Try TikTok’s Orange Peel Theory To See If Your Romance Will Last
Get peeling.
It really is the little things that mean the most. TikTok’s orange peel theory gives people a way to evaluate their relationships by zeroing in on the small stuff, like peeling oranges. The main idea is that someone who truly cares for you will go out of their way to make your life easier — and even mundane tasks can be a way for them to show you love.
On the app, the #orangepeeltheory hashtag has over 15 million views, with people chronicling their own experiences with their SOs doing small acts of service. The concept first went viral on Nov. 4, when Things I Can’t Send shared a series of screenshots of iMessages between two exes.
One message says, “I miss when you would peel my oranges for me in the morning.” The exes joke about it back and forth, with one insisting she still doesn’t know how to do it without getting “juice all over.” After their conversation wraps up and they agree not to talk again, the same person reaches out again, writing: “I peeled my orange today.” This time, the text sends green instead of blue, insinuating they’ve been blocked.
The poem prompted TikTokers to share their own orange peel stories — good and bad. “I asked someone very dear to my heart to peel my orange for me and he did but with a heavy sigh and rolled eyes. So now I just peel my own oranges in silence to not bother anyone,” @urlocalgh0ull wrote on Nov. 9. The now-viral video has almost 1 million likes.
Other TikTokers shared their more optimistic orange peel moments, even if they had nothing to do with actual oranges. “Orange peel theory has be thinking about all the little things my boyfriend does that are really big things,” @clurbame wrote over a video of her SO carrying groceries. “It’s nice to know someone would peel oranges for you, as you would for them.”
Often, there isn’t any citrus involved with this concept. It’s just about small acts of service to express love. “my orange peel theory is how every morning when my husband leaves for work he gives me a kiss on the head even thought i’m still asleep and won’t know (i always know) and he makes his side of the bed so my morning is a little bit easier and love filled,” @madslamby wrote on TikTok in a video that got 77,000 likes.
There’s no guarantee that any relationship will last the test of time — but if your SO passes the orange peel test, there’s a good chance that your relationship will be full of small acts of love.
