Before the Break: A History of YouTube Stars Jake Paul and Tana Mongeau's Relationship

It All Started with a Bed

From the very start, YouTube stars Tana Mongeau and Jake Paul’s relationship has played out in public. In April 2019, shortly after announcing her breakup from ex-boyfriend Brad Sousa, Mongeau posted a selfie of herself in a bed, which fans of Paul’s were immediately able to recognize.

Several days later, they began making videos together, the first of which was titled, “Meet the girl I’ve been hiding from you.”

The pair quickly released their own collection of merchandise, consisting of two shirts featuring photos of themselves together as well as their couple nickname: Jana.

Getting Down on One Knee

About one month after the pair began making videos together, Paul popped the question while celebrating Mongeau’s 21st birthday in Vegas.

Setting a Date

In July, Paul surprised Mongeau by sneaking into Vidcon — even though he had been “banned” from attending — surprising her onstage to deliver a loving, but explicit, poem in which he revealed their wedding date.

“Ok, so guys, I wrote Tana a poem. If you’re under 18, cover your ears,” he warned the crowd.

The poem began with Paul recounting the day they first met, suggesting something intimate happened between the two, before diving into their relationship.

“Two years later we turned into ‘Jana,’ no more broads in Atlanta, no more girls caught on camera. I’m loyal to you and all the spray Tanas,” he wrote.

He even called out his brother, Logan, and Mongeau’s ex Bella Thorne — who cried when she found out about the engagement — for not supporting the couples’ whirlwind romance.

“Logan and Bella can hate, the world can question our fate, but on July 28 you can all save the date,” he said to the crowd.

For Real?

From the very beginning, fans questioned Mongeau and Paul’s relationship status. Shortly after the pair began posting videos together, Paul told fans their relationship was “real, but it’s also not.”

“This whole thing with Tana is like escalating. I don’t even know how to describe it. It’s real, but it’s also not. But it also is, so it’s weird, man. I don’t know what it’s going to turn into. Stay tuned,” he said in a video uploaded on May 9.

Then in a video uploaded on June 6, Mongeau gave a vague answer when asked whether they were actually together.

“I don’t know. Sometimes,” she said, laughing. “I feel like that’s such a YouTube answer.”

Although following their engagement, the couple repeatedly stated that they were actually together, even their family members seemingly expressed their doubts.

During an interview on the Barstool Sports podcast, KFC Radio, Jake’s older brother, YouTuber Logan Paul, appeared to throw shade at the relationship when asked about authenticity in the YouTube industry.

“I don’t do that s—, bro,” Logan responded when one of the hosts asked if he was in a “fake YouTube relationship,” followed by the host claiming that Logan’s younger brother and fellow YouTuber, Jake, was.

“I don’t know what’s going on there, man,” Logan added.

Tana appeared to respond to the widespread criticism on Twitter, writing, "I don't care if you think my wedding's real."

'I Love You, Jake Paul'

With just hours left before saying “I do,” Mongeau shared a YouTube video dedicated to her husband-to-be.

Throughout the nearly 8-minute long video, appropriately titled, “I love you, Jake Paul,” the popular YouTuber delivers an emotional speech.

“It is 6:00 a.m. on July 28, 2019,” Mongeau shares at the beginning of the clip. “I am about to go get on a plane and go get married. But first I had to make this YouTube video.”

Admitting she was “nervous” to speak so frankly about her feelings, Mongeau explains that she got the idea to make the video after being approached by a fan at the airport, who questioned what about Paul that she loved.

“I realized in that moment that the only person I never want to question why I love you is you,” she says.

Although the pair have only been together for just two months, Mongeau said she has been amazed at how much they have in common.

“To be honest with you, with a life like mine and a path like the one I’ve walked, you don’t really meet people who understand you — ever. You just meet people who pretend to,” she says. “I could never speak again and you’d be able to write out what’s in my head.”

Mongeau, who is currently starring in an MTV show which centers around her 21st birthday and her relationship with Paul, went on to share that she’s the best version of herself whenever the couple is together.

“My best ideas are the ones I think of with our brain and my best self is the reflection I see when I look into your eyes, and my best life is one lived by your side,” she says.

Wrapping up the video, Mongeau explains that to simply refer to the pair as partners in crime “would be a f—ing understatement.”

“Home is a feeling and never a place and I could pick up right now and never go home again so long as I’m by your side. I’d give you every last ounce of my youth without thinking twice because I couldn’t spend it better anywhere else,” she adds. “And I have no idea where this crazy f— rollercoaster is headed, but I can’t look forward because I can’t stop looking at you.”

In the final seconds of the video, a black-and-white clip of the couple embracing suddenly fills the screen. “Thank you for slow dancing with me while they scream. I love you,” she says.

A Very MTV Wedding

The couple tied the knot in a televised wedding at Graffiti Mansion in Las Vegas on July 28, filming it for MTV. Fans could livestream the wedding on Halogen TV for $49.99.

The ceremony was followed by a reception at the Sugar Factory restaurant.

Seemingly playing into the criticism that their relationship is just an attention ploy (or "clout-chasing") the pair even referred to their wedding as a “Holy Cloutramony” on their invitations.

Before the two could share their first kiss, though, someone threw a glass of champagne at them, and a brief brawl between Paul, the officiant and the unidentified jokester ensued.

Not on Paper

Nearly two weeks after tying the knot, Mongeau admitted she and Paul were not legally married.

“To everybody that’s calling it fake because we rushed into it or because I don’t do things traditionally, because I wanted to not do it legally — any wedding I have, if I have three more f—– weddings, I really wouldn’t want to do it on paper, because I think that legally binding yourself to someone takes away the love,” she said in a YouTube video titled “Get ready with me on my Wedding day.”

“Like, it’s just unnecessary,” she added.

She also said that she and Paul — who as of their wedding day, hadn't yet consummated their relationship — were being realistic about the longevity of their marriage, admitting they are taking things “day-by-day.”

“We could f—– be married forever or for f—– 10 days and get back together or f—— break up and meet back up again in f—— 20 years because we’ll realize that no one else will ever understand us in the same way, or whatever it is,” she said. “I mean, we are definitely really crazy for taking it day-by-day, but that’s what we’re doing.”

“We are both very open people,” she added. “We are not in a place where monogamy is always easy. It’s complicated. But I guess you could say we are open.”

A New Romance?

Mongeau sparked speculation of a potential new romance with Noah Cyrus in early December when she referred to Cyrus as her “girlfriend” in a YouTube video.

In the video, titled “I took my girlfriend’s phone and flirted with my best friend. prank????” Mongeau tested her friend’s loyalty by texting him from Cyrus’ phone. The YouTube star sent provocative and flirty messages to see if her friend would be willing to cross the line with Cyrus.

While this is the closest either has come to suggesting they’re dating, Mongeau did address romance rumors in September, saying the two were just friends.

“No I’m not in a relationship with Noah,” she said during an appearance on the Zach Sang Show. “I do f—– love her though. She’s so dope. We actually have so much in common.”

Mongeau and Cyrus met at the 2018 MTV Video Music Awards but did not become close friends until months later.

“We’re really similar,” she added. “It’s cool because it caught me off guard.”

Two weeks after the video dropped, Mongeau clarified that she wasn't dating Cyrus, saying, “there is no tea."

“Like, that is the tea on that. I literally just like to spend time with her and care about her," she explained. "Everything else just kind of makes it a mess.”

Murky Future

At the end of 2019, Mongeau posted a video in which she said she "lost" herself after the wedding.

“I’m so unhappy with the way my relationship with Jake looks in the public eye and I’ve done so much pretending that I don’t care what I do. So it’s my fault,” she said. “I loved Jake so much, I still do. But I did so much of being the cool girl and not caring because I wanted to do life with this person and I wanted to see them happy and thrive and I wanted to show them that there are people that will accept you for who you are.”

“I think I just put so much of myself into Jake that I lost myself, and that’s not his fault, and I’m not blaming him for that at all,” Mongeau added. “It’s just the reality. I don’t regret it.”

“I loved the time I spent with Jake so much and who I felt like he was making me,” she continued. “I loved who I was when I was with him so much that I kind of put on rose-colored glasses. I realized I would do anything to feel this feeling forever.”

However, Mongeau said that “the second Jake and I got married, everything changed.”

“I think the second he said, ‘I do,’ to me, he was like, ‘Now what?’ ” she continued. “I think he was also over it. I don’t blame him, but it left me clinging, trying to make this work.”

“Everything just started to fall apart,” Mongeau added. “The wedding night was just hell for me.”

She went on to say that the couple's "open" status meant Jake “being able to have sex with a new b— every night, which I am not blaming him,” she explained. “I was the one green lighting everything because I just wanted to make him happy. And letting it kill me. You can only let something kill you for so long until it’s actually going to f— kill you.”

Taking a Break

Less than six months after saying “I do,” the two decided to take a break.

The couple announced the news in separate Instagram posts, sharing they still care for one another.

“Ok I don’t rly know how to do a ‘we’re taking a break’ post & this is weird as f—… I’m happy to still be able to sit with Jake and laugh as we do this — but for now we both are taking a break to focus on our own crazy lives…” Mongeau wrote in her post alongside a selfie of herself, Paul and their dog.

“I’ll never know what the future holds and I will always love Jake and everything we did. I’m grateful to know throughout this I’ve made a best friend for life & found someone to do life with when no one understood me,” Mongeau continued.

“Here’s to 2020, working on us, and my new Lamborghini since I get half of everything!” Mongeau joked.

Despite their decision, Mongeau went on to clarify, “No need for crazy speculations — this is coming from a place of nothing but love.”

“I love u Jakey. thank u for the past year,” she concluded.

Paul echoed similar sentiments as Mongeau, and even revealed the two were sitting next to each other as they wrote their respective posts.