How Flirting On TikTok Led Me To My Boyfriend

Ken Eurich found success on TikTok when she started using it as her “journal” in 2020. The 25-year-old’s dramatic storytelling and laugh-out-loud sense of humor built her an audience of 1.7 million — and eventually landed her in her current relationship with country artist Bobby Murray. The two Austin residents met in March after he posted a TikTok video about matching with her on Hinge. In this as-told-to, Ken details how it all went down. This interview has been edited and condensed for clarity.

Bobby posted his video on a Tuesday in late February. I had just gotten into Dallas, and I was getting ready for dinner. I was on TikTok Live — which is rare for me — and people kept commenting, “This cowboy in Austin made a video about matching with you on Hinge.” I was like, “What? You guys have to tag me in this video right f*cking now.”

Immediately, I got off the Live to go watch what he posted. I was kind of scared at first because I had no idea where he was going with it. His face also wasn’t ringing a bell. I’m like, “Who is this dude? Did I even match with this guy?”

I went back to check — and yes, we had recently matched and had a two- or three-word exchange. But to me, he was just another random boy. I was on Hinge to have fun and go on dates. My mindset at the time was: These men don’t respect me, so I don’t respect them. It became that toxic cycle.

In his video, Bobby was flirting. He complimented me a little bit, saying I had some of the “most entertaining videos” he’d ever seen and that he “was kind of in love now.” But he also dug into my content, saying that 80% of my videos were about dating or boys. At first, I kind of bypassed his flirting and went straight to being a little offended because my page is about so much more. I set the record straight in the comments, “80% is simply just not true.”

My initial mindset was, “Oh, screw this guy.” But then we got into some cheeky back-and-forth videos. By my third video, I was more focused on him saying that he was a little in love with me. I realized maybe I did want to go on a date, and I ended that last video by saying, “Maybe I do love you, like, I don’t know.”

At that point, I was calling him ‘fake cowboy’ to my friends.

Bobby was responding on his own page, too, acknowledging that his math was wrong and flirting back. I think my third post is when the tides really changed. “Did anyone happen to catch that third video? I’m not sayin’... I’m just sayin,’” he said in his response.

The whole exchange got me thinking… well, he did compliment me. But still, he never hit me up after the fact — and in my mind, that would have been the perfect way for us to go out — so I kind of wrote him off. It came across as very clout-chasey. I spend a lot of time thinking about people’s intentions, and here’s this guy making a video about me, getting all this attention from it, but never reaching out even though we had a direct line of contact. At that point, I was calling him “fake cowboy” to my friends.

For about a month, Bobby and I didn’t talk at all. But then I got a call from a friend who hosts Live Bait, a live comedy dating show in Austin. They wanted to host our first date — and apparently, Bobby was already down. I was still unsure about him, but I thought of the whole thing as entertainment. Regardless of what happened, I knew it was going to be funny.

Right before the show, we grabbed a drink together and talked for five minutes. That was our first time meeting. Again, I was sussed out — is he going to be beefing with me onstage?

I really tried to situationship-zone him.

The show ended up being really fun. We left together — let’s start there — so apparently it was going well enough for both of us. After that first night, I had a completely different opinion of him. He was actually very kind and cool. But I still didn’t really see it going anywhere. In a little over a month, he was moving to Montauk for the summer, and I’m not a long-distance relationship girl. I thought it’d be more of a friendship than anything. I really tried to situationship-zone him. My mom was rooting for him, though. She thought he was such a cutie and kept telling me, “Kennedy, you need to hang out with the cowboy.” (After meeting, I had dropped the “fake” part of his nickname.)

But then he started calling me randomly throughout the day to hang out. I was like, “Does he like me? Is he legit in love with me? He’s calling me at 2 p.m. asking if I want to go on a walk.”

Then, in April, I posted a video of us together in his truck to Megan Moroney’s song “Am I Okay?” (The giddy “What the f*ck is going on?” vibe of the song felt fitting.) In the past, I’d never just pull up my phone and make a TikTok with a guy that early, but it felt so public already; the girls were in on it. I knew the video would get them wound up, and it did. The comments were like, “It’s giving enemies-to-lovers” and “About damn time, miss girl.”

But I’ve kept — and still keep — a lot of stuff about our relationship private. I’ve always had this level of respect for him. In other relationships or situationships, I would have posted TikToks about dates or their red flags and thought nothing of it. With Bobby, though, I didn’t want to share those details.

We continued to see each other, and by the time he was getting ready to leave for Montauk, I knew I really liked him. Still, his summer trip was kind of looming over us. I thought maybe when he got back from Montauk, we would meet up and see if there was still something there.

I immediately ghosted everyone else I was kind of talking to.

Right before he left — literally, May 12, the day he was leaving — he asked me to be his girlfriend. He just laid the question on me. I said yes. To this day, I laugh when I remember it. I’ve never just said yes to something so out of my comfort zone before, but I guess that makes sense, considering it all started with him posting that thirsty TikTok.

I immediately ghosted everyone else I was kind of talking to. I haven’t looked back — well, except to discuss that first video with Bobby. We still talk about it 24/7. Not going to lie, my first impression of him wasn’t great. But Bobby’s perspective makes sense, too. He thought that if he hit me up after the video got traction, I would think it was all for clout.

Bobby was an outlier. He has the best energy — chill, pure, and genuine. But I’m not sure if I would recommend this method for other people. It can be a little scary or intimidating to see a video like that about yourself, and personally, I could never post something like that. I mean, I never post about a man first anyway. I’m a Leo — I’m no b*tch’s fan, ever. But against all odds, it worked out, and now I’m in Montauk visiting my boyfriend. Girls, not all men are evil — even the guys who use social media aren’t all bad.