British YouTubers Dan Howell and Phil Lester have revealed they have been in a secret relationship for the past 16 years.
The duo have been collaborating on reaction videos and skits since 2009 and have since worked together on books, CBBC programmes and Radio 1 shows, including The Internet Takeover.
In a surprise video released by the pair on Monday, titled “Are Dan and Phil in a Relationship?,” Howell said they started a relationship in 2009.
“It was so fast that we never labelled it. We just ended up living together and here we are!’
Lester 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.”
Howell, 34, said that he was “deep in the closet” and “felt we had to hide the relationship because I was still hiding who I was to my friends, family, myself”.
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He also said one of the primary reasons he kept the relationship a secret was because he feared he “wouldn’t handle people’s reactions”.
Meanwhile, Lester, 38, said he felt like he’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,” he continued. “So I kind of just wanted to give you time to figure out what you wanted to do.”
The two have lived together for the past 14 years and both came out as gay in 2019. However, they opted against revealing their relationship as they preferred being known as a comedy duo rather than boyfriends.
“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,” Howell noted.
“Being funny, entertaining. Let’s be honest, there’s a lot of homophobia out there,” said Lester in agreement.
Howell also conceded that “a lot of straight guys would simply have never watched us” if they had come out as gay earlier.
They were also keen to avoid the “dystopian nightmare that is couple vlogging” which can go awry when a “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,” Howell said.
The couple are now planning to launch their own Dan and Phil podcast, where they will share more details about their relationship.
