The expressive and no-nonsense Elodie Gabias (27) has been scoring online for years with hilarious videos and is also a popular guest on TV, from ‘De Verraders’ to ‘De Tafel van Gert’. But somehow it bothers me that she still hasn’t had a serious relationship until today. In the new series ‘What is love?’, which can be seen from today on VRT MAX, she and several famous people look for the answer to that question. “Sometimes I think: fuck, maybe I’m not made for it?”
“Very cool, those classics of cabaret. A thousand soldiersfor example. So beautiful.” Willem Vermandere’s LP, neatly between Billie Eilish and Angèle, is not something you would expect to see on display at a 27-year-old internet phenomenon. On the other hand, it should not be called a surprise for someone who has made ‘being striking’ her trademark.
Elodie Gabias from Waregem, His Majesty of Self-Relativization, has been scoring online for a few years now by giving a creative middle finger to the perfect image cult on social media. The self-proclaimed fat model does this with less than flattering photos of herself. Without being infatuated with well-trodden terms such as authenticity, she is one hundred percent likeable self before and behind the scenes.
In the new series What is love? she looks for the answer to a question she has been struggling with for a while, because she says she has never had a serious relationship. In a kind love bus she talks to some well-known figures, from Ellen Callebout to the girls of the People’s Jury, while she also delves into polyamory, asexuality and porn. “I experience a lot of love in my life. I’m coming good my family and I have a wonderful group of friends. That is very unconditional. I’ve never had romantic love. What is love? That is also a very abstract question, and not easy to answer.”
How do you see romance?
“Gosh, I’m still trying to figure it out, to be honest. You see a lot in films and series, but when they get up in the morning, we don’t smell their mouths, do we? You often see nice trips or restaurants on social media, but in a relationship you sometimes feel uncomfortable on your couch. My friends sometimes warn me about this, that I shouldn’t see love too romantically. So I am on my guard.”
Do you have an image of a dream guy?
“I’ve said it so many times on the bus that it’s probably a bit scary now, but Wim Lybaert. What a man. When you see on television how he can enjoy the smallest things so much… He would stop with his Columbus for a blade of grass or a bird and appreciate that. He is a real bon vivant, can cook and has a high cuddly toy character. That’s the kind of person you almost immediately know is a good dad. I like someone who is very simple like me. Ah, and humor! That comes back to everyone. I want to be with someone who makes you laugh. And someone with hands on his body. Stielmen are also really sexy. And cost effective. (laughs) Anyway, I don’t want to have sex. Actually, the relationship I strive for is that of my parents. They have been together since the mid-90s and are still so in love. My father can still come home with flowers on a regular Tuesday evening. I don’t know if those types of gentlemen still exist in my generation.”
People often confuse being alone with loneliness.
“That’s not me at all. Sometimes I’m just glad there’s no one there when I get home at night. Then I also think: fuck, I’m definitely not made for this. While I also want a family and children. Sometimes there is a bit of stress involved, yes.”
In that respect, is the series a little more personal than what you usually do online?
“People who have the perception that I can never be serious might be surprised. But just to be clear, it’s not about me, it’s about my guests. For the juice you don’t have to look at me. But I find it really exciting. We’ve been working on it for a long time. To me it feels like all or nothing. But I was well surrounded by the production house, and I have a lot of confidence in that.”
What is striking is that there is no other version for you.
“I just can’t do it. I couldn’t even interview my parents and pretend I didn’t know what they were going to answer. If you pretend otherwise, sooner or later you will be exposed, right? You sometimes hear that people look completely different in photos because of those filters. Well, then I’d rather they say, like me, that I look better in real life.” (laughs)
Did you know early on that you shouldn’t lose sleep over that? It is an insight that usually only comes later.
“I knew quite quickly that these were people I should not continue living with. I’m also very lucky that people don’t like me judge. Maybe behind my back, but that’s okay. I do that sometimes too. It makes a difference that I work from a sense of humor. I laugh at myself, in a good way, without being derogatory. Someone like Jitske Van de Veire, who also focuses very hard on that message but takes a much more serious approach, does get hatred. Maybe what she does is just a little more vulnerable.”
Is your humor some kind of defense mechanism?
“Humor lowers barriers. It’s also a good way to start a conversation. If I make a silly TikTok about my rules, I think a 16-year-old would be much more likely to show it to a friend and say that it’s the same with her. I just like to make people laugh. That has always been my intention. I’m not afraid of the reactions.”
Have you always been this confident?
“No, I think any thirteen-year-old whose body is starting to change isn’t. I was someone with a lot of pimples, even on my face. Plus, I was the only girl in a class full of boys, and all I saw around me were Abercrombie and Victoria Secret models. In secondary school there was a lot of peer pressure and you are together so often that a kind of obligatory friendship develops, although I still get along with many people from then. But once you get out of there, you realize who matters and who doesn’t. I wanted to continue with people who like me for who I am: my parents, brother and friends.”
There was never really a plan behind what you did, huh?
“No. Still not. Sometimes I think: should I do something now? pitch? Now is the time, but I’m not very commercially minded. I let it happen to me, like everything in life. I don’t want to think too much about everything. That is my strength, but I know it can also be my weakness. I also don’t believe you can force those opportunities. It’s that, isn’t it.” (points to a sign that says ‘Carpe That fucking Diem’, ed.).
Do you ever stop to think about how bizarre it all is? Your most popular video is one where you… put your breasts on the table.
(shrugs) “That’s TikTok. What does that even mean? Nothing. I did it because it is recognizable for people with big breasts. Okay, 28 million people saw that, but twenty million of them are from Indonesia. I’m just someone from Waregem. If I drive twenty kilometers further to the Auchan, no one will know me.”
Do you still find some kind of meaning in that, like, say, a nurse finds in her profession?
“I am aware of that. But it does entertain. Maybe that nurse wants to come home after a hard day and just have a laugh too? But does it feel meaningful to me? Not at the moment. I plan to apply now. During my studies in communication sciences, I did an internship in the editorial office of Play and I really enjoyed that. I now find it very scary to look for a job as a beginner, because I think I have nothing to offer. I don’t even have a resume.”
There are now many influencers in Flanders, but apart from Jitske, there are few people who do what you do.
“I don’t have any influencer sizes or anything, no. I honestly get along well with Anastasya (Chernook, red.). When I contact her, it’s to have a coffee, not to make a TikTok. I am asked for events and premieres, but then I prefer to bring someone from Waregem with me. There are some really cool people in that world, just to be clear, but I’m not really going to look for it.”
Isn’t it quite lonely at times?
“All that social media… that’s not my life. I like real life so much. I prefer to leave my cell phone at home. That I can just be somewhere. In June I made the trip of my life, along the West Coast of America, together with my best friend. For influencers that is Valhalla. I could have perfectly created a lot of content, such as testing different fast food chains, but I just really wanted to be there. I enjoyed that so much.”
Is there a fear that you exist because of or because of what you do? That it has become part of your identity?
“That is partly the case at the moment, yes. That’s why I attach so much importance to my friends here in Waregem. I still have my permanent base and my diplomas. Or am I struggling with a new identity? Gee, no more than other people my age. But right now I’m really happy. It’s really chill.”
Do you have the feeling that you also encounter prejudices on a romantic level with potential dates?
“I understand that people check who the other person is online before a date. But if someone drops out of me, then it’s not a good match anyway. I need someone who can either laugh at it or see through it. Or both. Someone who realizes that it is an exaggeration and that social media is not even a hundredth of my life and personality. But it actually doesn’t happen that often. I think eighty percent of my followers are women. And among the men, the majority are gay.” (laughs)
How do you introduce yourself when someone doesn’t know you?
“Um, that I do something in the media. I graduated in January, so I could say for a long time that I was still studying.”
As for the media. For which program can they still call you?
“Programs like The Expedition: Greenland of Over The Ocean. One of those things that you would never do in everyday life. And something without a script, where I can be completely myself. Or The ColumbusNaturally! Call me, Wim!”
‘What is love?’ can now be seen via VRT MAX.
