Latest / Mini Scroll / Charly Anne vs. The Welsh 5: Have TikTok's Favourite Foodie Vloggers Broken Up?
Transcript
- 0:00Hi everyone, welcome to Mini Scroll, the daily Internet
- 0:04culture podcast bringing you the biggest stories from social
- 0:07media, the creator economy and the digital space.
- 0:10Every Monday through Thursday and sometimes Fridays.
- 0:13I'm your host, Lauren Meisner, the founder of the youth digital
- 0:17media brand Centennial World. Welcome back to Mini Scroll,
- 0:21everyone. Actually, this is not Mini
- 0:24Scroll today. This is something new.
- 0:27I'm doing a mini deep dive today.
- 0:30So typically on Fridays, as you guys would know, we have our
- 0:33deep dives, but we are in the trenches of figuring out how
- 0:37we're going to keep those going without a podcast editor for the
- 0:40time being. And obviously Annabelle's been
- 0:42away and she helps so much with the prep of those.
- 0:44So I was looking at prepping mini scroll today and I was
- 0:48like, I really think that this one story that I want to cover
- 0:51is going to be so incredibly long.
- 0:53And then I was like, why don't I test the deep dive format in
- 0:58like mini scroll style? If you guys are OG listeners,
- 1:01this might remind you of how I used to do deep dives with
- 1:03Geordie where it was a lot less scripted, it was less edited.
- 1:08It was less of like a video essay, much more of like a
- 1:10conversational podcast. Obviously this is still just me,
- 1:13but yeah, I thought that we could try that today.
- 1:15So I did change the sign for any of you guys that keep up with
- 1:17the sign. OK, So what I'm going to be
- 1:19diving into for you guys today is the drama going on between
- 1:23the Welsh 5. This is incredibly niche.
- 1:27However, we have covered the Welsh 5 before on this podcast,
- 1:31but for context, the Welsh five are a group of friends from
- 1:34Wales who rose to fame on TikTok together and they became quite
- 1:38known for their food content and their vlogging.
- 1:41The original group included Charlie Ann Kane Ion Ion I'm
- 1:46sorry I I'm going to say that wrong throughout this.
- 1:48I am so sorry. I've tried to spell it out the
- 1:50way that it's pronounced, but I'm really bad at pronunciation
- 1:54so forgive me. Leah and Corey of Cory's World.
- 1:58For context, Leah and Cory are in a relationship and they are
- 2:01currently expecting a baby boy and a peripheral member of this
- 2:04crew is a creator named Becky Jones.
- 2:07I will get back to her in a minute.
- 2:08They would post a lot of vlogs together.
- 2:10They would try different restaurants and meals and they
- 2:12would get takeaways and they would vlog like every second of
- 2:16their lives. And they did a few iconic trips
- 2:18together like they went to New York City, they did a cruise
- 2:21together. And through all of this, the
- 2:24central focus has largely been their food.
- 2:27They're eating, they do like what I eat in a day, here's what
- 2:30I ate on the cruise, all of that kind of stuff.
- 2:32And it's actually one of these trips where they really got
- 2:34famous. So they went to New York City in
- 2:36December 2024. And that is when they kind of
- 2:38gained like mainstream fame. So their fame, like, they all
- 2:43had relatively big followings, but their TikTok fame as a crew
- 2:48really only started maybe like 7 or 8 months ago.
- 2:52So since the beginning of the year, fans have been concerned
- 2:55about the status of this group for a few reasons.
- 2:59First, back in February, the group went on a trip to Vegas.
- 3:02If you guys are followers of the Welsh 5, this trip has become
- 3:05like notorious, A notorious part of their lore.
- 3:09So like I said, they would do these big trips and their
- 3:12followers loved these trips. It was like a reality show.
- 3:15And I should note, like part of what makes them so fun to watch
- 3:19is they all have these larger than life personalities.
- 3:23They're all really fun. They're all really positive and
- 3:25they seem to just have like a zest for life, especially when
- 3:29they get together. So a huge focus of these trips
- 3:32was watching them essentially, like eat their way through these
- 3:35cities, right? And try different restaurants
- 3:36and different chains and stuff like that.
- 3:38So people were so excited for the Vegas content.
- 3:41However, when the trip came around, their accounts were
- 3:44basically dark. They didn't post any Vegas
- 3:47content, and they were hyping this up for a very long time.
- 3:51So this was really confusing. So there were theories, of
- 3:53course, that something like really major must have happened
- 3:56on this trip between members of the group that led to some type
- 3:59of like falling out or something really messy happening.
- 4:02And they all agreed to not post about the trip.
- 4:04And fans seem to support this theory initially because, like I
- 4:08said, they only got famous, like truly famous as a collective
- 4:11just a few months before this trip.
- 4:13But they're already were some breakout stars who are gaining a
- 4:16lot more fame, a lot more, and that was Charlie Anne and Ion,
- 4:21and that was Charlie Anne and Ion.
- 4:24However, the other theory about the lack of content from the
- 4:26Vegas trip had to do with their management and how the trip was
- 4:30planned. So when they started blowing up
- 4:32they got a manager named Chrissy Delaney who works at Connect
- 4:35management. Chrissy seems to be friends with
- 4:38the crew, mostly Charlie it seems and fans do not like her.
- 4:43The comments section when you find videos about like this trip
- 4:47and their management and stuff like the fans in the comments
- 4:50section are so savage about Chrissy.
- 4:53They basically think that the Welsh 5.
- 4:54Their content has really gone downhill since they got
- 4:57management, since Chrissy started managing them.
- 4:59And I actually think Chrissy had to go on private.
- 5:01I don't know if she was always private, but I found comments of
- 5:03people being like it's so weird that she posts so much on in on
- 5:06TikTok. Like she's clearly trying to be
- 5:08an influencer herself. And then when I went to her page
- 5:10today, it was private. So I was like, I wonder if she
- 5:13got so much backlash because like she has quote UN quote like
- 5:16managed them so poorly in the fans opinions that she had to go
- 5:19private. I don't know.
- 5:21So the Welsh 5, as he became a lot more famous, the collective
- 5:24itself started getting a lot of brand opportunities, a lot of
- 5:28sponsorships, that kind of stuff.
- 5:29So they went on this trip to Vegas and presumably a lot of
- 5:33the content that they would be posting would have been like
- 5:35brand deals together, restaurant collabs, even like sponsored
- 5:39trip stuff in general. And the theory is that their
- 5:41management who would have organized a lot of that, I did
- 5:44not get them the proper work permits or visas to quote UN
- 5:48quote work in the US and creating paid content on US
- 5:52soil. Obviously, some, some of it
- 5:55probably with US brands like that is working in the US.
- 5:58So basically to avoid getting in some major trouble with the US
- 6:01customs, they chose just to not post anything from that trip.
- 6:05And that theory does seem to be the most plausible because some
- 6:08of the comments that members made about the trip afterward
- 6:10indicate that they basically all wrote the same like Instagram
- 6:14story, like a very similar version of the same Instagram
- 6:16story addressing the trip. So this is from Leah's.
- 6:19Hey guys, we've all seen this speculation.
- 6:22Just wanted to let you know we are all safe and very much
- 6:24happy. Had the best time in Vegas.
- 6:26If we could tell you what we've been up to we would, but at the
- 6:29moment you'll just have to wait. We have something very exciting
- 6:31coming soon. Thanks for your constant
- 6:33support. Love you all.
- 6:35Then Becky Jones who I mentioned was like a peripheral friend of
- 6:40she left social media in March of this year.
- 6:43Becky gained followers pre Welsh 5.
- 6:46She really blew up around 2020 and she has since gained 1.1
- 6:50million followers and she kind of became friends with the group
- 6:53like after. Whereas the initial core group,
- 6:57it really hinged on the fact that Charlie and Cory were
- 7:00childhood friends and then obviously Cory is with Leah.
- 7:03And so then they were like a threesome bestie friends.
- 7:06And then they had the other two. And then Becky kind of came in
- 7:08later. So Becky's time online was
- 7:10really filled with like harsh criticism over her weight and
- 7:14how she basically doesn't care about getting smaller.
- 7:17Her comment section for years was filled with really vile
- 7:21comments. And there was just a subset of
- 7:23followers who have basically branded her the most hated woman
- 7:27on TikTok. So in March and Becky posted a
- 7:30video announcing that she was leaving social media because of
- 7:33its negativity and its impact on her mental health.
- 7:35And even though Becky wasn't part of this core group, it
- 7:39caused a lot of confusion about, like, the future of the group,
- 7:42the longevity of TikTok careers in general and all of that.
- 7:46And I said at the time when I reported on this, it was like,
- 7:48Becky was in like, an abusive relationship with her job.
- 7:52And I imagine a lot of Tik Tokers especially, but like a
- 7:56lot of creators, but especially Tik Tokers, feel that way.
- 7:58And I think at some point, you just have to either decide if
- 8:01the benefits outweigh that or if you just need to cut ties and
- 8:05move on. Becky does still hang out with
- 8:08the crew. She was spotted on social media
- 8:10for the first time in May back in a video by Corey.
- 8:14And also, okay, you guys might know this better than me, but
- 8:17like she does seem to post maybe on a spam account.
- 8:22Like I found this account and it has like 50,000 followers and it
- 8:26seems like it's her like it's it's her obviously but it seems
- 8:30like it is new content but I can't tell.
- 8:32I can't tell if it is like current content or if she is, or
- 8:35if it's an account that is like posting reposting her old
- 8:38content. And the thing with Becky and all
- 8:41of them but especially Becky, there are so many accounts like
- 8:44troll accounts that have been made with her likeness.
- 8:48Part of the bullying that happens with her.
- 8:49This account doesn't seem to bully her but like I'm not sure
- 8:52if it's actually her posting this content or if it's someone
- 8:54else that's reposting her old content.
- 8:56But yes let me know if you guys know.
- 8:58OK so now there seems to be some actual drama within the group
- 9:03that they cannot keep from their followers.
- 9:06So while all of this was happening, everything I just
- 9:09covered, it felt like the group was kind of like treading water
- 9:12for a couple of months, pretending like things were fine
- 9:15on the inside. So all of the Vegas stuff, the
- 9:18Becky stuff with all of this, it all led to fans just like
- 9:21watching their content closer and being like, I feel like
- 9:24something might be up with this group.
- 9:26And then now it feels undeniable because Charlie, who like I
- 9:30said, has been best friends with Corey since school, was very
- 9:33obviously not in attendance for Corey and Leah's gender reveal
- 9:38party this week. So what happened?
- 9:41Charlie got a girlfriend named Emily about a month ago and ever
- 9:45since then, some of the comments that Emily makes on social media
- 9:48LED fans to believe that she is controlling of Charlie and
- 9:52isolating her from her friends. I should also note that while we
- 9:55believe they have been dating for about a month, Emily made
- 9:58some posts on Instagram or on TikTok saying that they've been
- 10:01dating for three years. And then I saw somebody on
- 10:04social media be like, I have fact checked this and she was
- 10:07engaged to someone else like just a few months ago.
- 10:10I don't know. But publicly we have known about
- 10:13them for like about a month. So first Emily made a public
- 10:15comment on TikTok calling Charlie's friends weird clout
- 10:19chasers. So this is what she said.
- 10:21A user wrote, what's your bird? Got no mates.
- 10:23All of a sudden her views declining, bro.
- 10:25So this somebody wrote this on Emily's post on Emily's TikTok
- 10:29and Emily responded because her quote UN quote mates are weird
- 10:33clout chasers, bro X Then of course Charlie didn't go to the
- 10:37gender reveal party, but Charlie's mother and nan did
- 10:42because again, they have this really like long standing
- 10:45childhood friendship with this with this couple.
- 10:48And I think that is so sad. I think that is so, so, so
- 10:53devastating. So yeah, that was like a huge
- 10:55red flag. The fact that Charlie's family
- 10:57went and she didn't go. So now Emily's been leaving
- 11:00lengthy comments all over TikTok since fans noticed that there
- 11:03has been a rift. And Charlie didn't obviously
- 11:06attend the gender reveal party. So, for example, this is an
- 11:09example. I find it crazy that everybody
- 11:11online likes to make their own narrative about what they think
- 11:14has occurred without having any actual knowledge on anything.
- 11:17It will all come to light soon. Maybe then everybody can have a
- 11:20good good night's sleep instead of trying to puzzle together
- 11:23pieces that don't fit. Honestly, I'm just tired of a
- 11:25narrative being spun that I'm controlling Charlie in some way
- 11:28where relationships with her friends are nothing to do with
- 11:31our relationship and she is her own person who can make her own
- 11:34decisions. I just wish people would stop
- 11:36mentioning me instead of considering other issues that
- 11:39might be going on between them all.
- 11:41OK sure. I just feel like if you are in a
- 11:44committed. I mean, I know they're allegedly
- 11:47in a new relationship, may be questionable, they're in a new
- 11:50age relationship. But you know, I just think like
- 11:53if my partner was going through essentially like a best friend
- 11:57breakup where like she was literally breaking up with all
- 12:01of her best friends that she has business relationships with,
- 12:03that she has these long standing friendships with.
- 12:06I wouldn't be posting stuff on social media trying to defend
- 12:10myself like this. Like, I get, I'm sure that it is
- 12:12overwhelming to get this kind of hate, but the way that she is
- 12:14responding, Emily is responding is so aggro and it is just so
- 12:18like inappropriate. And I would be so concerned that
- 12:21my partner is losing all of these super important people in
- 12:23their lives. And I'd be trying to make that
- 12:25as like least painful as possible.
- 12:27So like posting public stuff like this, that's only going to
- 12:30aggravate the fan base. Like that's not going to make it
- 12:32easier for her. So it's like not helping your
- 12:34case Emily. OK, so then Charlie posted this
- 12:37on Instagram stories. She said hi you guys, I've been
- 12:40seeing all over my for you page. You guys asking why I haven't
- 12:42been in any of the Welsh 5 videos.
- 12:44I'm not going too much into it as there's no need for more
- 12:47drama and TikTok as there's already been lately.
- 12:49However, I no longer am in contact with any of the Welsh 5
- 12:54and plan on focusing on myself and my family.
- 12:56I'm so happy for Corey and Leah with their baby and hope the
- 12:59best for them and their family as well as the rest of the Welsh
- 13:02five. OK, so that is heartbreaking.
- 13:04So this was a few days ago. And then Ian started making
- 13:07public comments. So on a TikTok video by a
- 13:10creator named Tyler, Ian wrote quote, one, we don't owe you
- 13:15anything. And two, OK, Tyler Charlie is
- 13:18currently in London. Is that better?
- 13:19We aren't friends, not by our choice, but unfortunately only
- 13:23her choice. We wish her nothing but the best
- 13:25and we'll always be here for her.
- 13:27But for now, yes, the rumors are true and I'm sad it's got to
- 13:30this. And then Corey also started
- 13:32commenting publicly. So here are some of the comments
- 13:34from both Corey and Ion Charlie has done nothing and this just
- 13:38proves the whole problem is the girlfriend saying the
- 13:42girlfriend's the problem? So somebody asked Corey what's
- 13:45happened with Charlie and he said we have nothing but love
- 13:47for Charlie and wish her all the best in life and her new
- 13:49relationship. Me and Leah spent the last few
- 13:52months grieving the loss of our friendship and now we are
- 13:55focusing on our future and our baby.
- 13:58Please don't send any hate towards Charlie as she doesn't
- 14:00deserve that. OK, And then Emily left this
- 14:05comment, I don't know if it was on one of Corey's videos or if
- 14:09it I think it was on a video that was like covering this
- 14:12drama and referencing things that Corey had said.
- 14:17So this is what Emily wrote. Corey, I really beg you.
- 14:20Remember how things actually went.
- 14:22You already know how all of this is making Charlie feel, and
- 14:25you're still choosing to play victim.
- 14:27You told Charlie you both had an issue with her when you got back
- 14:30from America, and then you never addressed it.
- 14:32You aren't grieving anything. You you guys aren't friends
- 14:35because you 2 had an issue with her and chose to ignore it
- 14:38literally months ago. You know what you're doing by
- 14:41replying to these comments the way you are.
- 14:43Could have just not replied. You could have reached out to
- 14:45the friend your quote UN quote grieving over.
- 14:48Say the truth Corey, this is outrageous behavior.
- 14:51If any of you actually had any genuine concern for your friend,
- 14:56you would have reached out and sorted it between you 3, not
- 14:58made the comments you have and allowing people to speculate
- 15:01further when you aren't being truthful.
- 15:03So if you're going to comment, I really recommend you tell the
- 15:06truth. Corey, this is insane.
- 15:08Emily is crashing out. And then yesterday, Charlie
- 15:12addressed everything in both a TikTok video and an Instagram
- 15:16story. Firstly, I want to address my
- 15:18relationship. I don't know how this false
- 15:20narrative has been spun. I am in a happy, healthy
- 15:24relationship and I can assure you that the choices that I make
- 15:27are my personal choices. I'm a very strong woman and I
- 15:30think people assuming that I can't make my own choices is
- 15:33really really why. The only issue I've got is this
- 15:36false narrative that's being spun and it's really not fair.
- 15:38I have my own reasons for not attending this event and it has
- 15:41nothing to do with my relationship.
- 15:42I'm so confused with this narrative has actually come
- 15:45from. I appreciate everyone's support
- 15:47that's actually reached out and has had genuine concern for me
- 15:49and my girlfriend because this is wild.
- 15:52So we obviously have no idea if Charlie is in a controlling
- 15:56relationship with Emily. But if that is the case, then,
- 16:00you know, Charlie saying it was my decision, Emily had nothing
- 16:03to do with it. Like, that doesn't really stand
- 16:05in those types of dynamics. It's not typically that the
- 16:08person is like, you can't go to this.
- 16:10It's that they slowly isolate you from everyone around you.
- 16:14They start kind of planting seeds about, you know, the way
- 16:16they treat you or the way they talk about you.
- 16:19And they can often make you feel like there is actually a problem
- 16:23or you're being mistreated by that person.
- 16:25And that becomes like a toxic dynamic between all of you.
- 16:28And so then you choose or you believe you're choosing to
- 16:31distance yourself from them. Again, I have no idea if that's
- 16:34what's happening here, but yeah, that is kind of how that works.
- 16:37So the absolute last update that I have for you guys, actually I
- 16:40have like 2. So the first one is that there's
- 16:43so many comments all over like the Internet, Reddit, TikTok,
- 16:46whatever of people saying that Charlie really doesn't vibe with
- 16:48Becky. So they kind of think that maybe
- 16:50part of Charlie distancing herself from the crew is that
- 16:53Becky got like not like let back in, but like after she left
- 16:56social media, she took a bit of a break and then now she's
- 16:59obviously been hanging out with the crew.
- 17:00That's kind of 1 minor theory there, but I feel like the rift
- 17:03or like the the drama between like Becky and Charlie would
- 17:07have to be so extreme for Charlie to like give up this
- 17:10massive business opportunity and like give up being part of the
- 17:13Welsh 5 right? And then the absolute last
- 17:15update that I have on this is that apparently Emily has now
- 17:19made her Facebook relationship status single.
- 17:22So that is it for this mini deep dive into the Welsh 5 friendship
- 17:28breakup drama. I'm actually really happy to
- 17:31hear that Charlie might go on a trip with them in July.
- 17:33I really hope they can rekindle their so fun to watch together.
- 17:36I followed Charlie for, you know, maybe like 8 months and I
- 17:39love her content and I just, I like all of them together.
- 17:42I think they're a really like wholesome, fun group.
- 17:45So yeah, that is the breakdown for you guys.
- 17:47Thank you so much for listening. I love you guys.
- 17:50Please remember to rate, review and subscribe.
- 17:53Reminder, we do have a buy me a coffee if you guys want to
- 17:55support independent women owned media want to help keep us
- 17:59going. You guys can buy us a coffee or
- 18:02sign up to a membership or anything like that.
- 18:04And I actually won't be talking to you guys on Monday because I
- 18:06am taking two weeks off the podcast.
- 18:08So this is the last mini scroll until June 16th.
- 18:13Yes, June 16th. It'll be my mid year hiatus.
- 18:16I cannot believe we are at a mid year hiatus, but it's been such
- 18:21a great year so far. Thank you guys so much for all
- 18:23of your love and support and your views and your likes and
- 18:25your subscriptions. And I'm really hoping that we
- 18:28come back on June 16th to 10,000 subscribers because we are so
- 18:32close, but we have felt so close for so long.
- 18:36We're like crawling there. But yes, that would be like the
- 18:38best surprise. I do think I'm going to delete
- 18:41my YouTube studio app so I can just have a bit of like a break,
- 18:45like a proper break from the podcast and just like
- 18:48rejuvenate. But if there are any stories you
- 18:50guys want us to cover and stuff like still comment, the girls
- 18:52will be looking at the comments. And yeah, I will talk to you
- 18:55guys when I get back from my little break.
- 18:58Thank you guys so much for listening.
- 18:59I love you guys. Bye.