The hard work paid off, and now, those followers are invested. “Pls tell me it’s a joke,” reads the top comment on Instagram. “I think it’s real,” another commenter notes, adding they suspected something when Cayden “wasn’t in any of the videos for a long time”.
Knowing their followers would have a lot to say about the split, the former couple used the breakup announcement video to explain what would happen to their joint accounts. Christianson, who shared that he wasn’t as invested as his former partner in creating content anymore, said he will be the one to step aside. “I started taking advantage of her and letting her do more work,” he said in the video, explaining he had felt uninspired by their collaboration.
Eckstein, then, will be the one to keep the PinkShirtCouple name. She tells BBC Culture that she has no bad feelings towards her ex, and is excited to keep at it. “For what’s next, I am still making content on the main channel as long as the viewers feel that it is OK,” she shared. “I have so many big ideas, and my goal to make amazing content to inspire people to be themselves still stands.” Eckstein also says that, post-breakup, she plans to lean into inspiring people to get into volunteer work. “The content is going to be similar, but different, establishing who I am as an individual,” she says.
While Christianson and Eckstein were successful as content creators during their time together, Jenkins says that the challenge they now face is not at all uncommon for paired-up influencers. “There are many couples who get big and grow their influence as a couple, especially when they’re young,” she explains. “But it’s very hard to be a couple and business partners and ‘show’ your relationship online all the time, where you have to be positive for the camera.”
Christianson will be using the name ThePinkShirtSingle for his content moving forward.
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