Ayamé, Yuval and Oliver: the TikTok love triangle

WSeeing people pining for each other, in fiction or reality, is always fun. And when a love triangle arises, things get even more fun. On TikTok, where drama thrives, a recent love triangle saga captivated millions of viewers.

For about six months, an increasing number of viewers have followed the romantic journey of Ayamé, a UK-based TikToker, who is being courted by two other TikTokers, to see who she will choose. The suitors are Yuval, a US-based businessman creator who uses small details in people’s videos to find their exact location (in some cases, exactly where they are) and Oliver Mills, a TikToker from New Zealand who posts videos of himself singing, boxing or sharing his opinions.

On TikTok, Ayamé is playing a game of cat and mouse with the two men, leaving crumbs of admiration for them, acknowledging their advances and provoking them to do more. In turn, Yuval and Oliver made videos fighting for her attention. Yuval’s TikToks show him using his CIA-level tracking skills to leave a romantic note for Ayamé at her local coffee shop; Oliver uses his good looks to charm her. The approximately 50 videos collectively made by the three creators have accumulated more than 189.6 million views on TikTok.

The saga began in December 2023 when Yuval used his popular people tracking series and stitched together one of the videos of Ayamé reviewing a hotel and identified where she was staying.

“It seemed like a fun challenge” trying to guess exactly where she was, Yuval tells TIME. After that, Ayamé continued to post videos with clues about her location, asking Yuval to find her. She always posted the videos after leaving the place, keeping him chasing.

Yuval’s videos became more and more in-depth as he continued to up the ante with more elaborate moves. At one point, Ayamé posted a video wearing deep blue and orange pajamas and Yuval responded with a video of his own, where he ends the video wearing the same pajamas.

Things got more intense after Ayamé posted a video in May that showed her flirting with Oliver while filming an Audible ad to make Yuval jealous. Oliver added fuel to the fire by making videos declaring his love for Ayamé. In a video posted on May 21, he lip-synced to the Michael Jackson and Paul McCartney song “The Girl is Mine.”

Oliver says his feelings for Ayamé are genuine. “Ayame is one of the funniest people I’ve ever met; we got along really well,” he told TIME in an email. “We kept in touch after I returned to New Zealand and I couldn’t stop thinking about how much fun we had filming. She really inspired me and I knew I needed to do something big to get her attention.” On the same day, he posted a video singing Frankie Valli’s “Can’t Take My Eyes Off of You.”

Facing competition, Yuval became directly involved with Oliver. He found Oliver’s address and sent flowers and a note, in which he tells Oliver to back off.

Audiences enjoyed the modern debate over Team Jacob or Team Edward. Even Ayamé made fun of the love triangle, joking about the situation remembering Challengers or a scene from Bridgerton.

As more and more people watch the love triangle drama, Ayamé and Yuval have used their viral momentum to highlight initiatives like Pass the Hat and Operation Olive Branch, which raise money to support families during the war in Gaza. On May 9, Yuval shared a video saying she wanted to fly to the United Kingdom and that she would buy a plane ticket if her followers reached the $200,000 goal for a GoFundMe set up to help a family in Gaza. In less than 24 hours, Yuval’s followers helped reach the goal.

“People want to be entertained, and the more they have fun, the more they feel grateful and are in a good mood to give more,” says Ayamé. She says she has raised around £250,000 (more than $300,000) for causes related to humanitarian aid for Palestine and Yuval says he raised £500,000 (more than $636,000). While Oliver hasn’t directly called for the fundraiser, he has a GoFundMe link in his TikTok bio that takes users to a fundraiser for a family raising money to rebuild their home, access food, shelter, medicine, and basic needs.

Yuval even created a fake drama to attract viewers and encourage them to donate money. In a video posted on May 27, he made it seem like he could no longer continue pursuing Ayamé. “The truth is, I can no longer in good conscience continue with this series due to some really disturbing things I’ve learned about the people I’ve been doing this with,” he says. But after sharing a link to a GoFundMe and asking followers to help him reach his goal, Yuval ends the video by confirming that he will still be part of the love triangle.

From mid-June onwards, the love triangle continues. Ayamé, Yuval and Oliver could be reuniting soon, according to their rep, who says “They will all be in the same room this summer.” The last update followers received came from Yuval, after he found the cafe where Ayamé and Oliver filmed their Audible commercial. He had a drink at the cafe named after their ship – the Yuvamé – and got Oliver banned from the establishment.

Ayamé is in no rush to make a choice. She says she loves them both. “I am incredibly in love with [Yuval] because he’s incredibly smart,” she says. But when she met Oliver, they immediately hit it off. “Our personalities mesh really well and our comedy is the same, so I fell in love with him.”