Who Is “CookinggWithKya” And Why Are People In Relationships Fighting About Her?

Every day I log onto TikTok and find another phenomenon that shows just how badly some couples need to break up. Just recently it was the “We listen and we don’t judge” trend and now it’s whether or not you’re fighting over @cookinggwithkya videos. I’m begging you all to stop bringing your awful relationships to TikTok — you’re killing the vibes!

If you’re like me, you hadn’t heard of @cookinggwithkya until people started sharing very intense discourse about her. The account is run by Kya Renee, who posts recipes and how-tos for cooking meals. The only difference between her account and any other cooking influencer’s content? She likes to twerk at the beginning of her videos and wear clothes that hug her in all the right ways. And this, my friends, has caused an uproar within the people-who-really-shouldn’t-be-in-relationships community.

Now when I first did a deep dive into Kya’s videos, I was expecting something really vulgar. I mean, have you seen those weird, horny-ass cooking videos men were making a few years back? I’m not exaggerating when I say I saw a man tongue a literal peach on camera (and yes, I mean the actual fruit). But I was really surprised to find that Kya’s videos were tame AF. Sure, she wears tight clothes and she shakes her ass a little at the beginning of her videos but… that’s the extent to any “sexual” content she’s showing. She just looks good and cooks in her videos. And yet, despite nothing really crazy going on in her content, she’s caused an uproar among people in relationships.

Men are posting videos of them pranking their girlfriends by giving them a plate of food and saying they got the recipe from @cookinggwithkya. The women usually react pretty angrily, saying they don’t want the food anymore or even going as far as to throw the food away. This is sparking a lot of debate on TikTok too, with people sharing lengthy explanations as to why they think women “hate” @cookinggwithkya. One user explained that women hate the videos so much because they realize that another woman is willing to do things they don’t do for their own men and that someone could snatch them up. I wish you could see how far my eyes rolled back into my skull. She literally just posted a video captioned, “When I inspired young pretty girls to learn how to cook and the ugly ones still mad thinking I want they man.” But, like, go ahead girl, cook for my man, because I for one will not be doing that out of fear of losing him.

Whether @cookinggwithkya’s popularity is the result of the recent uptick in trad wife content or simply because of the persistence of pick-me’s through any era, doesn’t really matter. If you think women should be cooking for “their men” for any reason outside of pure love and wanting to do something nice for them, you have got it severely twisted. If you’re a man who wants a woman who believes they should cook for their men like it’s a duty, well stay away from the rest of us because women like Kya already exist. We will instead be engaging with men who don’t hold such antiquated views of gender roles.

Listen, you should be allowed to feel your feelings, and if you think your partner watching @cookinggwithkya videos is disrespectful to your relationship then go off. And I get it: there are so many cooking influencers on TikTok (hello, did you forget my girl Tini?). But is that enough reason to throw a plate of food onto the floor? I fear we may have lost the plot.

All I’m saying is that if watching someone’s cooking videos is what’s testing your relationship… I’m afraid your relationship may not be as stable as you thought. I’d also like to point out to everyone involved: cookbooks do exist.