Avery Woods recently took to TikTok to explain how she met her husband 10 years ago. The influencer uploaded a post "Casual things we did before we started dating," set to the Chappell Roan song Casual. Woods said they met when she was 18.
Avery Woods recounted feeling scared when he told her he had two kids, so she blocked him. She added that he used to stay outside in his patrol car while she worked the late shift at Starbucks to ensure she was safe.
"He eventually went to Verizon to get a new phone number so he could call and ask me to meet him for coffee and tell me his story. Afterwards he said "if you want nothing to do with me I'll respect that and never contact you again" but I knew that day he was going to be my husband," she wrote.
The TikTok, which received over 4 million views on the app, was met with mixed responses. The post, also shared on X, saw many people accuse her of marrying her stalker.
Many agreed with the above sentiment, alleging that Avery Woods had Stockholm syndrome.
"So he stalked her. And now they’re married Someone has Stockholm Syndrome," one person tweeted.
"So he stalked her. got it weird flex," another person added.
"Poor girl got trapped by a stalker. Yikes," someone else commented.
"When he shows all his red flags and she's just like "awwww"," another user wrote.
Others claimed that stories like hers gave stalkers the idea to be relentless with their behavior.
"These are the sorts of stories that give stalkers the hope to keep persevering with their behavior," one person said.
"Girl PLEASE don't go giving these men ideas," another person commented.
"You blocked him, so he got a new number to reach you out at and you found that romantic!?" someone else questioned.
Avery Woods was a nurse before she became an influencer
In a TikTok uploaded in February 2024, Avery Woods told her story of being broke as a nurse to earning millions as a TikTok influencer. Woods has over two million TikTok followers and 595K on Instagram. She also hosts a podcast titled Cheers! With Avery Woods.
Before becoming a full-time influencer, Woods was a nurse. She originally wanted to use social media to showcase the positive side of nursing, a profession she felt was bogged by negativity.
Her brush with the influencer lifestyle came after a scrubs company reached out to her to promote their products in exchange for free scrubs.
Avery Woods also told the story of marrying her husband David, saying they were too poor to afford new clothes for the occasion. David wore his police uniform while Woods got a pre-worn gown. Following their marriage, the couple and David's children moved into a small apartment.
David soon left for San Diego to look after his ailing grandfather, leaving Woods behind to manage the household. After Woods graduated from nursing school, she and the kids also moved to San Diego where they stayed till David's grandfather died. Woods described the time after that as the lowest time in their lives as they struggled to make ends meet.
After her first child was born, she joined Radu Children's Hospital as a full-time nurse. The family decided to move back to Arizona, where Woods got her "first-ever paid collab" with Cherokee.
After she had her second child, her Instagram and TikTok picked up the pace. By December 2022, Avery Woods quit nursing and embraced her current profession as a full-time influencer.
In an August 2024 interview with Forbes, she said being an influencer allowed her to stay home to parent her kids.
“Being able to now work from home and be present with my kids while they’re so young. When working in the hospital, I had to miss so many firsts—first steps, first words, first time riding a bike. I feel so privileged I have been given the opportunity to have both myself and my husband home full-time to raise our [four] kids together," Avery Woods said.
In the interview, Avery Woods said her goal was to "spread positivity". She also teased that she and her husband were looking to start their self-funded business, saying she was excited to share the details with her followers soon.