Handsome Irish Man Who Went Viral on Instagram Talks Newfound Fame: ‘My Mom Thinks I’m a Superstar Now’

Caolan Dines recently became the internet’s newest heartthrob — despite not having a social media account!

The 26-year-old Irish native works as the manager at Lulu’s Café & Cocktails in Delray Beach, Florida, and the hot spot made a few Instagram videos featuring him in May that have since gone viral.

In one video set to Olivia Dean‘s song “Man I Need,” Dines simply puts drinks on the counter and flashes his charming smile. Another video with almost two million views features clips of Dines with text that reads “pov you get the grumpy Irish manager to start doing TikTok trends.”

Now, Dines is speaking exclusively with First For Women about his sudden rise to social media fame.

“We took the video the day before I actually left to go to Puerto Rico for a quick vacation,” Dines recounts. “It was a spontaneous recording, and then I came back three days later, and everyone was like, ‘Oh, did you hear? And I was like, ‘Hear what? And they’re like, ‘Oh, you like blew up on Instagram … I didn’t really know what to think of it at the start.”

“I didn’t think it was as serious, because I don’t really understand social media, and then people who are pretty active on it in my friend group, are like, ‘No, this doesn’t happen,'” he recalls. “I was just like, ‘Oh, wow,’ it gave me a bit of joy in my gut.”

Word spread quickly across the pond as Dines recalled, “I was telling people at home, and then within a few hours, my mom was saying, everyone was talking about it in my hometown, and all my friends were texting me.”

Since then, Dines has gotten hilariously sweet comments from Americans joking, “I’m pregnant, just looking at him,” to Irish women calling him “fit,” he says.

Even sweeter, Dines notes one of his mom’s favorite celebrities, English actress Tina O’Brien, actually commented on one of the videos.

“My mom sent me the comments and was like, she was like, ‘Oh my god, Caolan,’ and she’s like, ‘Tina just commented!’ My mom thinks I’m a superstar now, like she’s in the hairdresser’s and she’s telling all the old ladies. She’s eating it up more than me,” he jokes. “She actually says she gave me a good compliment, though, which I thought was really, really cool, because someone I actually watched on TV is complimenting me. I was just like, ‘Wow, you never know what can happen in life.'”

Dines — who began his career in the restaurant industry in NYC — has seen the social media buzz translate into his real life, explaining, “people are actually calling, asking if I’m working, and booking reservations on days I am working.”

When it comes to creating his own social media accounts, Dines is still unsure if he’ll start any.

“I never really enjoyed it. I tried it a couple of times, but it’s been years since I’ve kind of been there,” he says. “I enjoy not having it, because I feel it just takes up a lot of people’s lives and stuff, but I don’t know, see what happens in the future with it.”

However, fans can rest assured as Dines confirms “there’s definitely gonna be a lot more videos coming,” on the Instagram page for Lulus.