Three’s a party — but not everyone wants to be invited.
A self-proclaimed “happy throuple” who met on Tinder have found what they describe as “real love” — but their non-traditional relationship hasn’t come without negative consequences.
Angel Bailey, Tyler Hays and Sam Vick started their threesome in April 2021, and have received hate over their controversial pairing both online and in person — even from family members.
Bailey, 27, and Hays, 30, weren’t originally looking for a polyamorous lovematch when they met on the hook-up app in 2018 — but the couple from Tennessee soon changed their minds when they had an erotic encounter with Vick, 24, in May 2019.
“When we became polyamorous, we had no idea what this was,” Hays, an airline ramp agent, admitted. “We had to Google and figure out what kind of relationship we would have. Growing up, we didn’t see these kinds of relationships, we only saw stereotypical male and female couples, that was it.”
Now the three are living the life of a happy romantic throuple — which they “normalize” by documenting their life to their 45,000 TikTok followers, racking up more than 1 million “likes” along the way. However, many haters want them to split up, and Vick even had to cut out a family member who disapproved.
Despite the obvious shock factor, polyamory is not exactly uncommon these days. A 2021 study published in Frontiers in Psychology found that one in six respondents wanted to try polyamory, while one in nine reported being polyamorous at some point in their lives.
‘I find it peculiar that a so-called ‘religious’ woman was telling us how we were sinning, yet she judged so harshly and had the audacity to tell others how to live their life.’
Angel Bailey, 27, on the criticism she and her lovers have received.
But that doesn’t mean it’s been easy for this trio to find familial acceptance.
Vick, who works at a bank, told NeedToKnow.online: “I did have to completely remove a family member from my life, as she was texting my mum saying I was in a porn-type relationship. She also said my mum was a terrible mother for letting me live my life this way.
“It was an easy choice to cut her off, as we weren’t really that close, but it was just upsetting that she would talk about her own family in that way,” he added. “Now, I don’t care about anything that she has said, but once she started talking to my mum in that way, I completely cut her off from my life. I want absolutely nothing to do with her.”
Bailey, a client services representative, shared that when it comes to friends or family making rude remarks or doing anything to them, they all “stick up for each other.”
“We know that what we have is real and even our family don’t have the right to judge us,” she said. “All of us are quick to cut off ties when we feel it’s necessary because we want to keep those who actually support us in our lives, not those who are out to hurt us.”
Hays added that he took hate from family “to a personal level, as they’re supposed to be there for you no matter the circumstances.”
“No matter what people do or say, they can’t tear our love apart,” he said. “In all honesty, their words only make us stronger and provide a constant reassurance that we each have two people who love us unconditionally.”
Bailey added that a judgmental woman told them that they were sinners.
“I find it peculiar that a so-called religious woman was telling us how we were sinning, yet she judged so harshly and had the audacity to tell others how to live their life,” she shared.
They get judgmental comments such as “you’re going to hell,” “this is wrong” and get referred to as “disgusting sinners” — but regardless of the hate, they’re happier than ever.
Meanwhile, there is some research that appears to back up their relationship theories.
A 2015 UC Davis study of “polygyny” — typically he practice of a man having multiple female partners — in Tanzania found that “sharing a husband may, in some circumstances, lead to greater health and wealth for women and their children,” according to Science Daily.
“We don’t understand how people can be so cruel without even knowing it, or without giving us a chance,” Bailey said. “We just laugh it off now, as these people don’t know us or our lives, so who are they to comment on something they have no knowledge on? Our love is strong enough to withhold anything they throw at us.”
At the beginning of their relationship, they struggled to find a proper balance and split up twice because of it, but now they’re approaching their two-year anniversary — and have even started talking about a future together.
“For our anniversary, we plan on getting matching tattoos, but there have been talks about our future together. In a bid to show our commitment, we would like to have a small ceremony together and it would be just like a wedding, but without all the legality that goes on within this,” Bailey shared.
“All of this depends on when we plan on proposing to Sam and what she wants for her ceremony. It will be a fun event for all, and hopefully less stressful to plan than a ‘real’ wedding.”
As for the matching tattoos, they decided they would each be getting a colored heart. Bailey getting purple, Vick will get pink and Hays will get blue — which are their favorite colors, as well as the colors of the bisexual flag.