Boy holding in fart in class speaks out on what it was like accidentally becoming a meme

The name Mike McGee might not ring any bells, but his face certainly will.

He’s the dude behind the ‘boy holding in a fart in class’ meme, and in a recent interview, McGee revealed how the iconic image came to be.

Taken at 12.04pm on 24 October 2013, he explained he simply ‘held his breath and flexed his neck’ for the snap, which would soon rocket him to internet stardom.

Buzzfeed

Speaking to Buzzfeed last year, McGee revealed it wasn’t until two months after the photo was taken that it went viral.

He shared: “We’re on Christmas break in December, and I went to sleep one night. I wake up and my phone is really scorching hot. I look on my phone and it has the 20+ notification on your Twitter icon.

“I saw that a guy on Reddit had taken Matthew’s [the guy who captured the photo] tweet and pick stitched it to their own, and it was ‘when you’re holding in a fart next to your crush’. And it just blew up.”

He continued: “I had all these people tagging me in the photo like, ‘hey, is this you?’. Overnight I went from 700 Twitter followers to 3000 or something like that.”

And it’s not the first time McGee has spoken about the iconic meme. In fact, back in 2018, he spoke about the image to UNILAD, emphasising: “I was not flatulent, by any means!”

Going into detail about the viral moment, McGee added: “Well, the guy who took the picture has been a good friend of mine since I first moved out here to Texas, so he knew I was able to make the face anytime I wanted.

“So he wanted to make a funny twitter caption and told me to make the face. He posted it, and like, two or three months after he posted it, it took off!”

McGee said he gets recognised ‘all the time’ by ‘random people’ who ‘come up me in the street ask if I’m the meme and what not’.

He went on: “My parents don’t really understand how big and widespread it is so they overlook the whole thing. My friends find it hilarious though!”

“But the best was when I received free Taco Bell for doing the face. I love Taco Bell!” McGee also quipped to UNILAD before confirming he remains ‘very good friends with the girl in the photo', Amber Potter.

Topics: Viral, Social Media

Aisha Nozari

@aishanozari