Why a bizarre Bunnings joke went viral when footy fans spotted NRL star Herbie Farnworth with his girlfriend at the Dally Ms
Within minutes of Dolphins star Herbie Farnworth arriving at the Dally Ms with girlfriend Lily Pickles on Wednesday night, the words ‘Just seen someone fall to their knees at Bunnings’ were all over social media – and we can explain why.
The 24-year-old won the centre of the year award at the NRL’s night of nights, but all fans were talking about online was his turn on the red carpet with his glamorous partner.
They made comments including, ‘Just dropped my Snag watching someone fall to their knees at bunnings’, ‘Someone help me pick the bloke off the floor in Bunnings’ and ‘Why are so many people at Bunnings on a Wednesday night?’, among many others.
The comments all refer to the catchphrase ‘just fell to my knees in a Walmart parking lot’, which refers to the huge American shopping chain and became a popular post on TikTok.
It was first used in a tweet in 2021 as a reaction to a user learning that two co-stars from the popular TV show You were dating – and has now grown to become a way of expressing shock that your celebrity crush is no longer single, or admiration for how attractive they look.
According to the knowyourmeme website, it skyrocketed in popularity on TikTok in 2022, with a video using the phrase as its title getting millions of views and likes that year.
Footy fans have simply replaced ‘Walmart’ with ‘Bunnings’ for the Aussie audience as they reacted to the couple’s appearance at the ceremony in Sydney.
Herbie Farnworth and girlfriend Lily Pickles caused quite a stir online with their appearance on the Dally Ms red carpet on Wednesday night
Many footy fans referring to people ‘falling to their knees at Bunnings’ when they saw the couple arrive – and the strange phrase is actually quite a compliment
The Dolphins star and his partner (pictured together) have been an item for years
Pickles – who was wearing a custom gown by Oglia-Loro Couture – and Farnworth also attended last year’s Dally Ms together, but didn’t make quite the same splash with fans.
They also walked the red carpet at the Brisbane Broncos’ end-of-year celebrations last October before Farnworth departed for the Dolphins.
That night the England-born star drew laughter from the crowd when he cheekily shouted his new team’s catchphrase, ‘Phins up!’ into the microphone – only to have then-Broncos coach Kevin Walters take it from him and add, ‘Phins down!’
He doesn’t share many photos of himself with Pickles on social media, but she is more forthcoming, posting shots of them together from as far back as October 2018.
Farnworth made his debut for Brisbane in 2019 and played 79 games for the club before switching to Redcliffe.
He has played four matches for England, scoring three tries, after moving to Australia to pursue his rugby league career once he finished school.
Born in Lancashire, he was such a soccer talent that he signed with Manchester United aged around 10 or 11 and also had talks with Manchester City, but decided to focus on league instead.
