In the wake of Dua Lipa and Callum Turner's Sicilian wedding, a clip of Callum's rumored ex, Victoria Villarroel, potentially discussing their relationship has gone very viral. But, before we get into it, let me explain where all this has come from.
So, if you're a fan of the Kardashians, you'll probably already be pretty familiar with Victoria, who first came onto the scene while working as Kylie Jenner's personal assistant from 2015 to 2020. Kylie and Vic became such close friends during that time that Vic had to quit her job, and now she's a certified member of the KarJenners' inner circle.
At the start of this year, Vic, along with Stassie Karanikolaou, another one of Kylie's BFFs, launched a podcast called Better Half with Stas & Vic. On the pod, the girls talk all about their personal lives and relationships, which brings us to an episode called "breakups suck."
In the ep, Vic and Stas talk about their most formative breakups and the "red flags" they ignored throughout their ill-fated relationships. Neither Vic nor Stas names the ex they're talking about, but the identifying clues about Vic's former flame are certainly ringing bells.
For starters, she refers to him only as her British ex, and, as we know, Callum is English. She also says that he's now engaged to another famous person, whom Vic says she's a "big fan" of. (This episode came out before Callum and Dua tied the knot.) But perhaps the most compelling piece of evidence is that Vic said that she was actually there when her British ex and his new partner met for the first time at a restaurant in London. This aligns pretty well with the story of Callum and Dua's first meeting at The River Café in London, while "she was having dinner with her dad, he was out with friends." It's possible that the "friends" in question may well have been Vic.
The girls said it was very "tough" for Vic that she was there when her ex met his now-partner, but, unfortunately, her experience gets worse. "Your ex British boy," Stas said, "the way he was with you and the things that he said he wanted and didn't want out of his life, compared to him now [with his new partner] is a full turnaround — the 180 opposite of what he said he wanted with you." Getting more specific, Vic said her ex was incredibly wary of celebrity life and refused to let her share their relationship with the world.
"This man would be like, 'I would never date someone that gets paparazzi'd, I would never date a famous person. I would never go to the Met Gala. That's corny. I would never,'" Vic claimed, admitting that seeing his public relationship with his new partner made her question her self-worth. "I'm like, Who were you then? Were you lying to me because that's what you actually wanted?"
Going into more detail, Vic claimed that her ex "wouldn't let" her post photos of them together on Instagram. She said that, at the time, she was OK with this because he used the excuse that he "respected" their relationship and wanted to keep it "safe" from the public eye. However, seeing his new relationship all over social media changed her perspective on the situation. "He's posting [with] this other girl — I love her, actually, I'm a big fan. But now I'm like, Damn, it was me? You didn't want to post with me? It's so rude! And it made me super insecure," Vic said.
Again, we must emphasize that we can't know for sure that she's talking about Callum. However, it's no secret that Callum and Dua post plenty of pictures together on social media, are photographed by paparazzi a lot, and memorably made their red carpet debut at the Met Gala in 2025.
The "breakups suck" podcast episode actually came out in February. However, Vic's comments have resurfaced in a big way (this X post about the topic has over 23 million views) in the wake of Callum and Dua's June weddings and subsequent honeymoon. Below is a paparazzi photo from one of their various wedding celebrations in Italy. You can see their official wedding pics on Dua's Instagram here and here.
So, whether Vic is talking about Callum or not, her comments about relationship "red flags" have reignited the ever-divisive "if he wanted to, he would" debate — i.e., the idea that if a man truly sees a future with you, he'll go above and beyond. And if he doesn't, you'll keep running into issues stemming from his hesitation.
"Some people will only change for one person, their dream person. If you’re in a couple with someone, but you’re not the one for them, they will show you every day through their actions and decisions," reads one X post about Vic's comments, which has over 20,000 likes. "That's how it is, sister," another user wrote. "When he loves you, it's noticeable, but when he doesn't love you, it's even more noticeable."
And while some have been critical of Vic, others empathize with her experience. "This must be an ugly realization to see how a person acts when they truly love someone, and you just weren't that for them," one user wrote, while someone else called out the "if he wanted to, he would" rhetoric. "You’re saying it’s okay for a man to treat you badly if you’re not 'the one' instead of idk… ending the relationship," they wrote.
The Better Half clip is also making waves on Reddit, where one user wrote: "The unfortunate reality of life is that people change (or maybe, are willing to make peace with things they don't like) for the person they want to be with." Someone else agreed that it's not a "novel concept" to "meet someone and your priorities change" — but that doesn't mean other people won't get hurt.
"It's extra salt in the wound when your ex meets their new love WHILE YOU ARE STILL WITH THEM," one Reddit user wrote, sympathizing with Vic's experience. "I can't imagine. I would feel very stabby if I saw my partner have sparks with someone else right in front of me. I don't think I'd ever get over that."
For what it's worth, Vic is now in a happy relationship with fashion designer Doni Nahmias, who founded the luxury menswear line NAHMIAS (the brand behind the Marty Supreme jackets). So, all's well that ends well!
Comments