About
The Ronnie Coleman French Fries Video or Everybody Thought I Was Eating French Fries is a viral video of former bodybuilder Ronnie Coleman explaining, while talking about nutrition, that people would think he was eating French fries, but he’d actually be eating oven-cooked potatoes sprayed with Pam Cooking Spray that he cut to look like French fries.
The video comes from a September 2024 interview between Coleman and Club Shay Shay podcast host Shannon Sharpe. The clip was popularized as a meme in October 2026 on sites like TikTok and Instagram Reels. The memes surround Coleman’s claim that what he made was considerably different than French fries, with many believing that he was still eating French fries.
Origin
On September 20th, 2024, Ronnie Coleman, a former, widely renowned bodybuilder, appeared in an interview on the Club Shay Shay YouTube channel. At the 30:15 timestamp, Coleman is discussing the importance of nutrition in bodybuilding. He talks at one point about people believing he was eating French fries, but he was actually eating oven-cooked potatoes that he cut with a crinkle cutter and coated in Pam spray.
Spread
On March 28th, 2025, Instagram page musclelabvideo posted a video edit based on the clip, with many commenters suggesting he was still eating French fries, just with fewer calories, garnering over 61,000 likes in a year.
On February 6th, 2026, Ronnie Coleman posted a video on Instagram in which he shows viewers how he made his “French fries,” garnering over 300,000 likes in eight months.
Memes and video edits using the clip of Ronnie Coleman discussing the fries then went viral again in October 2026, spawning numerous memes and edits over the following weeks.
On October 13th, 2026, TikToker @damango096 posted a video edit based on the clip where the user makes a similar statement about drinking water, garnering over 2.6 million views in a week.
@damango096 Everybody thought I was eating fries meme #meme #ronniecoleman #funny #fyp #creatorsearchinsights ♬ original sound – [𝔇𝔞𝔪𝔞𝔫𝔤𝔬]
Later that day, TikToker @cobra.to posted a similar edit based on getting sleep, garnering over 547,000 views in a week.
@cobra.to That’s the beauty of it bro #ronniecoleman #frenchfries #fyp #truestory #viral ♬ original sound – cobra.to
On October 16th, 2026, TikToker @skydssth_nder posted an edit where Coleman talks about breathing, garnering over 718,000 views in three days.
@skydssth_nder everybody thaught i was eating french fries #meme #ronniecoleman #funny #frenchfries #fyp ♬ original sound – SKydss thunder
Various Examples
@kmooi.g5 I found Amongus #iqmaxx #ronniecoleman #meme #spinningapple #ronniecolemanedit ♬ original sound – 𝐊𝐌𝐎𝐎𝐈
@clinicallyinsaneuser That’s the beauty of it bro 😭 @Ronnie Coleman #frenchfries #ronniecoleman #fyp #funny ♬ Sahara – Hensonn
@toliet_destroyer27 #ronniecoleman #oxygen #fyppppppppppppppppppppppp #fyp #xyzbca ♬ original sound – DonkeyBalls
@skydssth_nder thats the beuty of it bro #meme #ronniecoleman #funny #frenchfries #fyp ♬ original sound – SKydss thunder
