Andrew Tate and Greta Thunberg have gained combined 1.3 million followers since Twitter row and his arrest

To round out 2022, we arguably got the most bizarre social media beef of the year with controversial social media star Andrew Tate and climate activist Greta Thunberg locking horns.

The pair had a public spat on Twitter, which eventually led to Tate and his brother Tristan being arrested in Romania. That's a sentence we didn't expect to write this time last week.

But while the row has led to Tate being in prison, he may take some comfort that his following on Twitter has increased in recent days.

Thunberg's has as well, which has led to them gaining a combined 1.3 million followers between them following the extraordinary events in recent days.

Tate now has more than four million followers on the social media platform, with 19-year-old Thunberg now at an impressive 5.6 million followers on Twitter.

Before the spat and Tate's subsequent arrest, Thunberg had around five million followers, while Tate was on 3.3 million.

Despite the influx of followers, the pair are nowhere near some of the most followed people on Twitter.

Instagram/@cobratate

Former US president Barack Obama has the highest number of followers on the social media platform with 133.2 million, while Twitter owner Elon Musk sits on 123.9 million.

For those unaware, the increased followers have more than likely been brought about as a result of Tate reaching out to Thunberg on 27 December.

He boasted to the climate activist about his collection of supercars and the 'enormous emissions' they spew out.

"This is just the start. Please provide your email address so I can send a complete list of my car collection and their respective enormous emissions," Tate wrote on Twitter.

But Thunberg came back at the controversial social media figure by also taking to Twitter, saying: "Yes, please do enlighten me. Email me at smalld**[email protected]."

Tate wasn't going to stand down after that though, so he posted a two-minute video in response to Thunberg's roasting.

He tagged her in the tweet, adding: "Thank you for confirming via your email address that you have a small penis Greta Thunberg.

"The world was curious. And I do agree you should get a life."

Per Grunditz / Alamy Stock Photo

That video was Tate's downfall though, as a pizza quite clearly ordered from Jerry's Pizza in Romania could be easily spotted on camera.

This allowed Romanian prosecutors to locate and arrest Tate and his brother Tristan as part of a human trafficking investigation.

Thunberg released another tweet after this, which simply read: "This is what happens when you don’t recycle your pizza boxes."