
Some have accused 'couch guy' of cheating on his girlfriend.
The whole interaction appears to be somewhat awkward as Robbie unenthusiastically rises to meet his girlfriend who he hasn’t seen in weeks.
The comments on the post quickly filled with people trying to tell Lauren that Robbie was acting strangely in the video and that he was probably cheating on her with one the other girls on the couch.
Lauren posted a video shortly after the responses began, defending her relationship and asking everyone else to mind their own business.
Searching “couch guy” yields myriad other videos that have been created in response to the original. Internet sleuths all across TikTok have weighed in, evaluated the evidence and delivered their verdict. The boyfriend, couch guy, Robbie, is guilty of cheating on Lauren. Case closed.
Sharp eyed TikTok detectives spied what looks like the moment when one of the girls on the couch quickly removes her hand from Robbie’s back upon seeing Lauren.
Others have tried to determine whether or not one of the girls on the couch was holding Robbie’s phone when Lauren enters only to use some impressive sleight of hand to slip it back to Robbie as he begins to get up to embrace his girlfriend.
Other TikTok users have defended 'couch guy' from the cheating allegations.
Millions of viewers and scores of viral responses are all breaking down the contents of the 20-second video.
It feels like every frame of this video has been covered from every angle. Everything from Tiktoks uncovering incriminating, pixelated details to a 17-minute long body language analysis has been created since the original post over a week ago.
While the internet’s consensus is that Robbie is cheating, some are trying to debunk the evidence of infidelity in the video.
Even some of the girls and guys — and Robbie himself — in the video have come forward to defend the couple and insist that there's nothing untoward going on.
Most people, however, seem to be either passing judgment on Robbie or riding the ridiculousness of the whole situation. Perhaps the most amusing thing to come out of the whole couch guy viral trend is the parodies, showing exaggerated recreations of the original couch guy video.
It’s unfair to try and pass judgment on Robbie based on this tiny glimpse into his relationship with Lauren. Maybe he is cheating, maybe he isn’t.
The only thing that’s certain is that all of these exasperated-looking TikTokers analyzing the whole 20 seconds of evidence that is available have thrived riding the couch guy viral wave. The original poster, laurenzarras also seems to have come out ahead, gaining millions of views and even selling couch guy T-shirts.
When life gives you lemons.
Dan O'Reilly is a writer who covers news, politics and social justice.