Ross Lynch is viewed by millions daily but there are three words in particular fans search for

Ross Lynch may have been a teen Disney star, but he's slowly been shedding the sanitised image notoriously required by the house of Mickey Mouse.

If the now-27-year-old multi-hyphenate's turn as Jeffrey Dahmer in My Friend Dahmer (2017) didn't prove he was a child actor no longer, then it would have been his part in Netflix's Chilling Adventures of Sabrina – or, most recently, his starring role in Australian musician Troye Sivan's One of Your Girls music video, which seems to be all anyone is talking about.

If you've somehow tuned out all that gradually-accumulating noise, you can be forgiven – but there's one area you'd be hard-pressed to avoid Lynch's visage. And he can't avoid it either.

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The (blessed and cursed, depending on who you ask) For You Page.

Of the more than one billion videos viewed daily on TikTok, a solid chunk of them belong to videos of Lynch performing on-stage while touring as one half of musical duo The Driver Era.

'#RossLynch' is a search term with 3.9 billion views and climbing, but there's one key word that millions are searching for after his name. Specifically, '#RossLynchShirtless'.

And of the millions of views under that one hashtag on that single social media platform, some of them are from Lynch himself – though he swears the "one or two" clips he's sat through has been "inadvertent".

"Here's the thing, sometimes I like to watch [Instagram] Stories or what people post of the show so I can learn to be a better artist," Lynch tells 9honey Celebrity in Sydney at what could be seen as a criminally early hour, considering he'd come straight from GQ Australia's Men of the Year Awards after-party.

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Lynch ventured Down Under to name Sivan, 28, the publication's 2023 Man of the Year, and also promote The Driver Era's new single Rumors (his brother and bandmate Rocky Lynch, 29, could not be roused for the interview, though fans can expect to catch both of them on tour in Australia in 2024).

The hit's subject matter is something unavoidable for someone whose living is dependent on being in the public eye, a concept Lynch is still coming to terms despite the almost two decades that have passed since he booked his first role aged 10.

"There's all sorts of random rumours running around the internet," Lynch laughs, without humour. "It's so funny how people just believe anything on the internet."

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"It's really, like, kind of frightening in a way... everyone has a platform and not everyone's saying things that are based in fact or based in truth, and still people will subscribe to it," he continues.

There is some truth, however, behind certain rumours Lynch sees written about him.

Yes, Disney did torpedo some of R5's unreleased hits when he was cast as Austin Moon in Austin & Ally – due to "all sorts of politics involved when you sign with a major label" – but that's not the reason why the band's EP Ready Set Rock seemingly disappeared from streaming platforms. It just simply hadn't been uploaded to them in the first place.

"No one in the team is like paying attention to it," he says. "We're all kind of more future-oriented."

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A plethora of rumours Lynch has had to contend with surround speculated romances with his co-stars – including Austin & Ally actresses Raini Rodriguez, 30 ("Our relationship is so familial that we literally laugh about it"), and Laura Marano, 29 (she's currently dating "another guy whose name is Ross and he's a very, very, very sweet guy").

There's also the mounting speculation surrounding his relationship with his Chilling Adventures of Sabrina co-star turned girlfriend Jaz Sinclair, 29. Namely, have they called it quits? (No comment).

When asked if there are particular rumours he's more inclined to fact-check, he says: "I think whatever you want more of you should bring attention to. And if you don't want something, then don't bring attention to it."

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Not all chatter, as Taylor Swift says, can be easily shaken off – but Lynch has "recently especially" been trying to adopt a "give less f--ks mentality".

"It's been really serving me well, just for the sake of my own happiness," Lynch says.

"You know, it's like, 'You know what? You can think whatever you want to think'. I just got to do me and that's how I'm going to be happy."

"Doing me" can be a catch-22 for Lynch, who finds himself retreating to his safe space – the studio – to truly be himself. But it's the products of those recording sessions that thrust him back into the spotlight.

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It can, as Lynch says, be something of a "dilemma" for him.

"I kind of have a weird relationship with the whole fame thing," Lynch says. "I oftentimes forget that people know who I am because I'd much rather just exist as a human being."

"I obviously love to make music," he continues. "I love to create things, that's where I find a lot of joy and purpose in my life. And the byproduct of that is what it'll be."

One byproduct that Lynch will not tire of anytime soon is the fact that "oftentimes people are excited to see [him]" – though there are "definitely times where [he's] just human and [he's] just having a bad day".

"I'm super appreciative of the people that put meals on my plate," Lynch says.

"Jim Carrey said it really nice one time. He said, 'It's so great that you have a job where people present their best selves to you'... and that's honestly such a pleasant experience."

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Title: Ross Lynch is viewed by millions daily but there are three words in particular fans search for
Sourced From: celebrity.nine.com.au/music/ross-lynch-the-driver-era-rumors-single-interview-exclusive-r5-austin-and-ally/b41f10b2-c2a0-42b0-9218-101e9182306a
Published Date: Wed, 13 Dec 2023 03:12:00 GMT