In a world where dating apps define destiny and ghosting is more common than a coffee date, Benito Skinner and Terrence O’Connor are giving us that rarest of gay gifts: a relationship with actual staying power and a shared aesthetic.
You may know Benito Skinner as Benny from Amazon Prime Video’s Overcompensating—a glitter-dipped, emotionally chaotic comedy-drama he wrote, executive-produced, and starred in. But if you’ve been following his career (and let’s be honest, his jawline), you’ve likely also wondered: who’s the boyfriend behind the camera… and sometimes in front of it?
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Enter Terrence O’Connor, a creative director, photographer, and the man who has been with Skinner since 2016—an entire Beyoncé album cycle ago. In a NYLON interview that felt like a page out of a gay coming-of-age rom-com, O’Connor said, “I really had a That’s So Raven moment where I was immediately like, ‘I’m going to marry him.’”
Can we get a gay gasp for clairvoyance and commitment?
Their meet-cute unfolded at a party (as all gay fairytales should), and from that moment, they became each other’s artistic hype-men. O’Connor, clearly a muse and strategist, recounted how Skinner confessed his dream of becoming an actor. “I was like, ‘I don’t know how I could help you become an actor, but maybe we could try to get you a following on Instagram?’”
That might sound casual, but it’s basically the modern version of “let me hold your earrings while you conquer the world.” Since then, Benito’s rise from Instagram sketch icon to screenwriter and leading man has been as dazzling as one of their iconic Halloween looks. (Yes, they once did Kim Kardashian and Pete Davidson, and no, we haven’t emotionally recovered.)
Meanwhile, O’Connor has built his own brand of creative cool. A Boston-suburb native with an art degree from Colby College, he started out in the trenches—small artists, real estate social media (we all have our early-career skeletons). But his big break came when he linked up with pop renegade Charli XCX. From there, he became her go-to visual mind.
“When Ben got proper Hollywood managers, they were like, ‘Well, Terry, you’re a creative director.’ It was one of those fake jobs that seemed so unattainable to me,” O’Connor told NYLON. Relatable! Who among us hasn’t Googled “creative director” only to find a photo of someone on a skateboard holding a matcha?
Today, O’Connor has also worked with HAIM and boasts 100K+ followers on Instagram (@terrencefoconnor), where he shares everything from dreamy shoots to sweet snaps with Benito that make your roommate go “ugh, I hate them” (read: jealous).
Together, Benito and Terrence embody a kind of queerness that’s as joyful as it is grounded. They don’t just pose well—they build things. Careers. A life. A brand. Whatever it is, it’s equal parts funny, hot, and deeply intentional.
So yes, while you’re doom-scrolling your ex’s Instagram and wondering if love still exists, know that somewhere in Los Angeles, two men who met at a party are probably laughing, working on a costume, and showing up for each other in ways that actually matter.
And if that’s not gay culture, I don’t know what is.
Source: ComingSoon.Net