A Far North Queensland couple whose World Naked Gardening Day photos have gone viral say they have their friends to thank for getting them into the event and pushing them to up the ante every year.
Wil Kemp and Melanie Meaglia wore nothing but hats and shoes in a series of cheeky photos in their Cairns backyard using cleverly placed props, including a large pet python.
Days on from the event, which encourages people to tend to their gardens in the buff, the couple's album has been shared more than 149,000 times on Facebook.
Mr Kemp said it was "a little bit of a fluke".
"There was no way we expected it," he said.
"It was something that was supposed to be shared amongst family and friends on Facebook.
"I didn't even think about hitting the privacy button and automatically it went to public."
Mr Kemp said he and Ms Meaglia were known to be "pretty outgoing" and their friends suggested they get involved in World Naked Gardening Day four years ago.
"They're always keeping an eye out for weird things to see if we'll have a go at it," he said.
"Every year they've expected us to do it again and they want us to up the bar from last time, so here we are, four years later."
Mr Kemp said he was stunned to wake up to a text message from a friend the morning after posting the photos saying they were taking off.
"She said, 'Oh my god, your post has got 7,000 shares and it's climbing rapidly' and I was like, 'What? I don't even have that many friends on Facebook!'
"Mel wasn't overly excited with the news I'd accidentally made it go public."
"I said, 'Look sweetie, the internet has it now. It's alive, it's a monster, let it grow'."
The couple has been inundated with friend requests from a legion of new fans and thousands of appreciative messages, including some from people in countries hit hard by COVID-19.
"A lot of people have said thank you so much for the laugh. This was so good to wake up and see in our newsfeed instead of how many people have died. Just really brightened our day," he said.
"We've had a lot of people say we can't wait to see what you guys do next year."
