Watching people pine for one another, in fiction or reality, is always fun. And when a love triangle emerges, things get even more entertaining. On TikTok, where drama thrives, a recent love triangle saga has enraptured millions of viewers.
For about six months, a steadily growing number of viewers have followed the romantic journey of Ayamé, a U.K.-based TikToker, who is being courted by two other TikTokers, to see who she will choose. The suitors are Yuval, a U.S.-based creator who uses small details in people’s videos to find their exact location (in some cases, exactly where they’re standing), and Oliver Mills, a TikToker from New Zealand who posts videos of himself singing, boxing, or sharing his opinions.
Over TikTok, Ayamé is playing a game of cat and mouse with the two men, leaving breadcrumbs of admiration for them, acknowledging their advancements, and teasing them to make more. In turn, Yuval and Oliver have made videos fighting for her attention. Yuval’s TikToks show him using his CIA-level tracking skills to leave Ayamé a romantic note at her local coffee shop; Oliver uses his good looks to charm her. The close to 50 videos collectively made by the three creators have have accumulated over 189.6 million views on TikTok.
The saga began in December 2023 when Yuval used his popular series of finding people’s locations and stitched one of Ayamé’s videos reviewing a hotel, and pinpointed where she was staying.
It “seemed like a fun challenge” to try and guess exactly where she was, Yuval tells TIME. After this, Ayamé continued to post videos dropping clues about her location, asking Yuval to find her. She would always post the videos after she left the place, keeping him chasing.
Yuval’s videos became increasingly more in-depth as he continued to up the ante with more elaborate moves. At one point, Ayamé posted a video wearing a deep blue and orange pajama set and Yuval responded to it with a video of his own, where he ends the video wearing the same pajama set.
Things got more intense after Ayamé posted a video in May that showed her flirting with Oliver during a video shoot for an Audible ad to make Yuval jealous. Oliver added fuel to the fire by making videos declaring his love for Ayamé. In one video posted on May 21, he lip-synced to the Michael Jackson and Paul McCartney song, “The Girl is Mine.”
Oliver says that his feelings for Ayamé are genuine. “Ayame is one of the funniest people I’ve ever met; we got on really well,” he tells TIME in an email. “We stayed in contact after I had returned to New Zealand, and I couldn’t stop thinking about how much fun we had at the shoot. She really inspired me, and I knew I had to do something big to get her attention.” That same day, he posted a video singing along to “Can’t Take My Eyes Off of You” by Frankie Valli.
Facing the competition, Yuval has engaged directly with Oliver. He found Oliver’s address and sent flowers and a note, in which he tells Oliver to back off.
Audiences have enjoyed the modern-day Team Jacob or Team Edward debate. Even Ayamé has poked fun at the love triangle, joking about the situation being reminiscent of Challengers or a scene out of Bridgerton.
As more and more people tune in to the love triangle drama, Ayamé and Yuval have used their viral moment to highlight initiatives like Pass the Hat and Operation Olive Branch, which raise money to support families during the war in Gaza. On May 9, Yuval shared a video saying he wanted to fly to the UK and that he’d buy a plane ticket if his followers met the $200,000 goal for a GoFundMe set up to help a family in Gaza. In less than 24 hours, Yuval’s followers helped meet the goal.
“People want to be entertained, and the more they're entertained, the more they feel appreciative and they're in a good mood to give more,” says Ayamé. She says she’s raised about £250,000 (more than $300,000) for causes related to Palestinian relief and Yuval says he raised £500,000 (over $636,000). While Oliver has not directly called out fundraisers, he has a GoFundMe link in his TikTok bio that takes users to a fundraiser for a family raising money to rebuild their home, get access to food, shelter, medicine, and basic needs.
Yuval has even created fake drama to attract viewers and encourage them to donate money. In a video he posted on May 27, he made it seem like he could no longer go on pursuing Ayamé. “The truth is, I can no longer in good conscience continue with this series given some truly upsetting things that I’ve learned about the people I’ve been doing this with,” he says. But after sharing a link to a GoFundMe and asking followers to help him reach his goal, Yuval ends the video by confirming he’ll still be part of the love triangle.
As of mid-June, the love triangle continues. Ayamé, Yuval, and Oliver might meet up soon, according to her rep, who says “They are all going to be in the same room this summer.” The latest update followers have gotten is from Yuval, after he found the café where Ayamé and Oliver filmed their Audible commercial. He got a drink at the café named after their ship name—the Yuvamé—and got Oliver banned from the establishment.
Ayamé is in no rush to make a choice. She says she loves them both. “I am incredibly in love with [Yuval] because he is incredibly smart,” she says. But when she met Oliver, they immediately clicked. “Our personalities mesh quite well and our comedy is quite the same, then I fell in love with him.”
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Write to Moises Mendez II at moises.mendez@time.com