The four friends in the viral jeans meme plan to break out the skinny clothes for a reunion as soon as it is safe to do so.
The ‘lads in jeans’ were trolled over a picture showing them on a night out but hope to regroup in the same tight-fitting garb after learning the importance of looking out for one another.
They became targets of mockery after the image showing them outside an All Bar One in Birmingham was uploaded to Instagram in 2019.
The tide turned when a TikTok video giving the image a sea shanty theme went viral and they are now being sought after for various projects, which they are keeping shtum about for now.
One certainty, however, is that Jamie Phillips, Alex Lacey, Kevin Rooney and Connor Humpage will be back out on the tiles once the pandemic ends.
Jamie, 28, told Metro.co.uk: ‘We’ve had our fair share of stick but a reunion goes without saying.
‘The first time we’re allowed out it’s happening. I’m going to wear skinny jeans, in fact I’m going to play it up. That picture wasn’t a one off, I wear them whenever I’m out.
‘I go to the gym, I’m six foot four, I’ve got skinny legs.’
The gym bunny, from Coventry, can already picture his first night back after the lockdown and restrictions end.
‘I’d love to just walk into the Slug and Lettuce in Coventry with the lads, that would be really cool,’ he said
‘Everyone knows us there and we haven’t seen everyone for so long because of Covid.
‘I feel like when something like this happens you’ve got to stick to your roots and see all your friends first, you don’t go straight to London or Newcastle.
‘But I’m very spontaneous, if you phone me up tomorrow and say, ‘Jay we’re going here’, I’ll be there.’
Connor, also 28, originally posted the image – showing the friends on a Vodka-laced night out – on his Instagram page.
He added the caption: ‘Tight trousers chose us.’
The quartet were derided as brainless posers due to their ‘Love Island look’ and even wrongly accused of racism.
Memes poked fun at the group and prank calls were made to Alex’s work phone after the number was released.
The foursome, all from Coventry and Birmingham, have spoken about the impact that the ‘bullying’ has had on their mental health.
But they managed to laugh as they appeared on Good Morning Britain on Monday and along with a blizzard of media appearances are now pondering offers, including one from Love Island.
Jamie, who works in manufacturing, won’t be signing up because he has a girlfriend, Lauren, who he says has been a bedrock of support.
He also told Metro.co.uk he has learnt the importance of men being able to speak to each other through the isolation of the lockdown.
Jamie said: ‘It’s so important to stay together.
‘There’s this perception that men have got to be strong and uphold this reputation but nothing could be further from the truth.
‘People do get bullied, people do get mental health problems. It was the first time I’ve experienced bullying other than little bits in school here and there.
‘We were getting publicly abused for a year and some of the comments on Facebook and Twitter really weren’t nice.
‘Luckily we are thick-skinned but it wasn’t ideal.
‘We want to get involved with mental health charities because we believe in this day and age it really is important.’
Jamie, who studied public services in college and works in manufacturing, is enjoying being seen in a new light after the image was altered to show them singing the ‘Wellerman’ sea shantie.
He said: ‘We got stereotyped for being thick but we’ve all got decent jobs and I’d like to say we’re quite intelligent, quite switched on.
‘You can’t judge a book by its cover.
‘The best thing about this is the amount of love we are getting now, it’s all flipped on its head and we are even getting apologies from people saying they got us all wrong, it’s amazing to see.’
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