The 'Distracted Boyfriend' meme has provided the internet with many laughs and multiple spin-offs over the past year, but now the real-life version has just been unearthed.

16-year-old South African Trisha Penma was recently on holiday in Venice, Italy when her sister snapped a photo of her eating a gelato on one of the city's streets.

What they didn't realise until afterwards, however, was the guy in the background holding his (presumably) girlfriend's hand and casting a raised-eyebrow glance back, much to his lady's (presumed) annoyance.

Penma told Buzzfeed: "As we were walking along St. Mark’s Square we got some ice cream and my sister decided it was a good photo opportunity. She randomly snapped a couple photos of me. Later, we scrolled through the photos and noticed the couple in the background.

"We immediately noticed the similarity between the pic and the meme! We didn’t really think about it, it was the first thing that came to mind when I looked at it."

See both pics below: