A new TikTok that harkens back to the infamous “couch guy” video has gone viral on the platform and is even worse than the original.
TikTok users often go viral on the platform for sharing videos in which they decide to surprise their partners, whether that be traveling from another country or even simply attending an event they said they wouldn’t be able to make.
While more often than not these videos result in sweet and touching moments, these surprises have been known to go wrong on occasion.
A brand new video on TikTok has now gone viral after a girlfriend’s attempt to surprise her boyfriend went horribly wrong, with users calling this clip the new “couch guy” moment.
Who is the “couch guy” on TikTok? Viral video origins explained
The original couch guy video is infamous on TikTok.
In 2021, a TikTok in which Lauren Zarras surprised her then-boyfriend Roberty McKoy went viral on the platform. What was initially planned to be a cute moment quickly turned sour when Zarras found McKoy sitting on a couch surrounded by three other women.
As well as amassing hundreds of millions of views, this TikTok spawned countless parodies and replicas commonly referred to as the “couch guy” trend on the platform.
TikTok’s new “couch guy” video is even worse than the original
In a now-deleted video that has been shared across the platform on other accounts, TikToker Carleigh B (@carbar3) decided to surprise her partner, captioning the video, “Surprising my boyfriend on New Year’s Eve (he thought I was working).
Instead of getting met with a smile, Carleigh’s boyfriend is visibly shocked when she appears, some even claiming he looks “terrified” to see her at the party. When the TikToker goes in to embrace her boyfriend, he can be seen flinching away, still clearly shocked by her presence but not in the way she had intended.
The initial clip has spawned over 46 million impressions under the hashtag carbar3, with users calling the boyfriend out for his response, sharing how they are getting “bad vibes” from him, and expressing their confusion over his negative reaction to her appearance.
“This isn’t like she’s crashing his like, private gym session or meditation or like, his weekend fishing with the boys or whatever. It’s a freaking New Year’s party. And if I thought I wasn’t gonna be able to spend New Year’s like, with my partner and then they showed up after all, I’d be excited,” wrote one user.
“I just saw the couch guy video and it doesn’t even come close to this,” a second wrote. “This guy was mad mad.”
Digging deeper into the situation, multiple TikTok users also shared that they found the couple on Facebook and that the reasoning behind his negative response is due to them being a very fresh couple.
“Someone said they found their Facebook and they have only been together for a month,” claimed another. “So it seems he’s upset a girl he’s hardly been dating just shows up to a family/friend event without an invite.”
With no follow-up video or explanation at the time of writing, TikTokers have been left begging to know more about the situation and why this new “couch guy” responded the way he did.