YouTube stars with a combined viewership of nearly 10 million subscribers have revealed that they have been in a relationship for 16 years.
Dan Howell, known online as danisnotonfire, and Phil Lester, known as AmazingPhil, rose to fame after starting their YouTube channels in 2009.
Moving to a flat in London together, the pair would film comedy clips along with gaming videos from their bedrooms.
As their channels grew, Howell and Lester became Radio 1 presenters, initially hosting a Sunday night request show in 2013 before moving to a new Monday show known as ‘The Internet Takeover’, which ran until April 2016.
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Their careers have continued to skyrocket over the years, taking on a global tours, with their most recent stage show, ‘Terrible Influence’, having concluded earlier this year.
Now, Howell and Lester have shocked fans by posting a new YouTube video to their joint channel, where they shared that they have been in a relationship for the last 16 years.
Addressing the rumors, they posed the question in the video, ‘Are Dan and Phil in a relationship?’, to which they both answered ‘yes’.
Detailing the relationship, Howell explained: “We fell into it hard and fast in 2009 and here we are almost 16 years later.”
Lester added: “It was so fast that we never labeled it. We just ended up living together and here we are.”
There has been speculation among fans over the years as to whether the pair are a couple, with some even giving them the ship name, ‘Phan’.
Lester continued: “No, it's not always perfect. Don’t get it into your head that we are the ideal of human partnerships.”
Howell went on to say: “We have had ups and downs like anybody. We have lived a thousand lifetimes of a normal person’s partnership and I have no idea why we’ve survived.”
The video was posted 12 hours ago at the time of writing and already has nearly 1.5 million views.
Many people took to the YouTube comment section to react to the news, with one user writing: “Locals are describing it as a ‘category 5 tumblr event’.”
Another said: “dan’s therapist is gonna take the fattest bong rip and ascend into the sky like mufasa ‘my work here is done’.”
A third person commented: “the logistical nightmare of not being able to call your partner your partner for 15+ years literally how did yall do it.”
And a fourth added: “this is like gay independence day.”