KSI has claimed that maturing from his older YouTube personality and disliking public displays of affection are the reasons why he snubbed a kiss from OnlyFans star Astrid Wett last week.

The YouTuber-turned-boxer had his promoter cap on for Misfits Boxing’s sophomore event in Sheffield on Saturday night, and partook in all of the fight week festivities.

There were press conference handbags and a host of strange occurrences that have become the norm for YouTube boxing, but he couldn’t have been prepared for the female fighter’s antics on-stage.

As rival Keeley Colbran was theorising that Wett had a boyfriend who she was keeping private for the benefit of her career, the OnlyFans model decided to show that she was single by planting a kiss on KSI.

But he ducked out of the way and left her red-faced during an awkward encounter. “Astrid Wett tried to kiss me and I said ‘nope’!” KSI joked in a YouTube video addressing the situation.

“That head movement was coming in clutch. I did turn down Astrid Wett which is crazy because old KSI would have lapped that up, he would have been like ‘yes, finally a woman likes me!’ Now, your boy’s grown and matured and he’s like ‘what are we doing? Stop!’

“But it was crazy and a lot of people are asking me what was going through my mind during this situation. Honestly, I couldn’t believe it, I was there ‘she’s about to kiss me, what?

Nah!’ First of all, I hate public affection, I think it’s super cringe and secondly, you’re not going to catch me slipping, I am on point with everything I do.” KSI also noted that he likely would have been in serious trouble had the roles been reversed between the pair.

“If the roles were reversed I would probably be in prison right now,” he joked. “Or else I would be severely cancelled and I would have lost a lot of brand deals, people wouldn’t want to work with me any more and it’d be mad for me. But it’s fine.”

The moment went viral across social media, and was the top topic on a number of posts on KSI’s official Reddit page, where he gets content for his videos.

Speaking after the incident, Wett said: “It broke my heart but I understand, it’s ok. I mean he’s a good-looking man, if I had the opportunity, why wouldn’t you?”

Wett went on to win her fight with Colbran via second round TKO after gaining control of the bout when her opponent ran out of gas. The bout was a relatively slow-paced one which showcased minimal boxing skill, with Wett essentially winning with her measured jab that landed enough times for Colbran’s corner to call the fight.

Female fighter gets rejected by KSI in front of the world… pic.twitter.com/Ru6rsnuskm

— Fight Haven (@FightHaven) April 3, 2023