Zoë Kravitz just shared the backstory of that infamous Channing Tatum bike pic

Zoë Kravitz is finally ready to give us the scoop on that unforgettable paparazzi photo of her riding behind boyfriend Channing Tatum on his BMX bike. As you may recall, the image became the quintessential meme of summer 2021. (See it here.)

Channing, for his part, has an enduring love of memes. It makes total sense that he would eventually become one. Now, Zoe is serving up the story behind the viral moment.  

In her revealing GQ cover story, Zoë said the bike ride marked the first time she and Channing ventured outside together. He was escorting her to her writing partner’s house a few blocks away and kindly offered to give her a lift. The reason? She was wearing jeans and perspiring in the summer heat. 

“I was sweating and he was like, ‘Get on the bike, I’ll ride you over and you can relax,’” she said. Soon after, she noticed a paparazzi photographer in passing. And the rest is internet history.

“You want to keep it sacred and private as long as you can,” the actor-director added. “So that you don’t have to even think about what the world thinks about it.”

Zoë Kravitz and Channing Tatum have been officially dating since August 2021. They are both divorced, from Karl Glusman and Jenna Dewan respectively. Channing stars in Kravitz’s directorial debut, Pussy Island, which is expected to premiere next year.

Back in June 2021, Zoë told Deadline, “Chan was my first choice, the one I thought of when I wrote this character. I just knew from Magic Mike and his live shows, I got the sense he’s a true feminist and I wanted to collaborate with someone who was clearly interested in exploring this subject matter.”

Channing revealed they had met working on the film, when he added: “When Zoë called me about this, I was shocked. I didn’t know her. I’d watched her in movies, knew she produced High Fidelity and had seen that, but I didn’t know she was creating on a level like this, where she wanted to direct. This came out of nowhere and the subject matter made me say, wait, why are you thinking about me for this?”

Aw.

A version of this article originally appeared on GLAMOUR US..