What is TikTok's 'orange peel theory'?

2025-04-28 03:38:00admin

TikTokkers are obsessed with theories, particularly those about relationships. Take the invisible string theory, about crossing paths with your partner before you officially met, or the one about moon phases signaling compatibility. Another that may have popped up on your FYP lately is the "orange peel theory."

The orange peel theory, as explained by TikTok user @annabhamm (Anna Birmingham) back in November, is about your partner performing tiny acts of service (which is one of the original five love languages), especially ones that you can do by yourself. For example: peeling an orange. Their response to you asking them to peel an orange, according to Birmingham, "reveals so much about their attitude towards you and your relationship."

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TikTokkers have followed suit, filming themselves asking their partners this as if to test their devotion. Some "pass" immediately, like in user @sterlingmonett's video, where her fiancé offers to peel, cut, or sauté it for her. Others need more convincing, like in this video from @vincentgiganteee where he first refused (to peel a grapefruit, as they didn't have an orange), but eventually complied.

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Among these videos are reactions to the theory itself. User @oliviasweats said the theory is stupid, and asked why people (primarily women) are testing their partners (primarily men) like they're "in middle school." But TikTokker @_ritabola_0 feels the opposite, saying she loves these videos and to keep them coming (and also urges women to delete dating apps).

Oranges — even peeling them — are already a talking point on TikTok. In November, a text slideshow of a(n assumed fictional) breakup went viral on the app. One partner iMessaged their ex how they miss when they peeled oranges for them and eventually sent an SMS message (meaning the ex blocked them) that "I peeled my orange today." The poem "The Orange" by Wendy Cope, about finding joy in ordinary things, is also popular on TikTok. Videos about "The Orange" have generated over four million views on the app.