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The guy behind the ‘boy holding in a fart in class’ meme has revealed what it was like to find himself suddenly going viral.
Mike McGee - who looks quite different now he’s grown up - has insisted he wasn’t actually holding a fart in when the iconic snap was taken.
McGee claims that in the photo, which was 12.04pm on 24 October, 2013, he simply ‘held his breath and flexed his neck’ - and thus a meme was born.
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In an interview with Buzzfeed back in 2021, McGee said that the photo didn’t go viral for a couple of months after it was taken when it suddenly ‘blew up’ and he found himself getting hundreds of new followers on social media.
Opening up about going viral, he explained: “We’re on Christmas break in December, and I went to sleep one night. I wake up and my phone is really scorching hot. I look on my phone and it has the 20+ notification on your Twitter icon.
“I saw that a guy on Reddit had taken Matthew’s [the guy who captured the photo] tweet and pic stitched it to their own, and it was ‘when you’re holding in a fart next to your crush’. And it just blew up.”
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He continued: “I had all these people tagging me in the photo like, ‘hey, is this you?’. Overnight I went from 700 Twitter followers to 3000 or something like that.”
And it’s not the first time McGee has opened up about the iconic meme. In fact, back in 2018, he spoke about the image to UNILAD, emphasising: “I was not flatulent, by any means!”
Going into detail about the viral moment, McGee added: “Well, the guy who took the picture has been a good friend of mine since I first moved out here to Texas, so he knew I was able to make the face anytime I wanted.
“So he wanted to make a funny twitter caption and told me to make the face. He posted it, and like, two or three months after he posted it, it took off!”
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McGee said he gets recognised ‘all the time’ by ‘random people’ who ‘come up me in the street ask if I’m the meme and what not’.
He went on: “My parents don’t really understand how big and widespread it is so they overlook the whole thing. My friends find it hilarious though!”
“But the best was when I received free Taco Bell for doing the face. I love Taco Bell!” McGee also quipped to UNILAD before confirming he remains ‘very good friends with the girl in the photo', Amber Potter.
Topics: Social Media, Twitter
Claire Reid