If you have missed this story last week, let’s do a 30 second recap.
Lauren Bullen, aka. the Instagrammer @gypsea_lust, posts her travels from all over the world, looking like she is living in heaven every day.
Figure 1:
But, in a blog post, Bullen posted screenshots from another Instagram user, diana_alexa, who she said was copying her photos. The pictures seemed to mirror everything from Bullen’s location to what she was eating and even her clothing.
The 23-year-old then said she had actually made contact with diana_alexa, and they were becoming friends.
But, the post is no longer available after being taken down.
Are we up to date?
Well, strap yourselves in because this mystery is getting a whole lot mysterious with online sleuths accusing the women of making the whole thing up -- accusations Bullen is fervently denying.
It's being claimed that it wasn't a magical discovery of Bullen's to have found the copy cat, but a closely devised plan for Bullen to gain more followers and media attention.
Some have said the pair may be sisters, or in fact, the same person wearing wigs -- but let's be honest, that's on the extreme end of conspiracy.
We've gathered some of the "clues" that have people thinking there's more to the story.
Scroll through to see more photos from Lauren Bullen. Images via Instagram. (Post continues after gallery.)
Gypsea Lust
Firstly, according to an article by Business Insider, the cost of following someone as diana_alexa has did would be astronomical. Bullen is paid for many of her Instagram posts, thanks to sponsorship, but the other user would have no such funding.
Just try to imagine the cost it would have to permanently be travelling the world in style, and also purchasing masses of items to replicate the original shots.
Things become even more interesting when Business Insider question how diana_alexa actually found the exact locations, stating that many of Bullen's posts simply state her general location, not specific places.
As an example, take a look at the photo below. All that is tagged is "Sahara Desert" by Bullen's boyfriend, and yet her copycat has somehow discovered precisely where she is there.
Weird, right?
But it doesn't end there.
Perhaps this is the most intriguing piece of evidence.
In the forum, Pretty Ugly Little Liar, one user decided to search "dianaalexas gypsea" and look what popped up:
Image via Pretty Ugly Little Liar.
What you will notice about that photo is Diana Alexa's Twitter account previously provided the details, including the email, of Bullen's current account.
And that Twitter account was established back in 2011.
When you click on the Twitter account, it is appears like this:
Which, seems not such a big deal until you compare the Instagram bio of Bullen, which reads, "Let's Get Wander-fully Lost".
Both feature the word "wander" in their themes and according to the same online detective, the Twitter account followed Bullen and her boyfriend, at one point.
But, Bullen has fiercely hit back at any suggestions she has done this for publicity or that the two knew one another.
Speaking to the Daily Mail Australia, she admitted she had been left "traumatised" by being accused of being a liar.
"It's spinning and backfiring on me, I'm accused of faking it and I don't know what to do, I hate it," she said.
She addressed the discovery made about the Twitter account, saying the claims were clearly misleading.
"My interpretation of it is that when you Google two people's usernames, you'll get excerpts from both of their Twitter accounts."
To further prove her innocence, she released the private conversations she had been having with the woman.
Writing to her former copycat now friend, Bullen said, "It's so stupid...And going on about a twitter account from 2011...Oh yeah I plotted in 2011 come onnnnn...Gypsea Lust didn't exist until 2015."
She also asked if her real name was Diana, and unsurprisingly, it isn't. She made a fake name to put onto the internet.
What's more, Mamamia has been told that if you look at the plants in some of the mimicked photos, you will see that they have grown -- indicating that they were taken at different times, stomping on the idea that Bullen and her "copycat" were travelling together.
We're not sure what the real answer is, but either way, it's a pretty crazy course of events.
Top Comments
I've experienced a very similar thing on social media. One of my friends doesn't give a rats ass either about this story, exactly like me.
This is exactly what I suspected in the beginning. That the two know each other or possibly even travelled together.
I kinda thought that they were likely friends traveling together.
Yeah that set with the carpets in the desert could not have been reproduced. That "second" photo was taken straight afterwards ...