Couple ruin £15,777 shoe collection so they can walk around barefoot

One couple have ruined their staggering £15,777 shoe collection so they can walk around barefoot and it's sent the internet into quite the frenzy.

Christi Fritz, who goes by the handle @christifritz online, took to TikTok to share with her 2.2 million followers exactly why she and her boyfriend started removing the bottoms of their footwear.

"The experience of cutting off the bottoms of our shoes was very freeing and detoxifying – just like walking barefoot is," she explained.

The couple then shared a vlog of them walking into a Sephora store, continuing: "As you know, they don't really like us in here without shoes.

Christi even said that the staff members had a chat with them and complimented their shoes.

"I definitely recommend this if you're trying to go incognito barefoot," the TikToker added. "It's the perfect way to get all the benefits of going barefoot but also having no one know."

The video has since gone viral after clocking up more than a staggering 24.1 million views just one day since it was posted to the platform alongside dozens of thousands of comments from people eager to share their reactions.

Many viewers were beyond baffled by the couple's lifestyle choice, with one TikTok user hitting out: "Y'ALL ARE WALKING IN PUBLIC BATHROOMS BAREFOOT!?!?"

"I don’t even like walking barefoot at home," revealed a second.

A third penned: "I get being barefoot in nature… but in the city..."

"I understand how cool it is to walk barefoot growing up in a huge farm to be connected to nature, but on the asphalt in the city I don’t think it has the same effect," declared a fourth.

A final critic asked: "Are you really grounding if you’re walking on sealed floors though? How often are you making contact with the real ground?"

Others, however, suggested an alternative: "OR YOU CAN GET BAREFOOT SHOES????"

"Just get barefoot shoes," suggested a second while a third chimed in: "Try barefoot shoes."

So - what are the alleged health benefits of walking barefoot?

"The most straightforward benefit to barefoot walking is that in theory, walking barefoot more closely restores our ‘natural’ walking pattern, also known as our gait,” explains Dr. Jonathan Kaplan, foot and ankle specialist and orthopaedic surgeon with Hoag Orthopaedic Institute.

Board-certified podiatrist and foot surgeon, Dr. Bruce Pinker, added that certain shoes can prevent you from using certain muscle groups that can actually strengthen your body.

Other apparent health benefits include; better control of your foot position when it strikes the ground, improvements in balance and body awareness, better foot mechanics, which can lead to improved mechanics of the hips, knees, and core, maintaining appropriate range of motion in your foot and ankle joints as well as adequate strength and stability within your muscles and ligaments, relief from improperly fitting shoes, which may cause bunions, hammertoes, or other foot deformities as well as stronger leg muscles, which support the lower back region.

However, there are some dangers attached, with Kaplan explaining: "Without appropriate strength in the foot, you are at risk of having poor mechanics of walking, thereby increasing your risk for injury."

The expert also noted you must consider the surface you're walking as, while it may technically be more natural to walk about barefoot, it can make you more susceptible to injury from the terrain - think rough or wet surfaces, issues with temperature, glass, or other sharp objects on the ground.

You could also risk exposing your tootsies to harmful bacteria and infection when walking about barefoot.