When did Dan and Phil meet? All we know about Daniel Howell and Philip Lester’s relationship

British YouTubers Daniel James Howell and Philip Michael Lester, better known as the duo Dan and Phil, recently revealed on their joint YouTube channel, Dan and Phil (previously DanAndPhilGAMES), that they have been in a long-term romantic relationship for the last 16 years.

On October 13, 2025, they uploaded a 46-minute video, which was titled “Are Dan and Phil in a Relationship?” In it, the duo stated that they began dating in 2009, soon after their first meeting. Later, Daniel and Philip moved in together in 2011. However, they haven’t married yet. In the video, Dan stated,

“We fell into it hard and fast in 2009. It was so fast that we never labeled it. We just ended up living together, and here we are! almost 16 years later… We are just more compatible with each other than anyone we will ever meet.”

Phil added by saying that,

"We're partners in everything. And no, it's not always perfect. Don't get into your head that we are the ideal of human partnerships."

According to Wiki Fandom, Dan and Phil first met in person at the Manchester Piccadilly railway station near the latter’s hometown on October 19, 2009. Before that, they were Skype friends for three years after Dan stumbled across Phil’s YouTube channel in 2006 and later reached out to him via X (formerly Twitter) and DailyBooth.

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More about Dan and Phil’s relationship

According to Wiki Fandom, after three years of being internet friends, Dan and Phil met at a railway station in October 2009. The pair spent the day together and visited other places such as the Manchester Eye Ferris Wheel, Cloud 23 Hilton Sky Bar and Starbucks that day.

Less than a week later, Daniel and Philip released a video on the former’s YouTube channel titled, “How to Befriend Your Favourite Internet Stars.” They soon began dating and moved in together two years later, on August 10, 2011, into a shared flat in Manchester.

The YouTuber duo relocated to a flat in London in July 2012. Five years later, they bought two flats in the same building, for living and work, respectively.

Over the years, Dan and Phil have made content for their individual channels as well as the collaborative one. Between 2009 and 2018, they hosted an annual video series called “Phil is Not On Fire.” In 2014, they launched the joint channel, DanAndPhilGAMES, where they played video games and provided the viewers with commentary called “bants.”

The pair went into hiatus in December 2018 and resumed making content in October 2023. Dan and Phil’s other collaborative projects include writing a book titled The Amazing Tour is Not On Fire in March 2015, going on a book tour, releasing a YouTube film based on their tour, and unveiling their original song, The Internet is Here.

An April Fool’s prank channel was launched in 2015 called DanAndPhilCRAFTS. It released annual videos for three years until it went defunct. The channel was restored in 2024. Between 2014 and 2016, Howell and Lester hosted the online airing of the Brit Awards and interviewed artists, including Ariana Grande, Taylor Swift, Ed Sheeran, and One Direction.

Over the years, the duo also hosted radio shows, including The Internet Takeover, Request Show, and The Student Radio Playlist. Dan and Phil have also worked for BBC Radio One, including hosting Sunday shows and Christmas episodes. The pair also served as voice artists on the 2015 Disney project Big Hero 6.

Their world tours, “Interactive Introverts” and “Terrible Influence,” also became popular. Daniel and Philip launched their own SIM card in 2014, partnering with EE. It was only available in the UK and included access to exclusive messages, pictures, and ringtones from the YouTubers.

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Phil and Dan publicly came out as gay in 2019

In June 2019, Dan and Phil came out as gay in their separate videos, “Basically I’m Gay” and “Coming Out to You,” respectively. At the time, Dan said of Phil:

“And obviously we were more than friends, but it was more than just romantic, this is someone that genuinely liked me, I trusted them, and for the first time since I was a tiny child, I actually felt safe… We are real best friends, companions through life, like actual soulmates.”

According to Dan and Phil’s latest video announcing their relationship, their “Phandom” had dedicated fans who were interested in their content. However, some were more keen on learning about their private life, which became “too loud to ignore.” For years, it made them “suppress it,” rather than choosing to “address it,” until recently.

The couple further revealed that "Phan" (Phil + Dan) is “real” and that they took so long to announce their romance because they didn’t like to be “put in a box.”

“If anything happened in our private life, if we ever decided we didn’t want to speak to each other… We would destroy our own careers,” Dan stated.

Meanwhile, Phil added that the decision to announce their relationship was a “big scary deal” for them and compared it to the time when they came out as gay. He mentioned the revelation would also help advance their social lives and careers.

“It’s not convenient trying to have a career as an entertainer and being like ‘I will do no interviews,'” Phil explained.

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According to Mail Online, the duo is set to host a new podcast.