The “Bridget Jones’ Baby” soundtrack. The awkward head bop. The not-so-discreet phone pass. By now, couch guy has taken over TikTok. In case you’ve somehow avoided this hot mess so far, let me explain.
On September 24, TikTok user @laurenzarras posted what was intended to be a sweet video of her surprising her boyfriend Robbie at college. However, things didn’t go as planned. The video, which now has 62 million views and counting, seemed to rub the entire internet the wrong way.
So, let’s get into it.
Allow me to set the scene. You’ve just come to visit your long-distance boyfriend who has no idea you’re coming. One of his friends lets you into their apartment, and you see your boyfriend sitting on the couch with three other girls. Instead of jumping up to hug you right away, he ducks his head and reaches under his arm toward the girl sitting next to him. His guy friends are laughing. His girl friends are looking in every direction but yours. Then, your boyfriend stands up, phone in hand, and gives you a hug. But not just any hug. A slouchy, relative-you’re-not-super-close-with-but-your-mom-told-you-to-be-polite-to hug. Needless to say, viewers were quick to notice that the vibe was seriously off.
First of all, aside from couch guy’s obviously understated reaction to seeing his girlfriend, let’s talk about his friends. As soon as Lauren walks into the room, all the girls on the couch immediately look away, avoiding eye contact. As one TikTok user commented, “Girls know the vibes of other girls. WE ALL GOT THE SAME FEELING, sorry you don’t wanna see it.” These girls clearly don’t want her there.
As weird as the girls’ reactions are, the vibes from his male friends might somehow be worse. When Lauren comes in, they all clear out to the sides of the room and look on with awkward laughter. They know something’s going on. One man in the comments said, “as a dude… issa no from me dawg.” It feels like they’re all laughing at some inside joke that Lauren isn’t part of.
After receiving over 13,000 comments that almost unanimously insist her boyfriend is cheating, Lauren posted this comment on her own video: “breaks my heart that people can watch a special moment and bring so much negativity. please think before you assume anything about my relationship.”
Instead of stopping the criticism, though, this comment seemed to spur users on more, such as one person who responded, “not bringing negativity just reading the room bestie.” The consensus on the video seemed to be that Lauren is in denial of the fact that her boyfriend is cheating on her.
Although the evidence seems pretty overwhelming, both Lauren and Robbie have denied all claims that he cheated, and much to the entire internet’s disappointment, they are still together. In fact, they seem to be taking the whole thing as a joke. Lauren recently posted a TikTok saying she’s released official “couch guy” merch.
Even if he is cheating, which is the most common takeaway from the video, it’s ultimately between Lauren and Robbie to decide how to move forward with their relationship. As anyone who’s tried to talk a friend out of a toxic relationship knows, sometimes the only way for it to end is to let it run its course. Until then, maybe Lauren can take comfort in the fact that the entire internet jumped to defend her when she posted this video.
In the end, the intentions are good, but we don’t know what’s going on in their relationship, and we shouldn’t presume to. If they’re happy in their relationship, that’s all that matters.
(That phone pass is still pretty suspicious, though.)