Air travel can test even the most patient passenger, and small matters often erupt into confrontation and can escalate further on social media if a video of it gets posted.
That is what happened when British travel influencer Risky Regg shared a video of his flight co-passenger displaying a particularly divisive habit: chewing with his mouth open.
Highlights
- Risky Regg, a British travel influencer, recently shared a video where he asked a flight co-passenger to chew with his mouth closed.
- The video split the internet, with many backing his actions and others calling him “rude and disrespectful.”
- Risky Regg has been criticized in the past for “inappropriate” commentary and video content about women of color.
Risky Regg, who has 198,000 followers on TikTok and 332,000 on Instagram, divided the internet as the video went viral and racked up over 14 million views.
“What’s a male Karen called again?” one person said, while another commented, “Completely valid crashout.”
Travel influencer Risky Regg asked his co-passenger to eat with his mouth closed
A vlogger, motorcyclist, and travel enthusiast, Risky Regg started posting content from his trips around the world in 2024.
He has since shared videos of his travels to countries such as Mexico, Jamaica, and the Philippines.
On July 22, he shared a clip of himself eating rice with a fork on a flight, seated beside another man who was also eating.
The video's TikTok hashtags revealed that the plane was either flying to or from Nepal.
“Excuse me?” Risky Regg said to the co-passenger. “Could you eat with your mouth closed?”
He then exaggeratedly mimicked the act to emphasize his point and asked the man how old he was.
The man’s answer is not audible, but Risky Regg goes back to his meal.
Moments later, the influencer looks even more frustrated and is heard saying, “F**king hell, are you taking the pi**, f**k that,” and puts on earbuds.
The internet was in two minds about whether Risky Regg did the right thing
Risky Regg’s video sparked a massive debate online, with many applauding his direct approach while others blasting him for being “rude.”
“Well done, mate. Nothing more annoying or disgusting,” one said. Another wrote, “Bro said what we ALL actually think, and I respect it.”
“You’ve literally just completed a public service,” said a third. A fourth chimed in, “People who chew like camels need to eat alone.”
“I hate chewing with your mouth open just as much as the next guy, but it’s not ok to talk to someone like this,” one of the detractors said.
Another opined, “Recording someone without permission is worse than eating with your mouth open.” A third said, “Who is he to tell others how to eat while filming like an absolute d**che?”
“With that type of attitude, I think your face will change soon,” said a fourth person.
“As someone with Misophonia, I do understand the frustration,” one person spoke from experience. “However, it’s my issue, and that’s why I have headphones whenever I go out. There’s no need to be rude to a stranger.”
Misophonia is a neurological sensory-processing condition in which specific ordinary sounds—such as chewing, breathing, or pen clicking—trigger intense emotional or physiological responses, including rage and disgust.
The content creator has been criticized before for his explicit video content, often featuring women
Some users insisted that Risky Regg should be sued for filming an unknown individual without their consent and sharing the video on a public platform.
While the travel influencer has not faced such a predicament yet, he has faced backlash in the past for how he talks about and interacts with local women on his trips, especially those of Southeast Asian origin.
In a 2025 video, he was seen making explicit comments about a woman he claimed to have slept with and referring to women in the nightlife scene with curse words.
In June 2026, he got called out by Chinese citizens for a video filmed with a local woman in Xi’an, titled “Winning Over a Chinese Girlfriend.”
He had previously boasted to his fans during a live stream that he could meet and successfully pursue a Chinese woman within 24 hours, which many Chinese critics found “misogynistic” and “insulting” to their country and culture.
In response to the criticism, the woman reportedly claimed that she befriended Risky Regg of her own volition and paid for her own meals and accommodation.
According to China Press, the woman, who is a teacher at an international institution, received a disciplinary warning from her employers, stating that her personal conduct had seriously violated teachers' professional ethics.
The Xi'an Municipal Education Bureau reportedly also intervened to investigate.
"This guy must think he's so important." Risky Regg's video sparked a debate over whether he had the right approach
