Stephen Keough is standing at the bar in his work overalls and suddenly and unexpectedly finds himself the center of attention.
A woman standing next to the 37-year-old smiles at him and asks if she can pay for his drink.
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Before he can answer, she starts flirting.
“Has anyone told you that you really like Timothée Chalamet?” she coos to the unkemptly dressed maintenance manager from Bodmin, Cornwall.
The bewildered, matter-of-fact Stephen – married to Gemma and father of three – simply says: “Okay.”
But despite him going to Gemma, a 36-year-old cleaner he has worked with for 14 years after meeting them at a friend’s party, she persists.
“No, seriously!” she laughs. “I have to say, you look hot and rodent-like, you know. Here’s my number.”
Meanwhile, Stephen was left confused. Had he just been compared to one of Hollywood’s leading actors and a rat in the same sentence?
But the “hot rodent friend” is the latest Gen Z trend, with TikTokers pining for the likes of Chalamet, Barry Keoghan, Jeremy Allen Wright and Josh O’Connor.
Stephen, who admits he has all the earmarks of a “hot rodent man” – a thin, angular face and slightly disheveled, dark hair – isn’t offended.
“I’m proud to be a handsome rodent man – but I would never let a woman run down my drain, I’m devoted to the Mrs,” he says. “Still, I’m glad the days of muscle hunks like Chris Hemsworth getting all the attention are over.
“Finally the rat group gets a chance to go… I’m glad rat boy looks are in fashion now.
“Women love my unconventional attractiveness. I get asked out all the time – but that’s only recently.
“They finally know what my wife has known since she married me. Rat boys are sexy and fuck in bed.”
Stephen, father of Brianna (13), Kenneth (10) and Kayden (7), is just one of thousands of British men whose rat-boy looks are now being heralded as the next big thing by the younger generation active on TikTok – as Fabulous writer Vanessa Feltz said.
“It’s been a long time coming,” he says, dismissing “gym boys” and “hipsters.”
Spicy rodent…come on!
Anna Roberts, deputy editor of Fabulous and Hot Rodent Critic, says:
Okay, Gen Z, you’ve gone too far now.
I could understand a lot of the things you promoted, I even liked them.
But ‘rodent friends’. COME ON.
Back in the day, when I was dating and you could still play Snake on your phone, no one (and I mean NO ONE) would have said that ‘rodent men’ were the best option.
I mean, they may have dated them because they were nice people, but they weren’t necessarily in love with them.
I’ll never forget Leo in Romeo and Juliet (who could!) or Paul Rudd in Clueless (honestly, he looks the same).
These men look like they could use a nap, a cold washcloth, and maybe some smelling salts.
There’s a reason rodents are pests — despite what TikTok claims.
“Hot rodents deserve their time in the sun.
“Not everyone can be super muscular like Thor superstar Chris Hemsworth or sexy like Ryan Reynolds. The hot rodent look is more achievable.
“I’ve always been lean and wiry. I work out and I’m muscular, but not like a gym jock.
“I used to get criticized at school for having a bit of a pointy nose, but now my nose and dark eyes are getting attention for all the right reasons.
“Gemma loves my thin face and angular features. She has always been ahead of the trend.”
I started modeling and started getting more and more requests for castings. I also noticed that producers wanted actors with narrower faces and angular features.
Stefan
Since the beginning of this year, Stephen has noticed women flirting with him and hitting on him.
“I thought it was because I was new to the area, although it was a little strange,” he said. “I started modeling and started getting more casting calls and noticed that producers wanted actors with thinner faces and angular features.
“When a woman told me I was a hot rat and she loved my angular face, I went online and realized she wasn’t being rude. She was complimenting me.
“Since then, women have asked me out, tried to buy me drinks or flirted with me, even in front of my wife,” Stephen says.
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“It’s nice to get such attention.
“Gemma tells me she was the first to notice my sexy rodent style and the other women can back off.”
According to Gemma, women are so desperate to get in on the rat boy action that they ask their husbands out even when she’s standing right next to him.
“It’s shocking. Gen Z girls are laser-focused on rat boys,” she says. “The women ignore me when I tell them he’s married.
He’s great in bed. That’s what a lot of women don’t realize. Rat boys are sexy under the sheets. That’s why I married him.
Gemma
“I had to drag Stephen to the beach the other day because a girl wouldn’t stop flirting with him.
“Stephen is super hot. I love his thin features and his slightly pointed nose. He’s my hot rat.
“He’s amazing in bed. That’s something a lot of women don’t realize. Rat boys are sexy under the sheets. That’s why I married him,” she adds.
“Many newly crowned, attractive men have experienced bullying as young people.
“When they find a woman who appreciates their looks and their skills in the bedroom, they know how to perform.
“That’s another secret of the rat pack. They’re banging in the bedroom.
“As for my hot rodent, it’s already taken. All you ‘rat friend collectors’ can step back.”
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