Zach Kornfeld from the popular YouTube channel “The Try Guys,” revealed in a blog on the quartet’s channel that he has secretly been in a relationship for the past two and a half years with Maggie Bustamante. The vlog served not only as a reveal for fans who have assumed he has been single all this time but as a declaration of love for his long-term girlfriend.
In the video, which had almost 3million views within the first day it was uploaded, Kornfeld starts by addressing his dating life, and how he has always portrayed himself as “single as f—” on the internet and in The Try Guys’ videos. After saying it “got easier to just stop trying and throw myself into work,” he confesses “everything changed when I met her. My secret.” He describes Maggie as “smart, sweet, and weird as hell” and says “meeting her has changed [him] fundamentally.”
Now that their relationship is public, here’s what you need to know about Zach Kornfeld & Maggie Bustamante:
1. They Have a Dog Together
In October 2017, Kornfeld debuted his Australian Shepherd puppy, Bowie, to fans and followers. In one of his first Instagram posts with the puppy, he wrote “Life update: we have a son. His name is Bowie.” Though fans at first questioned the use of “we,” suspicions subsided when Kornfeld said that he was co-parenting the new pup with a friend.
In his vlog, to show fans that this relationship is an established one, he shared “we recently moved in together” and “we raised a puppy together,” revealing that his girlfriend is the woman he co-owns Bowie with.
2. Maggie’s Instagram Shows a Full Timeline of Their Relationship
After uploading the video, Kornfeld posted a photo on Instagram of himself and Maggie Bustamante, with the caption “There’s someone I’d like you to meet.” He tagged her Instagram account, @magsbustamante, which is full of photos of the couple and their dog, Bowie, who has been featured in many posts and videos since Zach announced he was “co-parenting” an Australian Shepherd with a friend in October 2017. The first photo Bustamante posted of the couple dates all the way back to October 30, 2016, of their couple’s Halloween costume.
3. The Try Guys Have Known About the Relationship the Whole Time
Maggie’s Instagram photos reveal that she has been a part of many major Try Guys moments and has been included in outings with the wives of Kornfeld’s best friends and collaborators, Ned and Keith. She was at Keith’s wedding to Becky last September, and went as Kornfeld’s date to the 2018 Streamy Awards, which The Try Guys hosted (and also won the award for Show of the Year).
4. Zach Posted His First Photo With Maggie a Year Ago
Long before they went public with their relationship, Kornfeld was dropping hints by way of social media. Without tagging his girlfriend Maggie, he has posted photos with her on his Instagram on more than one occasion. The first photo where Maggie is featured is from Halloween 2017, for which the two dressed up as Kuzko and Yzma from The Emperor’s New Groove. In January, Kornfeld posted a photo with Bustamante in Disneyland, with the caption “Disneybound Eve & Wall-E. We keep trying to steal the trash but the staff is getting mad at us.”
After Kornfeld’s reveal video, fans went back through his feed and commented on the photos he shared that subtly teased their relationship. One fan wrote, “Damnit should’ve known!” Another commented, “Ahh there’s been little hints the whole time, so happy for you.” Looking deeper into the comments sections of the more recent photo, many followers question who the mysterious woman in the photo was, and suspected Zach was in a relationship. One comment, made by @amandalapsansky, has 65 likes and reads “Dear Try Guys, please finally admit that Zach is not single. Let’s be honest, people.”
5. Maggie Helped Zach Through His Autoimmune Disease Diagnosis
As he sweetly describes his “secret” to viewers, he includes that “She took my fake confidence and replaced it with real confidence. She encouraged me during the hardest work period of my life,” referring to The Try Guys decision to leave Buzzfeed and start their own independent company and channel. Then, he adds “she pushed me to get a diagnosis and to start prioritizing caring for myself.”
Last September, Kornfeld revealed in a vlog on The Try Guys’ channel (via Buzzfeed) that after years of chronic back pain, he was diagnosed with ankylosing spondylitis. The inflammatory disease is defined by the Spondylitis Association of America as “a form of arthritis that primarily affects the spine, although other joints can become involved. It causes inflammation of the spinal joints (vertebrae) that can lead to severe, chronic pain and discomfort. In more advanced cases,” which Kornfeld describes in the video as having, “this inflammation can lead to ankylosis — new bone formation in the spine — causing sections of the spine to fuse in a fixed, immobile position.”