Nicole Choo (Singapore Influencer)

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Nicole Choo
Nicole Choo profile.jpg
Born29 January 1999
EducationSt. Margaret's Secondary School
Alma materNgee Ann Polytechnic - Diploma in Early Childhood Studies
Years active2015 - present

Nicole Choo is a Singaporean influencer and YouTube personality. As of February 2019, Nicole Choo has more than 113,000 followers on Instagram (Instagram profile) and more than 54,000 subscribers on YouTube (YouTube channel). In 2018, Nicole Choo authored a book titled “Nineteen”.


Background

In primary and secondary school, Nicole took up rhythmic gymnastics as a co-curricular activity.[1] Nicole Choo was from St. Margaret's Secondary School. After finishing her O’Levels, she furthered her studies at Ngee Ann Polytechnic where she took a diploma in Early Childhood Studies. During her time in the course, she interned at childcare centres in Singapore.[2]

Career highlights

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

Nineteen (2018)

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.[3] The book retails for SGD$19.90 on Bubbly Books.[4] 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.[5] nineteen placed number 7 on The Straits Times list of bestsellers on 27 March 2018.[6]


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".[7] 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...".[8] After the initial video was taken down, Dee Kosh and Hirzi posted a follow up video titled “WE’RE SORRY NICOLE CHOO” (YouTube video).

YouTube (2015 - Present)

Nicole rose in popularity after she was featured in Ridhwan’s Youtube video titled “Ways Guys Get Rejected” (YouTube video). On 5 February 2015 Nicole published her first video on YouTube titled "February Collective Haul" (YouTube video). Since then, she had grown her YouTube channel (YouTube channel) by producing lifestyle related content consisting of vlogs, trending challenges, and beauty and fashion videos. Nicole has also been featured in other YouTube productions apart from her own. In July 2017, she was casted as an influencer who had received much online hate in “Kena Trend: The Series” by Youtuber Ridhwan Azman.


As a social media influencer, Nicole Choo has collaborated with brands such as ShopBack, Uber, Coca-Cola and Resorts World Sentosa Singapore.[9] In June 2016, she uploaded a video in collaboration with ShopBack titled “UPDATED EVERYDAY MAKEUP TUTORIAL” (YouTube video), depicting her daily makeup routine and featuring the products used that were obtained through ShopBack. As of March 2019, the video has close to 495,000 views and is one of her most viewed videos on YouTube.

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.[10]

Influence Asia (2017)

Influence Asia 2017 (official website) was a live awards event organised by Gushcloud Pte Ltd.[11] The show aimed to give due recognition to social media content creators in Singapore, Malaysia, Indonesia, Philippines, Korea, Malaysia, Thailand, and Vietnam. Nicole was a Top 15 nominee under the category “Youtube Personality”.[12]

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.[13]

Noteworthy incidents

The first video in which Nicole Choo appeared on Ridhwan's YouTube channel.
Nicole (left) and Ridhwan (right) in a "Couple Tag" video on Rdhwan Azman's YouTube channel in 2015.

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.[14] 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.[15] 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.[16]

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".[17]

References / Citations

  1. “50 FACTS ABOUT ME”. Nicole Alexa Choo. September 20, 2017. Accessed on 24 January 2019. Youtube. Retrieved from: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ao3vS6RXvkY
  2. “Q&A: EMBARRASSING MOMENT, HOW I GET RID OF ACNE”. Nicole Alexa Choo. July 27, 2018. Accessed on 24 January 2019. Youtube. Retrieved from: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2Deg4Fhkipo  
  3. “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/
  4. "nineteen by Nicole Choo". Bubbly Books. Accessed on 8 March 2019. Retrieved from: https://www.bubbly-books.com/product-page/nineteen
  5. “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
  6. "Bestsellers". The Straits Times. March 27, 2018. Accessed on 8 March 2019. Retrieved from: https://www.straitstimes.com/lifestyle/arts/bestsellers-107
  7. 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/
  8. “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/
  9. 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
  10. nikkithelabel. Instagram. May 18, 2018. Accessed on 25 January 2019. Retrieved from: https://www.instagram.com/p/Bi4or8hHH2t/
  11. Influence Asia. Accessed on 8 March 2019. Retrieved from: https://influence-asia.com/
  12. "Influence Asia 2017: TOP 15 NOMINEES". Accessed on 8 March 2019. Influence Asia 2017. Retrieved from: https://influence-asia.com/full-list-of-nominees
  13. DAYRE. June 21, 2015. Accessed on 25 January 2019. Retrieved from: https://dayre.me/nicolechoo/KrreiAQfG8
  14. 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/
  15. “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
  16. 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
  17. 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