YouTubers Dan and Phil confirm 16-year relationship
After years of rumors and fan speculation, YouTubers Dan Howell and Phil Lester have finally confirmed their relationship.
Popularly known as Dan and Phil, the creators opened up about their dating life in a 46-minute video titled "Are Dan and Phil in a Relationship?" on Tuesday, October 14.
"Yes," Phil answered candidly in the video.
The two, shipped together by fans as "Phan," had already come out as part of the LGBTQIA+ community in different YouTube videos, but only confirmed that they were dating recently.
"We fell into it hard and fast in 2009 and here we are almost 16 years later," Dan said.
He added that they never labelled it and they just ended up living together.
For his part, Phil said that they're "partners in everything."
"It's not always perfect. Don't get into your head that we are the ideal of human partnerships," he said.
Dan added that they've had their share of ups and downs. "If you're a mess, we're a mess."
"We are weird. We are a bizarre example of a relationship. Like, we've been attached at the hip 24/7 for 15 years."
The duo revealed that they chose to keep their romance private due to how it affects their work.
"Dan and Phil, the comedy duo, and Dan and Phil, the gay boyfriends, it hits different," Dan said.
"We have been held back from doing this for so many years 'cause of all the past trauma, and terror of what could happen in the future."
After finally going public, Dan and Phil shared that they'll continue to create videos that make their viewers laugh.
"If you'll have us, we'd love to just finally be ourselves and do what we love, which is really how this should have been this whole time," Phil said.
The duo began their YouTube journey in 2009, creating entertaining gaming content through their joint channel, where they played a variety of popular games, including The Sims, Five Nights at Freddy's, and Just Dance, among others.
They also became presenters of a radio show and wrote a book titled The Amazing Book Is Not on Fire.
