Dan and Phil dating: Did 'Phan' post a Valentine's Day video in 2010?
According to 'Phan' fans, Dan Howell and Phil Lester hinted at their relationship as early as Valentine's Day 2010.
Popular YouTubers Dan Howell and Phil Lester surprised fans on Monday by officially confirming their long-rumored romantic relationship. In a new video posted to their shared channel on Monday, the duo revealed that they have been dating since 2009, the year they first met.
The video opens with Howell sitting down on camera and addressing the long-standing speculation, "Alright, let's get this over with. Are Dan and Phil in a relationship?"
Without hesitation, Lester responds simply, "Yes."
Later in the video, they shared more personal details about how their relationship began and evolved.
"We fell into it hard and fast in 2009 and here we are almost 16 years later," Howell said.
Jokingly, Lester responded, "Stop telling me how long it was. So yeah, relationship, boyfriends."
The pair explained that they never felt the need to label their relationship in its early days
"It was so fast that we never labeled it," Howell said. "We just ended up living together and here we are."
Both Howell and Lester publicly came out as gay in 2019.
Did 'Phan' post a Valentine's Day video in 2010?
Following the announcement, long-time fans resurfaced an old theory: that Dan and Phil hinted at their relationship as early as Valentine's Day 2010.
According to a fan-run website, Phil allegedly made an "extremely personal" video for Dan as a Valentine’s Day "gift."
As per the site, Dan later claimed it was originally intended as an April Fool’s joke video, in which Phil "expressed his love" for Dan.
The video was reportedly uploaded privately to Phil's LessAmazingPhil channel on February 13, 2010, with the intention of making it public on April Fool's Day.
According to the same source, the video was accidentally made public on September 17, 2011, due to a YouTube glitch, and remained online for around three hours before being removed. During that time, it's believed a number of fans saw the video.
Phil allegedly contacted some of those viewers directly, explaining that it was never meant to be released and was intended as a prank that was ultimately scrapped. He reportedly asked that it not be shared or reposted.
The original video is no longer available, and HT.com cannot independently verify its existence.
