YouTuber Nikocado Avocado revealed that he just pulled off a yearslong prank, losing 250 lbs. while convincing his millions of followers that he was still dangerously overweight.
The 32-year-old — whose real name is Nicholas Perry — rose to fame on the platform calling himself the “King of Mukbangs.” Mukbang, which originated in South Korea, is a genre of videos in which people show themselves eating excessive amounts of food, typically junk food, while interacting with viewers.
In a new video titled “Two Steps Ahead,” posted September 6, Perry shocked fans by debuting his drastic weight loss transformation, sharing that he just completed “the greatest social experiment of my entire life.”
“Today, I woke up from a very long dream, and I also woke up having lost 250 lbs. off of my body. And just yesterday, people were calling me fat and sick and boring and irrelevant,” he said in the video. “People are the most messed-up creatures on the entire planet, and yet I’ve still managed to stay two steps ahead of everyone. The joke’s on you.”
While wearing a giant panda mask on his head, Perry explained that creating Mukbang videos over the past seven years was like “monitoring ants on an ant farm” and taught him that people will consume “anything they are told to consume.
“I am the villain because I’ve made myself one,” he added, taking off the panda mask and showing off his weight loss.
The viral video has since garnered more than 30 million views. Fans of the content creator flocked to the comments questioning how he was able achieve such a drastic weight loss transformation while all of his recent videos throughout the past year show him at a larger size.
Perry told NBC News that he had everything planned out, revealing that two years ago he weighed his heaviest at 411 lbs. and he’s now at 158 lbs.
“I have been strategically posting pre-recorded videos for 2 years, on both YouTube and TikTok. I edited the videos so that they would appear recent, allowing me to focus on healing my body behind the scenes,” he told the outlet. “I shaved my head so that people wouldn’t recognize me in public. A handful of fellow YouTubers also helped to keep my secret.”
The YouTuber also explained that panda symbolizes how the “world of social media is not as black-and-white as it appears” and hopefully encourages people not to take the internet too seriously.
“While everybody pointed and laughed at me for over-consuming food, I was in total control the entire time,” Perry added. “In reality, people are completely absorbed with Internet personalities and obsessively watch their content. That is where a deeper level of over-consumption lies — and it’s the parallel I wanted to make.”
After the shocking reveal in his viral video, Perry casually returned to his usual Mukbang content by pulling out a large plate of noodles to consume on camera.
In the comments section, followers shared their disbelief by the transformation and many admitted that they’re relieved the star was able to get healthy.
“Let’s be real. This is what we hoped for rather than facing his passing due to complications caused by his heavy weight,” one fan wrote while another added, “He gained weight. Became a MultiMillionaire. Lost weight. Biggest comeback ever.”
One follower also commented, “I was one of the people who said he’ll die soon. I deeply regret it. Congratulations!”
“The fact he was able to keep this entirely private, with no one in the world telling his secret, while actively creating rumors of heart attacks and failed weight loss is so complex I can’t even wrap my head around it,” another person wrote.
(Source: People)
