Who would you call in case of an emergency? TikTokers contemplate their choice in new viral trend

By Abby Amoakuh

Published Feb 7, 2025 at 12:08 PM

Reading time: 2 minutes

65761

Choosing an emergency contact is a big deal. But a new TikTok trend has netizens realising something rather unsettling: instead of picking a family member who’d drop everything for them in a heartbeat, they chose to go with their boyfriends—the same guys who struggle to focus on more than one task at a time, would lose their heads if they weren’t attached to their bodies, and couldn’t keep their phones charged to save their own lives. Sounds familiar? Introducing the viral emergency contact TikTok trend.

What is the emergency contact trend on TikTok?

The trend, in a nutshell, allows netizens to repurpose all the embarrassing home videos they have made of their partners in the past few years.

It is set to the iconic tune ‘Ordinary Girl’ by Hannah Montana, aka Miley Stewart/Cyrus (But psst, that’s a secret) and highlights the conventional life and day-to-day struggles experienced by the subject.

Now imagine an accident disturbing this mundane and serene scene. And who is in charge? Their emergency contact: The person who regularly fell into the pool backwards, tried to dive into a snow slope, plays Formula One with shopping carts, and is in constant fear of being attacked by birds.

@ashleyxalana

At least I’ll get chocolate🥲 #relationship #relatable #xyzabc

♬ Original Sound - Unknown
@nikitahana_

Inlove with the class clown 😅😅 #emergencycontact #relationshipmemes #funnyvideos #trending #classclown #couplecomedy

♬ Original Sound - Unknown

On first thought, this potential possibility doesn’t make anyone feel as though they’d be in the best possible hands. And that’s what this trend is all about.

“Realising that I’m changing my emergency contact from my mum (who raised me) to a man who would trade me for a dinner with Bukayo Saka,” one user captioned her video.

Someone else wrote: “Realising that I changed my emergency contact from my dad to a man who makes me pull his finger before he farts.”

Other participants revealed that they were also shocked to realise that they’d changed their emergency contact to a man who “is scared of his own shadow,” “asked me which side of the toast to butter,” “can’t manage to figure out where the dirty clothes hamper is,” and “would decline a call if it was in the middle of his gym session #legday #gainz.”

@katiee_chandler

It’s not what you think it is… 🤦🏼‍♀️ the boys obsessed with his new tools 🛠️ 😂😭 #emergencycontact #fyp #foryou

♬ Original Sound - Unknown
@aliciaquarmby

♬ Original Sound - Unknown

Should we be worried? Hardly.

The witty and fond approach with which these posts were made, reveals that this is simply an homage to their partners’ silly and goofy side, rather than a public shaming.

Besides, men quickly started to jump on the trend too revealing that their own partner’s behaviour also regularly makes them doubt their ability to manage a crisis.

@charlieboymumma

To think I trust him with my life when he’s a walking accident #fyp #trend #emergencycontact #trendingnow #trending #partner #foryoupage

♬ Original Sound - Unknown
@aaronwins

never a dull day in London with you 🫶🏼 #londonlife #traveldiaries

♬ Original Sound - Unknown

So, while they might not be the most reliable option in an emergency, this trend is a heartwarming reminder of the love we have for our partners’ unique quirks. And that, perhaps, is the reason why netizens would still like you to call them.

Keep On Reading

By Charlie Sawyer

What is girl maths? Unpacking the TikTok trend that’s helping us girlies justify our purchases

By Phoebe Snedker

What’s wrong with the girl dinner TikTok trend? Gather your cheeses and grapes and let us explain

By Abby Amoakuh

What is girl ethics? The gen Z-improved TikTok version of the girl code

By Alma Fabiani

The disturbing TikTok trend sexualising fake Down syndrome faces using AI filters

By Eliza Frost

How to spot a performative male out in the wild 

By Charlie Sawyer

Transformers director Michael Bay officially confirmed to direct movie about viral Skibidi Toilet meme

By Charlie Sawyer

Yung Filly’s legal troubles mount as the rapper faces two new sexual assault charges in Australia

By Charlie Sawyer

How Emily Bhatnagar transformed her father’s cancer battle into a lifeline for sick children

By Fatou Ferraro Mboup

Conspiracy theorists are convinced Blue Origin’s all-female space flight was fake

By Eliza Frost

Taylor Swift is engaged to the boy on the football team, Travis Kelce 

By Charlie Sawyer

Former Harry Potter star tells reporters he doesn’t understand JK Rowling’s Twitter transphobia

By Abby Amoakuh

Chappell Roan faces backlash from TikTok moms for likening motherhood to hell

By Eliza Frost

Kylie Jenner now follows Timothée Chalamet on Instagram, but he doesn’t follow her back

By Charlie Sawyer

What is ketamine therapy, the psychiatric treatment healing famous Mormons Jen and Zac Affleck’s marriage?

By Charlie Sawyer

Michael Cera reveals why he turned down a role in the Harry Potter franchise

By Payton Turkeltaub

Do Gen Z secretly hate their boyfriends? TikTok’s viral #IHateMyBF says yes

By Charlie Sawyer

Why has the new sculpture of a Black American woman in Times Square prompted mass outrage?

By Eliza Frost

How Jet2holidays and Jess Glynne became the sound of the summer

By Abby Amoakuh

What is soft swinging? And why is the term trending on Mormon TikTok?

By Eliza Frost

Misogyny, sexism, and the manosphere: how this year’s Love Island UK has taken a step backwards