Distracted Boyfriend meme: Models and photographer reveal what really happened
One of the most recognisable memes of the past decade has its roots in a simple stock photo shoot in Spain.
Nearly a decade after it first exploded online, the Distracted Boyfriend meme remains one of the internet’s most durable templates. People still label the three figures in the classic object-labelling style. The man represents whoever (or whatever) is being distracted, the girlfriend stands for the neglected option, and the woman in red is the tempting alternative.
The meme works so well because… unfortunately, it happens in real life.
Recently, Manchester City and Spain midfielder Rodri was photographed during a holiday in Ibiza walking with his partner and glancing at another woman, triggering an immediate wave of comparisons to the classic image.
But how did the iconic meme come to be?
Barcelona-based advertising photographer Antonio Guillem took the “distracted boyfriend” meme in Catalonia in 2015. Within two years, it had spread across Facebook and what was then Twitter (now X) Both models in the photo have worked with Guillem for years and have chosen to remain anonymous, known only as Mario and Laura.
Laura described the 2015 shoot as “curious and funny,” particularly the more humorous takes that later defined the meme.
“When people saw us simulate those scenes in the street, they stopped to look and laugh,” she told The Hollywood Reporter in 2017. “In my case I had to have a more serious face, and I had a hard time keeping it.”
Mario recalled the mild embarrassment of performing the exaggerated expression in public.
“There were people watching and laughing and I had to make this silly face. But in the end, like we always do, I just forgot they were there and did my job. I remember it like a learning experience, and I had fun with my team.”
The pair only realised the image had gone viral when friends began tagging them in posts, and Guillem started forwarding interview requests.
“People just started sending these memes to me, filling up my social media, even people I hadn’t seen for many years,” Mario said.
Laura noted that she is rarely recognised in everyday life. “Maybe if I put the face of the meme, someone could recognise me, but no, no one has recognised me yet. Even some friends of mine told me, ‘Look, this girl looks like you’, and I said, ‘It’s me!’”
She added that most people can relate to the scenario in some way: “I think everyone once in their lives has been the girl in the red dress, maybe without being looked at with such brazenness.” Mario quickly clarified that he would never look at someone that way in real life. Guillem himself was surprised by the photo’s lasting effect. Speaking to New York’s Select All, he said: “I never thought that one of my images will be that popular. I didn’t even know what a meme is until recently, when the models started to tell me.”
More than a decade on, the image continues to be shared, remixed and recreated around the world, an example of how a single stock photograph can capture the internet’s imagination.
