A MIXED-WEIGHT couple insists that they embrace comments from social media trolls who are shocked to see them together.
Lexie Wilson and Jakobe Smith have divided opinions with their noticeably different body sizes.
Lexie, 20, and Jakobe, 21, from Alabama, boast over 176,000 followers on TikTok, where they share a glimpse into their five-year relationship.
Speaking to The U.S. Sun, they revealed the challenges of sharing their romance online.
Lexie and Jakobe met in school, where he was a grade above her — but their friendship developed because of Snapchat.
“I posted on my Snapchat in my freshman year that I wanted a boy best friend,” Lexie said.
“He slid up on it and said, ‘I’ll be your best friend.’
“After that, we immediately started being best friends, texting each other every day, and calling every day after school.”
Seven months later, their friendship blossomed into something more.
Jakobe said they were at Bible study when the pastor began to explain the characteristics of being in love.
“Lexi called me one Sunday and we were talking about the church but then she just paused,” he said.
“She was like, ‘Jakobe, wait, I think I’m in love with you.’ I thought she was joking but she was serious.”
Lexie’s mom predicted all along that it was more than just friendship.
“When we were best friends my mama used to say, ‘You should give Jakobe a chance, there’s nothing wrong with him and he’s real nice to you and all that,’” she said.
“She always thought we were gonna get together.
“The day that I realized that I was in love with him, after I told him, I went and told my mama.
“I was like, ‘Mama, I think I’m in love with Jakobe,’ and she was like, ‘Well, I could have been told you that.’”
Lexie admits she didn’t have a type before dating Jakobe but didn’t envision herself with a bigger man — until she stopped seeing his size at all.
“We were friends for so long and you get used to looking at somebody,” she said.
“I guess it [Jakobe’s size] just didn’t jump out as much anymore.
In the south, there’s a lot of heavier people down here anyway.
Lexie Wilson
“He’s never had self-esteem problems. Jakobe thinks he looks good straight out the bed.
“I’ve always been self-confident as well. Ever since I was little, I’ve never had any problems with that.”
The couple’s friends and family have never commented on their sizes — in fact, it’s not so different where they live.
“It’s [mixed-weight couples] pretty common here,” Lexie said, referring to Alabama.
“You get couples of all sizes, fat people be together, skinny folks be together.
“And in the south, there’s a lot of heavier people down here anyway.”
However, when they shared photos of themselves on TikTok, they received a flood of negative comments.
Though plenty of couples thank them for normalizing mixed-weight relationships, there are trolls, too.
Rather than get upset, though, they feel inspired.
He’s just on the bigger side but he has a very handsome face. He’s very respectful and sweet to me… I like the way Jakobe looks, nobody can tell me that he is ugly.
Lexie
“Jakobe likes to get everybody in a frenzy,” Lexie said.
“The more you get them talking in the comments, the more it’s gonna boost your videos and that’s gonna be making us more money at the end of the month.”
She said it’s out of boredom that trolls try to push “their own insecurities” on other people.
It’s mostly “skinny boys” that leave hate comments underneath their TikTok videos.
“They look at Jakobe and they see him in a healthy relationship and they are like, ‘He’s bigger than me,’ but they think that they look better than Jakobe,” she said.
“They’re like, ‘Well, why can’t I do what he’s doing?’
“And I supposedly look better than him just because he’s big or something like that.”
Lexie disagrees.
“I like the way Jakobe looks, nobody can tell me that he is ugly,” she continued.
“He’s just on the bigger side but he has a very handsome face. He’s very respectful and sweet to me.
“He’s never called me out of my name and a lot of people can’t say that because they have boyfriends and stuff, be talking to them any kind of way.
“He’s very respectful to my parents, very intelligent. Jakobe has opened my mind to a lot of stuff since we’ve been together.
“I like his confidence and he’s very athletic, he likes to play sports.”
Jakobe said he tries to respond to all of the comments but they have to be mindful of TikTok’s guidelines.
If they say the wrong thing the social media app will suspend their account or remove their comments.
He gives a sarcastic response when men ask for dating advice during live streams.
“Somebody asked us in a live the other day, ‘Hey Kobe, you got some relationship advice for me?’” he said.
“And he was a bigger dude.
We’ve been talking about getting married since we were 18, but her parents shot that down… We’re going to get married for a fact before January.
Jakobe Smith
“I said, ‘Lose weight, get skinny, get in the gym. That’s what you need to do.’
“I will just be trolling them all the time.”
The couple said they get more hate on TikTok than any of their other social media platforms.
“Facebook really just be jokes and nothing too crazy,” Jakobe said.
“The kids on TikTok recycle stuff trying to get a viral moment.
“They go from one video to another to see the most liked comment.
“They copy and paste that word for word just trying to get the most liked comment.
“I can say what I want to say back on Facebook so people don’t really say anything too crazy.
“Most of the other platforms, YouTube and Instagram, most of the comments say they’re proud of us, keep going, they like our relationship.”
Lexie said a “tough skin” is needed to share your relationship online because people are going to talk regardless of what you’re posting.
She and Jakobe both live at home with their parents but routinely have date nights where they watch a movie or bake.
“We’ve been talking about getting married since we were 18, but her parents shot that down,” Jakobe said.
“Now, we’re just waiting on everything to line up but marriage is in the plans.
“We’re going to get married for a fact before January.
“I want like 12 kids and I don’t wanna be raising 12 kids after age 40.”
Lexie joked that she doesn’t want to have more than three children and said they won’t start a family until they’re financially stable.
Jakobe gushed that he likes everything about Lexie and said they’re able to support each other in all things.
“My weaknesses are her strengths and her weaknesses are my strengths,” he said.
