Love Triangle star is accused of buying 130,000 Instagram followers to boost his profile

A contestant on Stan’s Love Triangle dating series has been accused of buying more than 130,000 Instagram followers in an attempt to boost their online profile.

Fitness instructor Patrick Hong has raised his eyebrows after his followers mysteriously skyrocketed without explanation.

Hong’s follower count has grown by 131,500 in the past 30 days, which is an unusual growth compared to his co-stars, who followed only a few hundred people.

Love Triangle star Patrick Hong (pictured) has been accused of buying more than 130,000 Instagram followers after participating in the original Stan dating series

Stats from Social Blade show that his followers have gone up by several thousand without explanation, often pointing to bot activity.

Fake profiles often have usernames with strange combinations of numbers and letters. Many of Patrick’s followers have such usernames.

“Two days before the last episode, he only had 4,000 followers… two days later, his account started to increase by 10,000 and 20,000, but no one commented or liked his videos,” a co-star, who wished to remain anonymous, told Daily MailAustralia. .

Social Blade data shows that Hong’s follower count has grown by 131,500 in the last 30 days, which is an unusual growth compared to his co-stars, who were followed by several thousand people

“If they were real followers, his new girlfriend would have gained followers too, but she’s only around 1500.”

“The sad reason Patrick’s buying follower is because he needs constant validation from people because he was very insecure about himself,” they added.

According to one of Hong’s co-stars, the aspiring fitness influencer filmed himself buying the followers and then boasted that he had the biggest following on the show.

“Two days before the last episode, he only had 4,000 followers… two days later, his account started to increase by 10,000 and 20,000, but no one commented or liked his videos,” a co-star, who wished to remain anonymous, told Daily MailAustralia.

“He was quick to say he had a blue tick. He was desperate to make it as an influencer after seeing how quickly people on other shows like MAFS were able to make a living after going on a show and it just didn’t happen.”

“He just wants to pretend and prove he’s a great online coach because he’s got a blue check now.” He had a personal Instagram account that he was going to use for the show, but ‘deleted’ it and used the only thing he had, which was his business account… How convenient.’

Verification on Instagram has numerous algorithmic benefits and also makes an account more attractive to potential advertisers.

When approached for comment, Patrick laughed off the claims, saying: ‘Thanks for the green updates. Tell them it’s about $100 per follower if anyone is interested’.

100,000 ‘direct’ Instagram followers can usually be purchased for around $742 AUD.

“He just wants to pretend and prove he’s a great online coach because he’s got a blue check now.” He had a personal Instagram account that he was supposed to use for the show, but “deleted” it and used the only thing he had, which was his business account,” they added.