In a bold move, influencer Natalie Reynolds faced criticism after donning painted-on pants for a social experiment at the gym, leading to an unexpected clash with a man, ultimately sparking a viral debate on appropriate workout attire.
The 25-year-old influencer and Kick streamer has regularly hit the headlines for her controversial behavior. But her latest endeavor may have taken the cake.
In a livestream on December 27, Natalie decided she would partake in what she said was a “social experiment” by wearing body paint to the gym.
Natalie Reynolds faced backlash after trying a social experiment where she wore painted-on pants at the gym
Image credits: nataliereynolds
The social media star went on to share details about her questionable outfit, explaining: "So, I started getting this painted on me at 11:30 am and I got done at 4:15 pm.
"So, I'm sitting up for, like, five to six hours. It's painted-on pants - so this is all paint. This is swimsuit bottoms."
Confidently going to the gym for a workout, she was suddenly filmed being politely confronted by a man who called her attire “inappropriate”.
Image credits: onlynatreynolds
The fellow gymgoer approached Natalie and her filming team before saying: "If you don't have clothes on, you need to be out of here, ma'am."
However, Natalie firmly exclaimed: "I do have clothes on.” The man continued: "Not fine, I work in the industry enough to know. I work in the entertainment field."
While the disappointed man walked away from the content creator, he also appeared to say that you're not supposed to “videotape” in the gym.
"So, I'm sitting up for, like, five to six hours. It's painted-on pants," Natalie said in a stream
Image credits: onlynatreynolds
Natalie took to her X page (formerly known as Twitter) to post a short clip of the interaction, which has since gone viral with 35.8 million views. The content creator captioned: "Guy in the gym presses me for wearing painted pants."
What may have first appeared to be a fun and lighthearted joke, many viewers shared their grievances, as a person wrote: "Painted pants aren't real pants."
Another X user commented: "That dude was 100 percent right. He called out your degenerate behavior and you played the victim."
A separate individual penned: “if this is true, I want her in jail,” to which Natalie replied: “I had a sports top and bathing suit bottom on… I wasn’t naked.”
A fellow gymgoer told Natalie that her painted-on pants were "inappropriate" and that she had to leave
Image credits: onlynatreynolds
The influencer was also slammed by X's community notes, which enable users to add context to content shared on the social media platform.
Accompanied by a link to a Healthline article on proper gym etiquette, the note read: "The man in the video is protecting the overall gym etiquette according to which you should wear clothes suitable for exercise.
"Wearing unsuitable clothes or none at all is considered to be disrespectful towards the other. It is also a hygiene risk to others.
"I do have clothes on," Natalie exclaimed
Image credits: onlynatreynolds
In a follow-up post on X the same day, Natalie clarified: "Why everyone acting like I was naked lmao. The amount of women who wear pants up the ass at the gym… This is nothing bad at all."
She went on to make a comparison with another male YouTuber, seemingly slamming double standards as she wrote: "So a guy YouTuber makes a video just like this but when I paint myself everyone is acting like the world is ending.
"Let me get my gains and shredded in peace pls."
Many people slammed the influencer in the comments
