Nicole Choo (Singapore Influencer)

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Nicole Choo
Nicole Choo profile.jpg
Born29 January 1999
EducationGCE Ordinary Level
Alma materSt Margaret's Secondary School

Nicole Choo (born 29 January 1999) is a Singaporean influencer and YouTube personality. In 2018, Nicole Choo authored a poetry book titled 'nineteen' which garnered mixed reviews. As of August 2020, she has more than 150,000 followers on Instagram, more than 55,000 subscribers on YouTube and 16,200 followers on TikTok.

Background

Early life & family

Nicole Choo is of Peranakan descent.[1]

Education

In primary and secondary school, Nicole Choo took up rhythmic gymnastics as a co-curricular activity.[2] She was a student in St. Margaret's Secondary School and subsequently, Ngee Ann Polytechnic[3] where she took a diploma in Early Childhood Studies. During her time in the course, she interned at childcare centres in Singapore.[4] She eventually left the course after realising that it was not her passion.[5]

Social media influencer

Nicole Choo first rose in popularity in 2015 after she was featured in Ridhwan Azman’s YouTube video titled 'Ways Guys Get Rejected'.[6] As of August 2020, she operates on three main social media platforms - YouTube, Instagram, and TikTok. Apart from her main Instagram account, she also manages a meme (a video or image, typically humorous in nature) account which has over 8,000 followers at the time of writing.

YouTube (2015 - present)

The thumbnail for one of Nicole Choo's "mukbang" videos. Photo from YouTube.

Nicole Choo joined YouTube in 2014. On 5 February 2015, she published her first video titled 'February Collective Haul'.[7] Since then, she has grown her YouTube channel by producing lifestyle-related content consisting of vlogs,[8] trending challenges,[9] beauty[10] and fashion videos.[11] As of August 2020, her most viewed video is a 2016 production called 'BOYS VS GIRLS (BESTFRIENDS)' which has garnered over a million views.[12] Nicole Choo has also been featured in other YouTube productions apart from her own such as TEAM TITAN[13] and Unzippedtv.[14]

As a social media influencer, Nicole Choo has collaborated with brands such as ShopBack, Uber, Coca-Cola and Resorts World Sentosa Singapore.[15] In June 2016, she uploaded a video in collaboration with ShopBack titled 'UPDATED EVERYDAY MAKEUP TUTORIAL', depicting her daily makeup routine and featuring the products used that were obtained through ShopBack.[16] As of August 2020, the video has over 500,000 views and is one of her most viewed videos on YouTube.

Influence Asia (2017)

Influence Asia 2017 was a live awards event organised by Gushcloud Pte Ltd.[17] The show aimed to give due recognition to social media content creators in Singapore, Malaysia, Indonesia, Philippines, Korea, Malaysia, Thailand, and Vietnam. Nicole Choo was a Top 15 nominee under the category “YouTube Personality”.[18]

Nineteen (2018)

Cover page of "Nineteen by Nicole Choo". Photo from Kinokuniya.

On 10 March 2018, Nicole released a book titled 'nineteen by Nicole Choo' through the publisher, Bubbly Books. The book was released in conjunction with BuySingLit, a movement meant to promote local authors.[19] The book retails for SGD$19.90 on Bubbly Books.[20] The book consisted of a variety of poems, expressing her feelings based on her life experiences. Nicole held two book signing events at two Popular Bookstore branches - Bras Basah and Nex.[21] nineteen placed number 7 on The Straits Times list of bestsellers on 27 March 2018.[22]

Reception

The book received criticism from netizens and fellow YouTubers alike. A writer from local entertainment publication Zyrup published a post reviewing the book. According to the writer, the book was "easily digestible" but mostly "amateur and shallow at best".[23] Dee Kosh responded to the release of the book through a YouTube video with Hirzi from Munah Hirzi, titled “Reading Nicole Choo’s Book”. The video was later removed due to copyright issues. The Associate Editor of Rice Media spoke out against the way Dee Kosh and Hirzi commented on her book, stating that at times their commentary "... came uncomfortably close to sexual harassment and cyberbullying...".[24] After the initial video was taken down, Dee Kosh and Hirzi posted a follow up video titled “WE’RE SORRY NICOLE CHOO” (YouTube video).

Other endeavours

Nikki The Label (2018)

On 12 January 2018, Nicole launched her own false eyelashes store called Nikki The Label (official Instagram page). There were 5 different type of lashes in the debut series. Within 5 months of the official launch, two types of falsies in the collection had sold out.[25]

The New Paper New Face (2015)

The New Paper New Face is a modelling competition organised by The New Paper. Nicole participated in 2015 iteration of the competition. She managed to enter the second round where she had to perform a catwalk in front of the judges. However, she was not chosen as one of the Top 40 girls of the competition.[26]

Newsworthy incidents

Nicole (left) and Ridhwan (right) in a "Couple Tag" video (2015) on Ridhwan's YouTube channel.

Public break up with Ridhwan Azman (2017)

Nicole started dating fellow YouTuber Ridhwan Azman in 2015, shortly after she appeared as a featured guest in his video “Ways Guys Get Rejected” (YouTube video). When the relationship officially ended in 2017, Nicole claimed that the relationship between her and Ridhwan had been psychologically and physically abusive. She also revealed that they were not faithful to one another. Nicole's initial allegations were made on her personal blog which has since been deleted.[27] The situation escalated when the two took the matter to their Instagram platforms.


Prompted by Nicole's allegations, Ridhwan responded by expressing his disapproval of her decision to share the personal details of their relationship on a public platform. Ridhwan retaliated by elaborating on the violent acts that Nicole had inflicted onto him as well.


Social media influencer Dee Kosh responded to the issue through his Instagram live. He had stated that he was not supportive of the way the two were handling their break up. Deekosh's Instagram live was then re-uploaded onto YouTube by user true loop (YouTube video). As of March 2019, the video had close to 189,000 views.[28] The incident had professional repercussions for Nicole, where her contract with Ezbuy had been reassessed and any collaborations between the two parties had been temporarily suspended.[29]

Fake pregnancy social experiment (2016)

In 2016, Nicole allegedly declared that she was pregnant with Ridhwan’s child on her social media platforms. Many netizens expressed concern over her pregnancy, considering that she had only been 17 years old at the time. Nicole later announced that her pregnancy had been a hoax. After the incident, she uploaded a video titled “WHY I HATE THE INTERNET” where she explained that the posts on her pregnancy had been a social experiment.


The original video posted by Nicole has since been deleted. YouTuber Ziddy14HD responded to the incident with a video titled “YOUTUBER FAKES PREGNANCY! (Nicole Choo Rant)” (YouTube video). This video included snippets from the original video where Nicole explains the reasoning behind the social experiment. According to Nicole, the experiment was meant to "show people how people are so drawn to negativity and drama whenever they see it online".[30]

References / Citations

  1. Nicole Alexa Choo. “50 FACTS ABOUT ME”. YouTube. September 20, 2017. Accessed on 24 January 2019.
  2. Nicole Alexa Choo. “50 FACTS ABOUT ME”. YouTube. September 20, 2017. Accessed on 24 January 2019.
  3. nicole.choo. "all about dat school life #ngeeannpoly". |nstagram. April 27, 2016. Accessed on 19 August 2020.
  4. Nicole Alexa Choo. “Q&A: EMBARRASSING MOMENT, HOW I GET RID OF ACNE”. YouTube. July 27, 2018. Accessed on 24 January 2019.
  5. TEAM TITAN. "Nicole Choo on What Went Wrong on Ridhwan - Team Titan Show #4". YouTube. March 27, 2020. Accessed on 19 August 2020.
  6. Ridhwan Azman. "Ways Guys Get Rejected". YouTube. July 27, 2015. Accessed on 19 August 2020.
  7. Nicole Alexa Choo. "♡ February Collective Haul ♡". YouTube. February 5, 2015. Accessed on 19 August 2020.
  8. Nicole Alexa Choo. "♡ TOKYO JAPAN VLOG // DISNEY SEA ♡". YouTube. February 27, 2020. Accessed on 19 August 2020.
  9. Nicole Alexa Choo. "I went VEGAN and here's what happened". YouTube. March 15, 2020. Accessed on 19 August 2020.
  10. Nicole Alexa Choo. "MY SCARLESS DOUBLE EYELID (STITCHING) SURGERY RECOVERY". YouTube. November 12, 2019. Accessed on 19 August 2020.
  11. Nicole Alexa Choo. "DATE NIGHT/NIGHT OUT OUTFIT IDEAS // FASHION NOVA". YouTube. February 19, 2020. Accessed on 19 August 2020.
  12. Nicole Alexa Choo. "BOYS VS GIRLS (BESTFRIENDS)". YouTube. July 15, 2016. Accessed on 19 August 2020.
  13. TEAM TITAN. "Nicole Choo on What Went Wrong on Ridhwan - Team Titan Show #4". YouTube. March 27, 2020. Accessed on 19 August 2020.
  14. Unzippedtv. "After Hours S2E9: Abusive Relationships (Feat. Nicole Choo)". YouTube. March 4, 2017. Accessed on 19 August 2020.
  15. Chan, Rachel. “Nasty break-up aired on social media may cost influencer”. The New Paper. February 8, 2017. Accessed on 28 January 2019.
  16. Nicole Alexa Choo. "UPDATED EVERYDAY MAKEUP TUTORIAL". YouTube. June 3, 2016. Accessed on 19 August 2020.
  17. Influence Asia. Accessed on 8 March 2019. Retrieved from: https://influence-asia.com/
  18. "Influence Asia 2017: TOP 15 NOMINEES". Influence Asia 2017. Accessed on 8 March 2019.
  19. “At 19, Nicole Choo is A Published poet. So What?”. Rice Media. May 28, 2018. Accessed on 25 January 2019. Retrieved from: http://ricemedia.co/current-affairs-commentary-nicole-choo-poet-nineteen-19/
  20. "nineteen by Nicole Choo". Bubbly Books. Accessed on 8 March 2019. Retrieved from: https://www.bubbly-books.com/product-page/nineteen
  21. “I WROTE MY FIRST BOOK & BOOK SIGNING DEETS!”. Nicole Alexa Choo. February 20, 2018. Accessed on 28 January 2019. Youtube. Retrieved from: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EvIE4gu8Ux8
  22. "Bestsellers". The Straits Times. March 27, 2018. Accessed on 8 March 2019. Retrieved from: https://www.straitstimes.com/lifestyle/arts/bestsellers-107
  23. Lim, Joel. "Review: I Bought and Read Nicole Choo's Book So You Don't Have To". ZYRUP. April 30, 2018. Accessed on 8 March 2019. Retrieved from: https://zyrup.sg/2018/04/30/nicole-choo-book/
  24. “At 19, Nicole Choo is A Published poet. So What?”. Rice Media. May 28, 2018. Accessed on 25 January 2019. Retrieved from: http://ricemedia.co/current-affairs-commentary-nicole-choo-poet-nineteen-19/
  25. nikkithelabel. Instagram. May 18, 2018. Accessed on 25 January 2019. Retrieved from: https://www.instagram.com/p/Bi4or8hHH2t/
  26. DAYRE. June 21, 2015. Accessed on 25 January 2019. Retrieved from: https://dayre.me/nicolechoo/KrreiAQfG8
  27. The Must Share News Team. “The Nicole Choo and Ridhwan Azman Break-up is 2017’s First Influencer Drama”. Must Share News. February 2, 2017. Accessed on 28 January 2019. Retrieved from: https://mustsharenews.com/influencers-break-up/
  28. “Dee Kosh’s Reaction to Nicole Choo’s breakup :(:(:(“. True Loop. February 2, 2017. Accessed on 28 January 2019. Youtube. Retrieved from: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QeJaZsspUig
  29. Chan, Rachel. “Nasty break-up aired on social media may cost influencer”. The New Paper. February 8, 2017. Accessed on 28 January 2019. Retrieved from: https://www.tnp.sg/news/singapore/nasty-break-aired-social-media-may-cost-influencer
  30. Ziddy14HD. "YOUTUBER FAKES PREGNANCY! (Nicole Choo Rant)". YouTube. July 21, 2016. Accessed on 8 March 2019. Retrieved from: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m0ufUWmIsgs&t=326s