The internet is forever - and no one knows that better than fitness instructor Kendall Toole.
Recently, the former Peloton instructor went viral after a clip resurfaced in which the usually bubbly coach publicly berated a user during a live class for their offensive username.
Toole, who worked on the platform for five years, was leading one of her popular cycle classes in 2023 when she noticed an 'offensive' name pop up on the screen.
'Get 'em banned. We don't do that here,' she declared in the video. 'Oh, now I'm psed.'
The 33-year-old then added: 'I ain't the one, baby. I take no disrespect.'
Toole's no-nonsense stance turned her into an internet sensation on X (formerly Twitter) practically overnight.
Viewers speculated over what the username could have been to spark such a reaction as dozens of other snippets from her time on screen started to circulate.
Speaking to the Daily Mail since going viral, Toole explained: 'My reaction [after realizing I was trending] was "oh no" because it’s the internet.
'It’s virality, it usually tends to turn in a negative way.'
'There was a rumor that it was because the leaderboard name was pedal file [alluding to "pedophile"], which I agree is a terribly heinous name - but it wasn’t that,' Toole, who left Peloton in 2023, explained.
The actual name she was referring to was 'a really heinous, really, really awful, racist username' - and Toole immediately let the class member know that it wasn't acceptable.
'I don’t work at Peloton anymore. I left over a year and a half ago, but it’s kind of funny that things find their way back,' Toole, who has since launched her own fitness app, called NKO, told the Daily Mail.
Reflecting on her time in the spotlight, she explained that members would often try to create usernames that would trip instructors up if they said them out loud.
'It was becoming a trend where I would say a username, it was more of an innuendo, and then they’d clip it and go really viral on TikTok,' she said.
'I’m fine if something is fun and games and silly and kind of cheeky, but this was very awful and very heinous, and it made me clearly very upset,' Toole continued.
'I said to the control room, "get this person banned, they need to go," because I could see that it was a new account as well. So this person just had, like, nefarious intent.'
Toole said the name made her 'very upset,' as she didn't want anyone logging into Peloton and seeing something so 'heinous' when they were trying to work out.
The Florida-based coach explained that Peloton became very popular over Covid when people were in lockdown, and the instructors became pseudo-celebrities.
However, being a fitness celebrity comes with other more intense downsides too.
'[You're] live on camera with 40 people in a room and 10,000 people in a class,' she pointed out. 'I guess I just don't have a filter on camera for better or for worse.'
The Florida-based coach explained that Peloton became very popular over Covid when people were in lockdown, and the instructors became pseudo-celebrities.
'[Being a Peloton instructor] was the most intense kind of para-social relationship,' Toole said.
'We were kind of everyone's person,' she reflected. 'They would see you every single day; they sweat with you; it was a strangely intimate thing because you're helping people feel good while the world feels awful.'
Toole described it as the 'strangest form of celebrity.'
'Because it wasn't being a celebrity because you're an artist or actor and you have something that you're providing; you're just teaching them fitness class,' she said.
'People really stuck to you because of your own personal energy and your own vibe, so it was kind of like an intense influencer-like creator relationship where we all kind of feel connected to that person because we follow them through life.'
Overall, Toole is thrilled her viral moment can promote standing up for your beliefs.
'I'm happy people are enjoying this as an example to stand up for your boundaries. I think that's a great thing.'