The Rahal: The laugh that launched a career

Miled Rahal is on a mission to secure “Kramboush Al Baharna”, consisting of two components, for his wife Melissa’s outrageous pregnancy cravings. He steals the Rose of the Desert spice from a man in a market, who chases Miled to the roof of a train. His mission then takes him on a twenty-meter underwater dive to secure the Shark’s Tear, after which he accidentally blows up the helicopter meant to transport him home. Nevertheless, Miled accomplishes his mission only to find that his wife’s craving has moved on to greengages. This delightfully entertaining scenario was filmed to promote “Mission Impossible: The Final Reckoning”.

Miled and Melissa Rahal, better known as The Rahal, are a famous Lebanese couple living in Dubai who have gained a loyal following of 1.2 million on Instagram through their hilarious content. Their relationship unfolds publicly on Instagram but there’s a part of their story that the audience never sees. The quiet moments. The unscripted ones without a camera pointing at them. “People see the humor, the chaos, the characters, but they don’t see the conversations at 2 AM when we’re exhausted parents trying to figure out life together”, says Miled. They don’t see the fears and doubts, the “are we doing this right?” moments.

Behind every video, there’s a couple trying their best while learning, unlearning, and choosing each other every day.

If anything, those unseen moments are the glue that holds together the fragments everyone sees.

Lebanon remains in their bones

Being their backdrop and their muse, Lebanon taught them resilience before love. When a relationship is built in the midst of uncertainty, it urges them to make the small things feel big, and the big things feel survivable. “We learnt to laugh louder than the noise around us, to turn chaos into stories, and to hold on to each other even when everything else felt unstable”, affirms Melissa.

Melissa was born and raised in the UAE and Miled came to Dubai thirteen years ago, before meeting Melissa or starting his journey on social media. The UAE felt like home to them and gave them a chance to dream without worrying about tomorrow collapsing beneath their feet. “It gave us stability, a home for our kids, and the freedom to create without limitation”, says Miled.

Despite the turmoil and wounds, “Lebanon remains in our bones”. They don’t know what the future holds,

but the idea of our kids growing up connected to that part of us and around our family will always be close to our hearts.

Consistency, dedication, and heart 

On their journey to stardom, it wasn’t merely one post that set their career ablaze. They dedicated themselves to posting consistently and testing content for years on end. “We evolved a lot and elevated our storytelling, production and skills until we reached our current status and gained both recognition and exposure in the region”, affirms Melissa. 

When asked about their biggest disagreement over their online identity as a couple, they responded that they always clash on the level of boldness in the tackled topics.

Melissa is the designated guardian of the family-friendly universe they’ve built. She wants everything to remain safe, warm, and true to the identity their audience connects and responds with. Miled, on the other hand, loves to poke around, push the limits, and stir the pot… ever so slightly. “Melissa usually wins the arguments, because at the end of the day, the heart of our identity is a relatable, family-friendly vibe and she’s the compass that keeps us aligned with it”, admits Miled.

Transcending content to connection

The day they realized their story resonated far beyond their circle of friends was when their followers started messaging them saying: “Thank you for making us feel less alone”.

Their audience saw the chemistry and the humor, and it was just what the doctor ordered.

It wasn’t about the views for the couple. “It was about recognizing that our story, our jokes, our tiny everyday moments… were healing or inspiring people we’d never met,” admits Melissa.

That’s when we knew this wasn’t just content. It was connection”

Although life in the spotlight definitely has its perks and moments of deep satisfaction, the pressure to stay ‘relatable’ has clashed with the reality of who they are and who they’re becoming. “Relatability is beautiful, but it can become a cage if you’re not careful.

We’re evolving as parents, as creators, as partners and sometimes growth doesn’t fit neatly into a trend”, explains Melissa. They are on a path of constant reinvention since they prefer an authentic journey of growth over an inauthentic journey of relatability.

At this stage, they’re most excited about their growing little family and about the new projects they’re taking on. “This chapter feels like the start of everything we’ve been working toward”, says Melissa.

An imprint of lightness and love

Which leads to one final point. If Instagram disappeared tomorrow, Melissa and Miled would remain the same two people that won the affection of people in Lebanon and the region. They’d still be chaotic, loving and joking their way through life, the upbringing of decent children and the storytelling of good narratives topping the list of their priorities. Being crafty, they’d find another medium to relay their stories.

They’d want people to remember one thing about them: “we made them feel something over the years and lightened their days once upon a time”.