A woman shared a clip of flowers her boyfriend got her, which had gone moldy. Within days, she was flooded with comments saying her relationship was doomed.

• A TikToker shared a video of flowers she received from her boyfriend that later grew mold.
• Commenters theorized the mold was a bad omen, indicating a lack of sincerity in the relationship.

A TikToker who shared a video of flowers given to her by her boyfriend that later grew mold sparked huge interest on TikTok for a rather unexpected reason — people theorized that it showed her relationship was headed for failure.

The user, @xellie_06, who goes by the name Ellie on the app, posted the clip on March 13, writing in a caption that she decided to keep all the flowers her boyfriend ever gave her over the course of their relationship, inspired by a popular trend on the platform where creators document themselves preserving the dried flowers, hoping that on their wedding day, they can be thrown down the aisle.

Ellie, who could be seen holding her hand to her mouth in the clip, looked shocked as she flipped her camera to reveal that the flowers she had been holding onto appeared to have developed a layer of mold as they lay in the box she had kept them in.

"That's actually disgusting wtf did I do wrong," a secondary caption under her post read.

The video blew up, receiving 10.8 million views, while all of the TikToker's previous posts have received fewer than 10,000 views, but instead of sympathizing with the TikToker, some commenters immediately turned against her relationship.

A wave of viewers told her the flowers were a bad omen

Dozens of commenters under the post suggested the mold on the flowers was a bad omen, symbolic of a deeper issue in her relationship with her boyfriend.

Some used the term "forced flowers" to describe the preserved gift, referring to a viral theory that has been circulating on TikTok that flowers given out of genuine love will last longer and be easily preserved, while those given out of a sense of obligation or false love will die out quickly.

However, several commenters said they disagreed with these remarks, describing "forced flowers" as a "wild theory" produced by people who are "chronically online." Many suggested that a potential reason why the TikToker's flowers grew mold is that she did not dry them out properly first, as exposing them to moisture results in rotting.

The creator does not seem concerned by the theory

The TikToker replied to some of the negative comments on her post in a two-part video series, first by using a trending sound that talks about giving people the "side eye" — a slang term for looking with disapproval at someone — in response to a comment that referred to her boyfriend's gift as "forced flowers."

In the second video, she responded to a comment that received 46,000 likes, which said, "It's not anything you did. It's the relationship," by sharing a slideshow of images and clips of her and her boyfriend appearing happy and in love.

Commenters continued to debate and speculate about the TikToker's relationship under these videos. Some people encouraged the TikToker to ignore "mean" comments and said she had no reason to second guess her relationship, while others doubled down on their theory that mold on the flowers suggests they were "given out of toxicity."

TikTokers are increasingly quick to share opinions on other people's relationships

In the past, TikTokers who have shared seemingly innocuous posts about their relationships have faced intense backlash after going viral, as commenters on the app have jumped to conclusions about certain details in the clips. Last November, a TikToker who shared a video about surprising her boyfriend at his college was overwhelmed with speculation as users analyzed her partner's body language in the post to suggest he was cheating on her.

In January, TikTok commenters warned a user named Kimberly Pereira about her boyfriend Dario Lazic, after she posted a video explaining that he bought her a red dress. Users told Pereira that they had seen the same red dress on an Instagram model, and believed Lazic bought her the dress to fulfill a fantasy or crush he had on her.

At the time, the couple, who said the accusations were completely false, told Insider that the suspicion the video generated felt symbolic of a lack of "loyalty or foundational trust" in today's culture, causing people to jump to negative conclusions about any relationship that they see.

"It's sad because the image that this generation has is that if someone does something sweet for you, there's always an ulterior motive to what that person is doing," Pereira told Insider.

@xellie_06 did not immediately respond to Insider's request for comment.

For more stories like this, check out coverage from Insider's Digital Culture team here.