After more than a decade of speculation, beloved YouTube duo Dan Howell and Phil Lester have confirmed what many fans had long suspected: they’ve been in a relationship for nearly 16 years.
The internet personalities opened up about their romantic history and the emotional journey behind their recent public “hard launch” on the debut episode of their new podcast, Hard Launch with Dan and Phil, which dropped Monday.
The revelation followed a video posted to their shared YouTube channel on Oct. 13, titled Are Dan and Phil in a Relationship? The Truth. In it, the longtime collaborators confirmed that they’ve been romantically linked since 2009, the same year they first met.
“We fell into it hard and fast in 2009,” Howell said in the video. “And here we are almost 16 years later.”
The announcement, which sent shockwaves through the internet and prompted an avalanche of supportive (and hilarious) fan reactions, marked the first time the pair officially acknowledged the nature and depth of their relationship. Though both came out as gay in 2019 via separate YouTube videos, neither had fully clarified the status of their relationship—until now.
Speaking on the first episode of Hard Launch, Howell described the overwhelming sense of relief he felt after the news was finally out.
“Posting that video felt like a huge relief,” Howell told Lester on the podcast. “I just felt like a weight had been lifted. I was worried I was gonna post it—or we were gonna post it—and be like, ‘Oh no, we’ve made a huge mistake.’”
Lester chimed in with a knowing laugh: “There’s no putting this back in the can.”
The podcast offers a more intimate glimpse into the couple’s experience behind the scenes, revealing the emotional complexity of going public after maintaining a private relationship for so long. Howell even shared a bit of advice from his therapist that helped him make the leap: “Dan, you need to stop being scared and just rip the plaster off.”
Despite their initial nerves, the reaction from fans was overwhelmingly positive. According to the pair, they were flooded with supportive comments, messages, and memes following their announcement.
“Obviously, people have processed the news that Dan and Phil have hard launched in different ways,” Howell joked on the podcast. “And very few of them were sincere because the memes were too good.”
He added that the outpouring of affection often came wrapped in internet humor. “Actually, I feel like if people were saying beautiful, articulate things, it just got buried under hilarity.”
Howell and Lester’s careers have been deeply intertwined since they began working together in the late 2000s. The duo built a massive online following through their personal YouTube channels, joint ventures like DanAndPhilGAMES, and their globally successful tours. In October 2023, they revived their gaming channel after a five-year hiatus, a move that reconnected them with fans and laid the groundwork for their third tour, announced in December 2023.
Their personal and professional partnership has been a defining element of their brand, but they were cautious about revealing the romantic side of their relationship to protect their privacy and mental health.
“It’s not always perfect,” Lester said in the announcement video. “Don’t get it into your head that we are the ideal of human partnerships.”
Still, by choosing to be open now, the pair hopes to share more of their authentic selves going forward.
