Who is Tristan Tate? Exploring the life of Andrew Tate’s brother as duo get arrested in Romania

On December 30, the Romanian organized crime unit arrested controversial internet personality Andrew Tate and his brother Tristan Tate.

According to the Directorate for the Investigation of Organized Crime and Terrorism (DIICOT), the duo was involved in human trafficking, r*pe, and organized crime.

In this article, we'll look at Tristan Tate's career and personal life.

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A deep dive into Tristan Tate's career

Tristan Tate, like his brother, is a former professional kickboxer who became a popular social media influencer. He also appeared on Season 4 of the television show Shipwrecked: The Island in 2011.

During an episode of the Tate Speech podcast, Tristan recalled his humble beginnings before becoming a millionaire. He stated that the Tate brothers lived on leftover KFC for an entire year:

"I used to drive my broken Volkswagen Golf to the KFC restaurant in Dunstable, United Kingdom, and I used to sit in my car. And you couldn't ever eat anyone's leftover food if they ever had their mouth on it. But at KFC, they used to buy buckets, and I would sit and wait for people to sit outside, eat their meal, and leave the bucket on the table. And I used to go and take that bucket. Three or four pieces of chicken."

The 34-year-old also mentioned that he and his brother would freeze the leftover food:

"I used to collect 20, 30, 40 pieces of chicken that were perfectly fine, left in the buckets. I used to go home, and I used to freeze that chicken. And me and Andrew would break it up, put it in our rice, and that was our meal! That's what sustained us for that hard year. The year when I was 21, and you (Andrew Tate) were 22. That's how broke we were."

Tristan and Andrew Tate relocated to Romania after their kickboxing and reality television stints. This was when they launched their casino venture alongside the contentious adult webcam empire that they used to amass their fortune.

Tristan has spoken about his relationship with his brother. On the First Things THRST podcast, he stated:

"I was very lucky to have Andrew there, and a lot of people in this world are just growing up without no men to look up to. And I realized that, you know, myself and my brother, and guys like you have become that figure that a lot of people on the internet look up to in an age where, you know, there are masculine men that are few and far between."

Timestamp: 19:40

Tristan Tate has a fairly large Instagram following, with over 2.2 million followers. His social media posts primarily highlight his extravagant lifestyle, which includes driving a Bugatti Chiron, flying in private jets, meeting celebrities, and more.

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Why was Tristan Tate arrested along with Andrew Tate?

Tristan Tate and Andrew Tate were arrested at their home on December 30, 2022 by a Romanian organized crime unit.

According to an official press release issued by Romania's Directorate for the Investigation of Organized Crime and Terrorism (DIICOT), the Tate brothers were part of an organized criminal group that included two Romanian citizens.

DIICOT alleged that the Britons s*xually exploited victims by "forcing them to perform" p**rnographic acts:

"They were later transported and housed in buildings in Ilfov county where, by exercising acts of physical violence and mental coercion (through intimidation, constant surveillance, control, and invoking alleged debts), they were s*xually exploited by group members by forcing them to perform demonstrations p**nographic for the purpose of producing and disseminating through social media platforms material having such a character and by submitting to the execution of a forced labor."

DIICOT revealed in the final section of the press release that the four suspects had been taken into questioning and were ordered to be detained for 24 hours. At the time of writing, neither Tristan Tate nor Andrew Tate had publicly discussed their arrest.