Interview with Lazo, the TikTok viral app exposing cheaters and testing relationships
We currently live in a time where it’s never been easier to check the loyalty of your romantic partner. Feeling on edge and wanting to make sure your boo only has eyes for you? Don’t stress babe, there’s an app for everything. Oh, and if the App Store is glitching on you, you can always turn to The Laura and Becky Show, a podcast headed up by two women on a mission to expose the cheaters of the world live on air. But just remember, you might not like what you find, so proceed at your own risk.
Let’s talk about Lazo, a company that specialises in testing people’s loyalty online. Indeed, its official mission statement reads: “Is anxiety keeping you from having a strong connection? In the world of DMs, swipes and likes, Lazo is a tool designed to see intentions and let go of toxic relationships.”
Lazo went mega viral on TikTok earlier in 2024 after one of its most popular loyalty checkers, a woman named Trinity Howard, started sharing stories on her page from different clients who’d contacted her to see if their boyfriends would take the bait and cheat.
Naturally, curiosity grew and Lazo quickly became the go-to tool for anyone experiencing a relationship nervy b. So, for journalistic purposes, I reached out to Lazo to find out a little bit more about the company’s goal and its process when it comes to choosing the perfect loyalty checkers. Of course, it’s fair to say that there will likely be people out there who consider this entire venture pretty toxic. This is what Ashlyn Nakasu, Lazo’s head of PR and senior community manager, had to say.
How did the idea of Lazo first come about?
We noticed that jealousy and doubts are a widespread issue for couples throughout the whole world. And there is no easy solution to fix this. On the one hand, private investigators are extremely costly and a massive breach into your partner’s privacy. On the other hand, solutions like couple therapy are more virtuous but it is often hard to get both sides of the couple to agree to join therapy sessions and it’s not really an affordable option either.
All in all, most solutions were very time and money-consuming. We were looking for a fast, easy and affordable way to clear your doubts, so we came up with the idea of enabling online loyalty tests at the global scale.
What was the original goal behind launching Lazo?
Our goal has always been the same: providing a solution to people who are stuck in doubt and unhappy in their relationship. After a loyalty test, you either realise that your doubts were baseless or that your relationship is toxic and that you need to let go of it.
Have you ever questioned the ethics of Lazo or whether or not it could be inappropriately used by people for toxic purposes?
Loyalty tests raise ethical concerns at first but then you realise that all you’re doing is helping people to either fully enjoy their relationship or let go of toxic relationships. Furthermore, we truly believe that a loyalty test is a way healthier option than snooping. The former is highly targeted to one conversation created for the very purpose of the test whereas the latter breaches the entire privacy and personal space of one’s partner.
How do you recruit your loyalty checkers? Could you walk me through the process?
At the beginning we just made sure that people who applied were real people (we manually check every Instagram profile) and over 18. Now, we have more than 400 checkers on Lazo and only accept people who are willing to communicate about Lazo on TikTok. We want to spread the word about loyalty tests and doing it with our community is the best way to do so!
Why do you think people cheat? And do you think Lazo is going to have a positive impact on discouraging cheating?
People cheat for various reasons—sometimes it’s due to a lack of communication or emotional fulfilment, sometimes it’s because of personal insecurities or seeking excitement outside of their relationship. Cheating often stems from underlying issues that go unnoticed until it’s too late.
At Lazo, we believe that our platform empowers individuals to gain clarity. By offering a discreet way to test loyalty, Lazo helps people address their concerns before things escalate. While we don’t claim to fix relationships, we do think that by providing people with the truth, we can reduce anxiety, uncertainty, and ultimately help discourage cheating by holding people accountable. Knowing that loyalty can be verified encourages partners to stay honest and committed. Of course, for now, loyalty tests are unknown to most people but we intend to change that.
What are your plans for Lazo in the future?
We want Lazo to become the go-to solution to all people around the world who need to clear their doubts about their romantic partner.
So, would you use Lazo? And if you did, would you be able to face the results, however crippling they might be? No shade, but from my point of view, if you’re even questioning your partner’s loyalty, they probably have something to hide.
