What is it?
An infamous lie Dan and Phil told in 2012 about how they met.
Summary
In 2009-2011 Dan and Phil said they met each other on Twitter because Dan was a fan, and they befriended each other because they had mutual interests. However in 2012 they for some reason changed the story, saying they met through "a mutual friend". The lie started with Phil and they both kept adding to it over a period of six months, making it less and less believable, until they suddenly stopped mentioning it again. In July 2015 Dan finally broke silence, going back to the original explanation "we met on Twitter and befriended each other."
Receipts
2011 - Original story
2012 - Spiral of liesPretty much I just met him as AmazingPhil. Which inspires all of you out there to just stalk your Youtube subscriptions until they become your best friend, but yeah, pretty much.
Like I just used to @reply him on Twitter like "You saw that film? hey dude I liked that film!" "You got Muse's new album? hey I like Muse's new album!" And then he was like "We seem to have things in common, why not chat on Skype?" and then a couple of months later it was like "Hey dude wanna hang out in town sometime?" and... it sort of went on from there.
(It starts off being pretty believable.)
How did I meet Dan? We were talking on Twitter and then we had a friend that lived in Manchester we both knew... ehm, which was weird. But then yeah, we met up and we went to some Youtube gatherings and stuff, and we became best friends, aw.
Dan: How did you guys meet? On the Internet.
Phil: ...And then we had a friend, in Manchester. It was a coincidence -
Dan: Coinky-dink.
Phil: - of the highest caliber!
How did you meet Phil? Through a mutual friend...
^ In which Dan digs his own grave, because none of that made sense.How did you meet Phil? We had a mutual friend in Manchester and I recognised him off the internet. A lot of people seem to think uhhh, I, used to be a fangirl of Phil, that was only a joke I made for a video, um. I didn’t use to really watch that many British youtubers, when I was like, when I was 14, and I was just watching youtubers for ages. I used to just watch American youtubers really, and gaming videos, I was one of those guys, watching American girls and gaming videos. But I did know who Phil was, so then when I saw him in Manchester I was like "you’re off the internet!"
(Breakdown of what's wrong with this quote under the cut, courtesy of the Phan Directory.)
[spoiler]Let me break down why this is all lies.
“We had a mutual friend in manchester”
Yet we have never been told this friend’s name, or seen them hanging out with them any of the times Dan went and visited Phil in Manchester in 2009.
“I recognised him off the internet…so then when i saw him in Manchester i was like 'you’re off the internet!’"
He purposely makes it seem as though he just happened to be in Manchester one day (visiting the mysterious mutual friend) and then randomly bumped into Phil, and that’s how he met him..
Yet:
That’s totally not Dan and Phil planning them meeting for the first time via Twitter..
And that’s totally not Phil being excited that there is only 12 days until they’re finally going to meet in person.
And that’s totally not Phil saying how ”*excited*“ he is about Dan’s train tickets to Manchester arriving.
Or Phil saying that he’s excited because Dan is coming to his house tomorrow. No, it was totally unplanned and Dan just happened to recognise him off the internet one time when he was in Manchester, sure Dan, whatever you say..
"when i saw him in Manchester"
Yeah, saw him, at the train station, where he intentionally met you..
"A lot of people seem to think uhhh, I, used to be a fangirl of Phil, that was only a joke i made for a video."
list of his comments saying that the ‘joke for a video’ was “kind of exactly what happened with me”…“minus the sillyness”.
list of his comments on Phil’s Space Adventure videos where he is fangilring over how amazing it was.
Tweets to Phil about how great the Space Adventure was
Yeah.. totally not a fangirl of Phil.. I have no clue where any of us would have gotten that idea from.
"I didn’t used to really watch that many British youtubers, when I was like, when I was 14, and i was just watching youtubers for ages. I used to just watch American youtubers, and gaming videos, i was one of those guys, watching American girls and gaming videos"
Yes, because you are talking about when you were an immature 14 year old.. we’re not talking about when you were 14 Dan, we’re talking about when you were being a fangirl of Phil, when you were 17 and 18. In other words, this point you’re making is completely irrelevant.
A lot of people ask me what I think of all the anti-phan things that Dan used to say in 2012 and what they mean for phan, whether it makes me believe in it less. But my answer is no, not at all, because I think it’s pretty clear that a lot of what Dan said in 2012 was just lies to try and cover things up, and this post is a perfect example of that.
I think the real question is, why are they both lying so hard to try and hide how they met?[/spoiler]
Late 2012 is the last time either of them tells the "mutual friend" story. Here, Dan also adds the claim that his video "How To Befriend Your Favourite Internet Stars" (note how he changes the name slighty - sneaky sneaky) was a "joke":
2015 - Back to basics"How did you guys meet? I went to Manchester... to uni. And I knew a guy that knew Phil. It's really boring [laughs], the most least interesting story ever. /.../ I thought you met Phil through stalking him? No that was a joke, on my... How to make internet friends video whatever it was called.
"Editing Tips"Q: How did that come about, how did you guys start working together?
Dan: He was a youtuber like ages ago, like seven years ago, and I was just like a crazy youtube fan, like these guys [turns to the audience] I was a massive stalker just like you. I watched people like charlieissocoollike and Shane Dawson and people like that. So I wanted to become a youtuber and then I had a gap year so I was like "Hey while I'm not doing anything before I go to college why not waste my time making Youtube videos!" Um, and then Phil, I basically harrassed him on Twitter to tell me how to make videos, yeah. Because back then no one had any followers so I was like "Heh, I like Muse, and you like Muse, let's be friends!" And then a career happened. So stalk someone you really like and eventually you'll get through, that's... that's basically... That's a fact. I'm Phil Trash #1 and that's, that's my origin story.
2017Dan: In various interviews this year I've been asked how I meet Phil. And I said, that as he is my youtube senpai, I asked him about a bunch of things including "editing tips". And whilst this may be technically true, we have established by now that I am actually just a giant stalker, and thus the stupidest slash funniest euphemism ever, was created. Okay [laughs] okay yeah, very funny, I admit it. This will never escape me.
August - Edinburgh International Television Festival
Sue Perkins: Let's start at the very very beginning. Where did you two first meet?
Dan: On the internet!
Phil: Origin...yeah, hah
Dan: Normal people don't need to...[mumbles]
Sue: You might want to qualify that.
Dan: I mean it's as dodgy as it sounds to be honest, isn't it. social media strangers.
Phil: Social media...like, dan was coming to university in Manchester and then we hung out in Manchester. made a video. and then more people watched it than a normal video and we were like, 'hang on, we might be on to something, here making a video together.' "
