the tweet beat

Twitter, Meet the College Kid Whose Hot Model Dad Became a Meme

Photo: Josh Coleman

There’s a chance you’ve seen Collin Hayslett’s dad’s face floating around Twitter. His dad, you see, is, in a word, hot. He’s got a hot dad. Collin’s dad, Clint, is a hot 45-year-old who decided he was at a good age to try his hand — his face? — at modeling.

Hayslett, a junior at the University of Toledo, tweeted several photos of his dad doing his newfound thing at the end of March. “I’ve never seen him happier,” Hayslett tweeted about his dad, introducing him to Twitter. Which went over well, it appears. Hayslett’s tweet has been retweeted over 80,000 times and inspired a meme in which people sub in photos of, well, everything, pretending the picture is of their own model dad. (The meme tweets have, unsurprisingly, had an even wider reach than the original.) Intelligencer caught up with Hayslett to find out some more about his model dad.

So tell me a little about your dad.

He was a pastor for just about 20 years, pastoring three churches in the area. Around September of last year he decided to step away to look at other options. He’s been working in retail.

And how did the modeling thing get going?

He was actually getting a haircut and his barber, whose name is Kevin … he’s kinda the one who sparked the interest in the modeling thing. My dad wasn’t sure he’d be cut out for it and he was pushed by Kevin. Kevin was like, “You’re in, you can do this, I promise.” My dad finally agreed [to do the shoot] but, being a humble guy, he had no idea I had tweeted the pictures out.

He’s technically modeling the sunglasses in the pictures, right?

Yeah, Kevin, my dad’s barber, is also a marketing manager for Donahugh Sunglasses.

When did you break the news to him that he’s a viral star?

He came home that day and I was like, “Well, you’re blowing up.” He was kinda going nuts. It hilarious. He’s on his phone now more than ever. Now when I come home he asks me for the stats on the tweet. We are slowly integrating social media into his life. He didn’t have an Instagram or Twitter before three days ago. He’s taking it as a positive, inspirational thing. Like I said, he used to be a pastor. He’s really humbled by the respect everybody has given him. He’s speechless.

Has he booked any more gigs?

No, not yet. We’re open to any offers, though. It is definitely what my dad would love to do. He just needs a little more publicity to get his name out there. It’s Toledo, there’s not too much out here. You have to drive a little bit to get to like … Chicago or Detroit.

I have to ask what your dad thinks, knowing that a large part of this internet thinks he’s a total fox.

This has been a factor for a while now. Everywhere we go, people will say stuff, makes comments. It’s definitely been a thing. I know all my friends think my dad is attractive. It’s a thing. In high school, everybody would say it and I’d be like, “Yeah, yeah, he’s attractive. I know.” It’s a real thing.

What do you guys think about the ironic meme you accidentally created with your totally earnest tweet?

Any publicity is good publicity, I guess. My family and I sat on the couch the other night and laughed for an hour looking at all the memes. The Steve Carell one, the ones with people’s own fathers. We like them all.

Is there anything else you feel like the world should know about your hot model dad?

He’s married. I feel like people should know that.

Meet the College Kid Whose Hot Model Dad Became a Meme