When your public identity is being the ‘Overly Attached Girlfriend,’ life is bound to be interesting. Laina Morris, the woman behind the viral meme, recently found out exactly what having a clingy online persona means for her dating life
When your public identity is being the ‘Overly Attached Girlfriend,’ life is bound to be… interesting.
Laina Morris, the woman behind the viral meme, recently found out exactly what having a clingy online persona means for her dating life. Appearing on a podcast called Assumptions on Anthony Padilla’s YouTube channel, Morris sat down with host Tommy Bowe and fellow viral meme sensations Tay Zonday and Keith Leak Jr. to talk about *drumroll* her viral meme!
The 33-year-old was asked whether her meme always comes up when she’s dating someone new, and her response was all sorts of heartbreaking. Talking about how it’s been a brand new thing for her to navigate in the last few years, the YouTuber admitted that “it’s been a challenge.”
The meme sensation shared how she was on a date once, and “it was a problem.” Revealing how her date actually “ended early” because it got “very awkward,” Morris disclosed that, upon showing her date her viral meme, they said, “That… is you?”
Her date then proceeded to text people to share the news and started googling her while she sat there. Morris dejectedly shared that the date ended with the person saying, “I can’t believe I just went on a date with the Overly Attached Girlfriend.”
Although she admits this has only happened once so far, it doesn’t take too much imagination to deduce that being a viral meme sensation — especially one called the ‘Overly Attached Girlfriend’ — would come with its own set of very unique challenges.
Morris became an overnight internet sensation in 2012, at the tender age of 20, and life hasn’t been the same since. “Strangers were finding my personal Facebook page and talking to my friends,” Morris told Refinery29 . “They were finding where I worked and trying to access my college records.”
The Texan native had initially filmed the YouTube video (from which her viral meme was born) as part of an online Justin Bieber contest where participants had to perform their own versions of Bieber’s smash-hit ‘Boyfriend.’ To fill in the space at the video’s start , Morris decided to stare blankly into space while making her eyes as wide as she could. She hit ‘upload’ and forgot all about her video—until the comments started pouring in.
Somehow, her video found itself on Reddit and garnered millions of views. A day later, a Redditor going by the name yeahhtoast took a screenshot from the video, photoshopped in some words in white text, and the Overly Attached Girlfriend was born.
Fast forward 12-odd years, and it’s true what they say: The internet never forgets.
How do you think your dating life would be affected if you became a viral meme sensation? Let us know in the comments section.
