TikToker Films Gender Reveal, Says She Forgot Partner Was Colorblind

• Jenna Cowan filmed a gender reveal she threw with her boyfriend and posted it on TikTok January 6.
• She told viewers she forgot he was colorblind, so he couldn’t tell what sex was being announced.
• The video was viewed 2.5 million times, and viewers were supportive of the couple.

At 25 weeks pregnant, London-based TikToker Jenna Cowan filmed a “gender reveal” video with her boyfriend. Unfortunately, according to her caption, she remembered only after the confetti popped that he was colorblind.

In the January 6 video, which has been viewed 2.5 million times, Cowan’s boyfriend twisted a confetti sprayer, and a pop of pink confetti shot into the air. The clip does not contain any original audio, but Cowan’s boyfriend initially appears uncertain, before Cowan gestures to the pink paper in what appears to be disbelief. On-screen text read, “Not me forgetting my boyf is colour blind during our gender reveal,” followed by a crying emoji.

In comments the following day, the 23-year-old explained that, at first, she’d been confused by her partner’s question, writing, “I was thinking, you alright hun😅? Then it hit me.”

“So easy to forget, isn’t it?” Cowan commented in response to a viewer on January 7. “I felt so bad,” she later added.

Cowan responded to another viewer who said, “I feel like that minute of not knowing and then his face changing made this video so much more beautiful,” writing that she agreed.

Commenters praised her partner for agreeing to a gender reveal despite not being able to differentiate between the colors. “It’s the fact he still did a gender reveal even tho he knew he was color blind 💓 he’s a keeper girl ❤️,” read one top comment with over 6,700 likes.

However, Cowan told Insider that even he had forgotten that his colorblindness could be a problem. “We’re both as bad as each other haha,” she wrote over Instagram direct message.

Cowan also said that the couple had been convinced they were having a boy. “We were in such shock for a while after,” she commented. “Off-camera,” she told Insider, “he didn’t react too much — we were so overwhelmed by the fact that we are having a little girl.”

Other viewers shared similar stories in the comments: “I remember I sent my dad who’s color blind my gender reveal picture, which was handprints in paint, and he said ‘oh lovely…what is it?’ lol,” wrote one user.

There are different types of color blindness that impact which colors a person doesn’t see the same way most other people do. According to the National Eye Institute, the most common types of color blindness mainly impact the ability to differentiate between red and green, such as protanomaly, which Cowan said her boyfriend has. She wrote in a TikTok comment that her boyfriend described the color he saw as “orange.” He did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Less common types of color blindness can make it difficult to tell the difference between blue and green, and yellow and red, although it can also affect the colors purple and pink. Complete color blindness, which can prevent someone from seeing colors at all, is uncommon.

Gender reveals gone wrong are the basis of a popular TikTok genre, with videos of children prematurely ruining the surprise for expecting parents and mix-ups in colors or inaccurate information and faulty products racking up millions of views.