- Youtubers Ethan Payne and Faith Kelly have sparked a debate about marriage
- Ethan said he wouldn’t marry his girlfriend if she kept her own last name
- The clip from the couple’s podcast, “Growing Payne’s,” has been viewed more than a million times
A YouTube star has sparked debate online after saying he wouldn’t marry his girlfriend if she kept her own surname.
Podcasters and YouTubers, Ethan Payne and Faith Kelly, have been dating since 2021 and have a little girl together.
Better known online as ‘Behzinga’, Ethan is a member and co-founder of the British YouTube group The Sidemen.
The couple started a conversation about marriage after a segment from their podcast, ‘Growing Paynes’, was seen by more than a million people.
In the video, Faith tells listeners that Ethan won’t propose to her because she would like her name to be Faith Kelly-Payne, taking her partner’s last name while keeping her own name.
A YouTube star has sparked a debate online after saying he wouldn’t marry his girlfriend if she refused to take his name
Ethan replied, “Faith won’t take my name and that annoys me,” to which his girlfriend added, “No, I want to take your name, I just want to take mine too.”
She explained, “I don’t want to lose my connection with my family,” while her boyfriend countered that she wouldn’t do that.
“So let me have it,” she replied, but the answer was a firm no.
Sticking to her guns, she added: “It’s a personal thing, I’ve grown up with it all my life, I like it, I want to keep it.”
Ethan responded that he believes taking his name is “the way it should be done.”
Even as his girlfriend gave examples of other people who have gone for a double-barreled name, such as Olivia Attwood-Dack, the YouTuber argued: “This is your only example, all you’re doing is repeating this name.”
He stated “the terms are: if you want to be my wife, be my wife,” and by keeping her own last name, he thinks Faith is “bottle it down” and is only “half” his wife.
The debate has sparked controversy with viewers coming in to comment on who they agreed with.
The debate has sparked controversy with viewers coming in to comment on who they agreed with
He said that “the terms are: if you want to be my wife, be my wife,” and by keeping her own last name, he thinks Faith is “bottle it in” and is only “half” his wife .
Better known online as ‘Behzinga’, Ethan is a member and co-founder of the British YouTube group The Sidemen
Faith explained: ‘I don’t want to lose my connection with my family,’ while her boyfriend countered that she wouldn’t
One person on Faith’s side wrote, “I wonder if he would be that passionate about his daughter growing up and wanting to keep her maiden name?”
Others added: “Biggest red flag ever” and “The circumstances? He treats her like a school child, or as if he is the parent and she is the child.’
However, some agreed with Ethan or thought the couple should come up with a compromise.
Someone suggested, “I’d make Kelly my middle name and then have Payne so she’s still Faith Kelly Payne.”
Another advised, “You need to have these conversations before you get together/stay together.”
One viewer and her partner took a different approach and both changed their names.
She wrote: ‘My partner and I are changing our name to a brand new name when we get married, but he has never said, ‘No, you have my name and that’s that.’