YouTube Couple Blames the Pressure and Facade of Vlogging for Split

In a 10-minute video, a popular YouTube couple has announced a break from both vlogging and their highly public relationship.

“I don’t even know how to start this,” begins a somber Jesse Wellens. “This is the hardest video we’ve ever had to make on YouTube.”

He and his girlfriend Jeana Smith have been vlogging daily on their YouTube channel BFvsGF for about seven years – something they both now recognize was extremely unhealthy for their relationship, ultimately contributing to its demise. Of course, none of the hardships were shared with their viewers, who instead saw the well-constructed illusion of a perfect life and LOL-filled, #couplegoals-worthy relationship.

But as most of us are now well aware, few lives and relationships are as great as they appear online.

“Everybody has issues,” the parting couple acknowledges in the video. Just like most of us are guilty of curating idealized versions our lives on social media, they were doing so on a much larger level and to a mass audience. Wellens says the experience made him question whether he was behaving out of love for Jeana or if he was doing so for the purpose of the video – a situation, he says, that became toxic.

Smith says that when there is so much public judgment on your relationship, other people’s opinions may form in your own thoughts.

Despite their struggles, the couple maintained a happy façade to keep their viewers happy. Recently, they reached a breaking point and realized they couldn’t continue. Wellens will move to New York City while Smith will stay in Philadelphia for the immediate future.

Their advice to other couples? If you want to be a vlogger, don’t make it a joint venture. In fact, the couple stops short of recommending not working with your significant other in any capacity. “It’s not good to spend so much time with somebody and do business together – it creates friction,” says Wellend.

As for the rest of us, let this be a daily reminder that few things are as “perfect” as they seem through a screen.

 

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