If you started watching Dancing With the Stars this season without spending much time on TikTok, there is a good chance you had the same question as thousands of other viewers:
Who exactly is Connor Wood — and why does everyone keep calling him Fibula?
To his existing internet audience, Connor needed no introduction.
He had already built a large following through short comedy videos, a successful podcast and sold-out stand-up shows.
But Dancing With the Stars has pushed him into a different kind of fame.
People who had never heard of Fibula are suddenly searching his name, wondering about his career, his podcast, his relationship with Brooke Averick and how a comedian who became popular joking about unemployment ended up dancing on prime-time television.
Connor’s rise makes more sense when you realise that almost none of it was originally planned.
Before DWTS, There Was Fibula
“Fibula” is the online name closely associated with Connor Wood.
It is how a large part of his audience first discovered him on social media, and it remains attached to his comedy career even as his real name becomes more recognizable.
That creates an unusual situation now.
Older fans say Fibula.
New Dancing With the Stars viewers say Connor Wood.
They are talking about the same person.
And his journey from one name to the other says a lot about how modern celebrity works.
Connor did not become famous through a movie, television pilot or traditional comedy club circuit.
His breakthrough happened through his phone.
Getting Laid Off Accidentally Gave Him a Career
Connor’s comedy story really began around the pandemic.
Before becoming known online, he had worked in marketing, including jobs connected with companies such as Bumble and Bird.
Then his professional life changed.
Like millions of other people during that period, Connor suddenly found himself dealing with unemployment.
Instead of presenting a polished influencer lifestyle online, he started talking about what was actually happening to him.
Being unemployed.
Feeling confused.
Everyday annoyances.
Friends.
Dating.
The strange routines people develop when they suddenly have too much time.
Those videos began connecting with viewers.
Connor later described his move into comedy as something that happened almost by accident.
He was not sitting at home with a carefully prepared strategy titled “How to Become a Famous Comedian.”
He posted.
People laughed.
Then they kept coming back.
Why His TikToks Felt Different
The early TikTok era produced plenty of creators doing dances, trends and highly edited sketches.
Connor’s style felt simpler.
He talked.
A lot.
Sometimes it sounded less like a traditional comedy performance and more like listening to a funny friend complain about something that had happened five minutes earlier.
That became part of the appeal.
His comedy relies heavily on personality rather than elaborate production.
There is a slightly anxious quality to some of it.
A little self-deprecation.
A lot of overthinking.
And stories that can feel oddly specific while still being recognizable to a huge audience.
One of the viral phrases associated with him is the wonderfully strange:
“I have purse.”
If that sentence makes immediate sense to you, you probably knew Fibula long before Dancing With the Stars.
TikTok Fame Could Have Been the End of the Story
A lot of social-media careers reach the same difficult point.
Someone goes viral.
They gain followers.
Maybe they get sponsorships.
Then people move on to someone new.
Connor managed to turn short-form attention into something much harder to build:
an audience willing to follow him somewhere else.
First came longer conversations.
Then podcasting.
Then live comedy.
The jump mattered because someone watching a 30-second clip for free is not necessarily willing to buy a ticket and sit through an entire stand-up set.
Connor proved that enough of his audience was.
Brooke and Connor Make a Podcast Became Its Own Thing
In 2022, Connor Wood and fellow creator Brooke Averick launched Brooke and Connor Make a Podcast.
The title is unusually accurate.
It is Brooke.
It is Connor.
And they make a podcast.
Their conversations jump between pop culture, personal stories, internet nonsense and whatever else happens to occupy their brains that week.
The chemistry works because it rarely feels like two hosts desperately searching for a viral moment.
Listeners feel as though they are dropping into an ongoing friendship.
That relationship has become so central to their online identities that one question follows them constantly.
Are Connor Wood and Brooke Averick Dating?
No confirmed public information suggests that Connor Wood and Brooke Averick are a couple.
They are friends and podcast co-hosts.
Their closeness naturally creates speculation among people who discover them for the first time, but treating a close friendship as a secret romance simply because two people have good chemistry would be a stretch.
The confusion probably says more about how convincing their podcast dynamic feels than it does about their actual relationship.
And the podcast has done extremely well without needing a fake romantic storyline.
It was named Best Comedy Podcast by Adweek in 2024 and has developed a strong following of its own.
Then Connor Had to Prove He Was Funny Without an Edit Button
Moving from TikTok to stand-up comedy is not automatic.
Online creators can cut awkward pauses.
Delete videos.
Try another take.
A comedian on stage does not have that luxury.
If the room goes quiet, everyone knows.
Connor has spoken about that difference himself.
Early live performances made him nervous because there was no way to simply delete himself from the stage if something went badly.
But he kept doing it.
His Fibs & Friends shows grew into a serious touring business.
He began playing sold-out dates and eventually took the show internationally.
His comedy career also brought recognition outside his existing fan community.
He was named a Comic to Watch by the New York Comedy Festival, appeared on entertainment-industry creator lists and headlined a sold-out show connected with Netflix Is a Joke.
At that point, calling him “just a TikToker” no longer made much sense.
And Then Dancing With the Stars Called
Dancing With the Stars introduced a new problem for Connor.
Talking for an hour?
Fine.
Standing onstage with a microphone?
Increasingly fine.
Remembering ballroom choreography while millions of people watch?
Very different situation.
Connor joined Season 35 of Dancing With the Stars and was paired with professional dancer Rylee Arnold.
For his longtime followers, seeing Fibula suddenly dressed for ballroom competition was inherently funny.
For viewers who did not know him, the show became the introduction.
And that second group appears to be growing.
He Isn’t the Best Dancer — Which May Be Helping Him
Connor did not enter DWTS pretending to be a secret professional dancer.
That has become part of the fun.
His performances have shown improvement, but they have also preserved enough awkwardness to remind viewers that this is someone genuinely learning something new.
That makes him easy to root for.
By Week 4’s Mariah Carey Night, Connor and Rylee performed a rumba to “Touch My Body.”
The routine earned 19 out of 30 from the judges.
Technically, it was not one of the night’s strongest dances.
But Connor remained safe and continued in the competition.
And judging only by scores misses part of why viewers are responding to him.
DWTS Is Showing a Different Version of Connor Wood
On TikTok, Connor controls the joke.
On a podcast, he can talk until he finds the funny part.
During stand-up, he knows what material he wants to perform.
Ballroom dancing takes away much of that control.
Someone else is teaching him.
Judges publicly critique him.
He cannot hide whether he remembers the steps.
And that vulnerability may be helping audiences understand why his original followers liked him.
He does not come across as someone desperately trying to look impressive.
Sometimes he looks nervous.
Sometimes he looks ridiculous.
Then he laughs about it.
That fits the personality his existing audience already knows.
Why Is Connor Wood Suddenly So Popular With DWTS Viewers?
There is an old reality-TV formula that works surprisingly well:
Do not be the person viewers are told to love.
Be the person they unexpectedly start loving.
Connor appears to be drifting toward that second category.
He entered the season without the mainstream name recognition of established actors and television personalities.
That gave him an advantage.
There was less baggage.
Viewers could meet him through the show rather than compare him with a character they had loved for twenty years.
His existing fan base brought enthusiasm.
New viewers added curiosity.
And suddenly people who had never opened his TikTok account were asking why everyone online kept referring to this dancing comedian as Fibula.
Is Connor Wood Dating Anyone?
Connor keeps his dating life relatively private.
Recent entertainment coverage has linked him to people in his wider social circle, but there has been no confirmed public relationship announcement that should be treated as fact.
He has also been the subject of predictable online speculation involving women he is friendly with.
That includes Brooke Averick.
Again, Brooke is his podcast co-host and friend.
Until Connor publicly confirms a relationship, speculation is just speculation.
What Is Connor Wood’s Age?
This is one detail where online celebrity databases become messy.
ABC’s official Dancing With the Stars biography lists Connor’s birthday as September 11, but does not provide a birth year.
Several secondary websites give a year, but they are not completely consistent with one another.
Rather than choose whichever number appears most often and present it as verified, it is safer to leave the exact birth year unconfirmed unless Connor or an authoritative first-party source provides it.
His hometown, however, is listed by ABC as Austin, Texas.
Connor Wood Is a Good Example of How Fame Has Changed
Twenty years ago, Connor’s career path would have sounded bizarre.
Lose a regular job.
Start complaining into your phone.
Build a TikTok audience.
Turn those viewers into podcast listeners.
Convince them to buy comedy tickets.
Sell out shows.
Then appear on one of America’s best-known entertainment competitions.
There was no traditional gatekeeper at the beginning.
No casting director had to approve him.
No television executive had to decide he was funny.
The audience made that decision first.
Traditional entertainment arrived later.
That may be the most interesting part of his story.
He Did Not Leave the Internet Behind
Appearing on television sometimes changes how an internet creator presents themselves.
Suddenly everything becomes polished.
More serious.
More “celebrity.”
Connor’s advantage is that his original persona is difficult to polish too much.
The awkward stories and chaotic observations are part of why people follow him.
So Dancing With the Stars feels less like Connor abandoning his internet career and more like the internet version of Connor has been dropped into a completely different environment.
That contrast is producing some of his funniest moments.
From “Who Is That?” to Fan Favorite
Connor Wood did not enter Dancing With the Stars as the most famous person in the cast.
He may not leave as the best dancer either.
But neither of those things necessarily decides who audiences remember.
The show has already introduced him to viewers far outside his normal comedy and podcast audience.
That gives Connor something more valuable than one viral TikTok.
A second audience.
His first audience knew him as Fibula.
His new audience is learning the name Connor Wood.
If his current momentum continues, he may soon reach the point where people no longer need either name explained.
Reader Questions About Connor Wood
Who is Connor Wood?
Connor Wood is an American comedian, social-media creator and podcast host known online as Fibula. He rose through TikTok before expanding into stand-up comedy and podcasting.
Why is Connor Wood called Fibula?
Fibula is the online name and handle closely associated with Connor’s social-media career. Reliable first-party sources regularly identify him as “Fibula,” although many websites offering elaborate stories about the exact origin of the nickname do not provide strong sourcing.
Is Connor Wood on Dancing With the Stars?
Yes. Connor is competing on Season 35 of Dancing With the Stars with professional partner Rylee Arnold.
Who is Connor Wood’s DWTS partner?
His professional dance partner is Rylee Arnold.
What podcast does Connor Wood host?
He co-hosts Brooke and Connor Make a Podcast with Brooke Averick.
Are Connor Wood and Brooke Averick dating?
There is no confirmed public information showing that they are dating. They are longtime friends and podcast co-hosts.
What did Connor Wood do before becoming famous?
Before his social-media and comedy career took off, Connor worked in marketing. His rise online accelerated after he became unemployed around the pandemic period.
Is Connor Wood a stand-up comedian?
Yes. Connor successfully moved from short-form comedy into live stand-up and has toured with his Fibs & Friends shows.
Is Connor Wood still on DWTS?
As of October 12, 2026, Connor remained in the Season 35 competition after surviving Week 4.
