Who Are The Try Guys? Why Everyone Is Flipping Over the ‘Wife Guy’ Scandal

Fans were outraged after news broke Tuesday that Ned Fulmer from the YouTube sensation The Try Guys had cheated on his wife and the mother of his children, Ariel. Some spectators have dubbed it the fall of yet another “Wife Guy.”

The other members of The Try Guys, whose funny videos have accrued billions of views, have chosen to part ways with Fulmer. So, it seems, have many of the group’s fans.

If you don’t know what a Wife Guy is, you’re not alone.

Buzzfeed describes them as someone “whose fame or branding is largely predicated on the fact that he’s in love with the woman he married.” Wife Guys constantly post about their family on social media, pedestalling their spouse as a “queen” or “goddess.”

John Legend and Ryan Reynolds both belong to this particular category, as does—er, did—Adam Levine.

Ned Fulmer attends a book signing in Los Angeles, California, on June 20, 2019. The YouTuber was kicked out of The Try Guys after allegations surfaced that he’d cheated on his wife. Michael Tullberg/Getty Images

As we know now, Levine’s marriage to his supermodel wife was pockmarked by infidelity. Comedian John Mulaney is also considered a disgraced “Wife Guy,” having quickly moved on from divorcing his artist partner to fathering a child with actress Olivia Munn.

Now, many on social media are lumping Ned in with the rest of the embattled Wife Guys.

“Adam Levine John mulaney and now Ned fulmer from try guys Making the unholy trinity of saltines who make their brand about loving their wife and still cheat,” wrote Twitter user @AleighaforWonho.

“Hearing that the try guy who cheated’s brand was loving his wife and thinking it’s hyperbole and then finding out that this is actual monetized content edited in-house and uploaded to an official company channel,” tweeted @JennyENicholson.

Ned’s wife Ariel has appeared in lots of Try Guys’ content, including a series called “Try Wives.” A video about the other Try Guys members meeting the Fulmers’ first son, Wesley, has generated nearly 15.5 million views on YouTube.

Ariel has reportedly removed the word “wife” from her Instagram bio. As of Wednesday afternoon, Ned’s bio still reads “@arielmfulmer’s Husband.”

The Fulmers have a popular parenting podcast called Baby Steps. Their cookbook together, The Date Night Cookbook, boasts a description that reads, in part: “For Ned [and] Ariel Fulmer, cooking together has always been a love language, and now—with gorgeous photos and 10 years of never-before-heard dating stories and relationship tips—they’re putting it all on the table.”

But on Tuesday, Ned admitted in an Instagram post that he’d had an extramarital “consensual workplace relationship.” He extended an apology to his fans and fellow Try Guys, “but most of all to Ariel.”

Ariel has also acknowledged her husband’s affair, posting on Instagram to thank people for reaching out.

“Nothing is more important to me and Ned than our family,” she wrote on Tuesday, “and all we request right now is that you respect our privacy for the sake of our kids.”

Meanwhile, reports have revealed the alleged identity of the woman with whom Ned had the affair.

Ned was seen out in New York canoodling with a Try Guys associate producer, Alexandria Herring, according to multiple outlets. Herring is featured in another Try Guys offshoot, Food Babies, which includes videos of her and a co-host doing food challenges.

Herring is also reportedly engaged to her longtime boyfriend.

Newsweek has reached out to Ned, Ariel and Herring for comment.