The couple officially confirmed their relationship on the cover of 'GQ Hype's Valentine's Day Special.
Emma Chamberlain and musician Role Model have just made things publicly official after nearly three years of dating. The couple confirmed their relationship on the cover of GQ Hype's Valentine's Day Special in what Chamberlain has labeled their "hard launch."
Though the couple has attended a handful of public events together, up until Tuesday's cover, they have intentionally worked to keep their relationship offline -- even shielding Chamberlain's face in the video for "neverletyougo," the song Role Model wrote about falling in love with the Internet personality.
"I know that people are going to be like, 'Emma, you’re a f**king hypocrite,' because I always said this is something I will never do," the Gen-Z YouTube star and podcaster said of bringing their private romance to the forefront. "There’s parts of our relationship that are going to be private forever, and those things we keep sacred. But I don’t think we need to be secret anymore. It’s just like, I’m over that s**t."
She continued, "That used to be my mindset: 'I’m protecting this at all costs and not letting anybody see it.' But, actually, that’s not fun. It’s not f***ing fun. And what’s life about? Having f***ing fun, okay? S**t should just be f***ing fun! Why stop yourself from doing that?"
As for Role Model, whose real name is Tucker Pillsbury, the decision to "hard launch" their romance comes as both he and Chamberlain are growing their careers -- Pillsbury with a pop music career on the rise and Chamberlain parlaying her social media status into a successful Spotify podcast, coffee brand and more.
"We just are trying to be professional within our own careers," Pillsbury explained. "We had conversations about it from the start. My goal was to never be able to attribute my success or anything to someone else," he added of Chamberlain's Internet fame. "I was always very proud of what I had built, so I was very scared I was just going to lose that."
"We have a very just unproblematic, safe, private—when we want to be private—relationship," Pillsbury continued. "We’re never going to be posting photos and selfies of us on a beach in Cabo."
While they've worked to keep their relationship off social media, it's ironically where things all started with the pair, with Pillsbury first sliding into Chamberlain's DMs back in the early weeks of March 2020. They texted nonstop for two months before they ever met in person.
"We were all desperate, we were scared of being alone," Pillsbury said of starting their relationship at the height of the COVID-19 pandemic. "You do this thing where you’re texting someone for two months, where you’re just fantasizing about the meeting every day. I was like, 'Oh, my god. She’s going to jump into my arms.'"
Things went down a little differently when they actually did meet. Pillsbury showed up at Chamberlain's doorstep with pizza from Crossroads Kitchen, and then she opened the door and let him in.
"I had pizza boxes, so I couldn't even touch her," the "forever&more" singer recalled. "I couldn’t speak because I was shaking," Chamberlain added. "I didn’t want to be near him, because I was like, 'He’ll see that I'm shaking, so I have to be far away.'"
While things got off to an awkward start, after a group hang, they were full steam ahead. The relationship is a first for Pillsbury.
"Truthfully, I’ve always genuinely been against them. I can’t express it enough," he said of relationships. "I really was never picturing myself truly being in love -- in love with someone and wanting to take care of someone, which just makes me sound like a d**k. But I’ve honestly never... aside from my best friends, I’ve never felt the desire to take care of someone and be there for them."
"I never thought that you could have someone that you feel like is your best friend and you want to sleep with them," Pillsbury added -- until he met Chamberlain. "That’s what clicked. It’s like having a best friend that you can make out with."
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