Peggie Neo (Singapore YouTuber)

Peggie Neo (born 6 January 1986) is a Singaporean YouTube personality and competitive eater. According to her social media platforms, she describes herself as a ‘mukbang eater’ - a South Korean term for a host that broadcasts themselves eating copious amounts of food while interacting with their audience. Peggie's younger brother, Zermatt Neo is also a YouTuber and an award-winning competitive eater. As of October 2020, Peggie has over a million subscribers on her YouTube channel and over 450,000 followers on Facebook. Her fanbase is called the 'Neo Nation'.

Peggie Neo
Peggie Neo Mukbang.jpg
Born6 January 1986
Home townSingapore

Background

 
Randy Santel and Peggie Neo at Roadhouse Diner, Singapore in 2017. Photo from YouTube.

Due to her channel’s exponential growth in 2017, Peggie Neo was named the top rising content creator in Singapore by YouTube Rewind, a compilation of the platform’s most popular channels by category.[1][2] That same year, she made a food challenge video with the American professional eater, Randy Santel when he travelled to Singapore.[3][4] Peggie has also been given international coverage by media sites such as Men's Health in 2019 and Insider in 2020.[5][6]

Family & personal life

Peggie Neo was born on 6 January 1986.[7] She has two siblings, Pierre Neo and Zermatt Neo - the latter of whom is also a YouTube personality and competitive eater.[8][9] According to her Facebook profile, Peggie is married to a citizen of the United States of America as of July 2020.[10] She divides her time between Singapore and Los Angeles, California.[11][12]

Diet

Peggie Neo has stated that her favourite food is grilled salmon and salmon sashimi, with her favourite beverage being Coffee Bean’s cafe latte. She reportedly eats one to two kilograms of fruit and vegetables for breakfast daily to maintain her stomach capacity for her mukbang videos.[7] In a YouTube video that was published in 2017, Peggie addressed some common misconceptions about her diet. She said:

"I don't eat like this every day. The only time I eat huge amounts of junk food is in my videos. When I'm eating on my own and there are no cameras filming, I don't eat so much... my diet consists of mostly fruits, lots of vegetables, salmon, greek yoghurt and I also drink lots of water."[13]

YouTube (2015 - current)

Peggie Neo created her YouTube channel in September 2015.[14] Her first video was uploaded around the same period.[15] At the time, she was a part-time YouTuber who was juggling a full-time job in the retail industry.[7] In 2017, Peggie created a separate channel called 'Peggie Neo Art' where she uploaded time-lapse videos of her drawings.[16][17] As of October 2020, Peggie does mukbang shows once to twice a week on her main channel which has amassed over 185 million total video views.[14] Her videos typically receive an average of over 70,000 views.[18][19][20]

Beginnings

 
Peggie Neo pictured in a 2017 Q&A video. Photo from YouTube.

In a 2016 'Question and Answer" video on YouTube, Peggie said that she began doing food challenges after watching videos of the American professional eater, Randy Santel.[7] After training to increase her stomach capacity, she attempted Roadhouse Diner’s Terminator Burger challenge in 2015. Although she finished the food given, she failed to complete the challenge in the allotted time. Peggie elaborated more on her decision to start a YouTube channel, saying:

“I could have just forgotten the whole thing and just given up but I’ve already trained so hard to increase my stomach capacity. I want to put it to good use. So I thought, okay I’m going to start a YouTube channel and do eating shows just like the Koreans.” [7]

Channel highlights

 
The thumbnail for Peggie Neo's most-watched video. Photo from YouTube.

With 17 million views as of October 2020, Peggie Neo’s most-watched YouTube video is the 'Nuclear Fire Noodles Challenge' in which she ate 5 packets of Samyang "2x Hot Chicken Flavor" ramen in one sitting.[21] The following is a list of Peggie's mukbang videos which have received a million views or more at the time of writing (October 2020).

Year Food Item Views Refs.
2017 6 packets of Indomie Mi Goreng, 5 fried eggs 2,005,211 [22]
2018 5 packets of Samyang 2x Hot Chicken Flavor Ramen 17,563,256 [21]
2 boxes of Jollibee's spaghetti, 2 boxes of burger steak and rice, 2 Aloha Burgers, 6 pieces of spicy fried chicken, 1 box of Fiesta noodles 1,291,082 [23]
2 sausage egg McGriddles, 1 Big Mac, 2 Happy Sharing boxes, 1 apple pie, 2 Party McFlurries 2,981,942 [24]
Six platters of assorted sushi and sashimi 1,140,925 [25]
2019 Two KFC mac and cheeseburgers, eight pieces of fried chicken, six egg tarts, two medium mashed potatoes, two medium packets of fries 1,970,755 [26]

Competitive eating

Peggie Neo has participated in the following food challenges over the years.

Year Event Food Item Timing Refs.
2017 Union Viet Pho Challenge 2.25kg worth of soup, noodles, chicken, beef, prawns and spring rolls 00:23:32:00 [27][28]
Wonder Cafe Challenge 4 slices of fried bread, 4 slices of toast, 4 fried eggs, 4 black pudding, 6 rashers of bacon, 6 hashbrown, tomatoes, mushrooms and beans 00:38:04:00 [29][30]
Roadhouse Terminator Burger Challenge 1.6kg-worth of burger and fries 00:18:57:05 [3][31]
2016 Hombre Cantina Burrito Challenge 2kg burrito 00:16:00:00 [32][33]

Wonder Cafe Challenge (April 2017)

In April 2017, Peggie took on the Wonder Cafe Challenge in Berkshire, England with the competitive eater, Hungry Ronin. They were required to finish a massive breakfast platter in 45 minutes, which Peggie completed in 38 minutes and 4 seconds.[29] The feat caught the attention of the local alternative news site Mothership, which featured her in an article.[34]

Roadhouse Terminator Burger Challenge (October 2017)

In October 2017, Peggie attempted the Roadhouse Terminator Burger challenge again after failing at the challenge in 2015.[3][7] She finished the 1.5-kilogram platter of burger and fries in under 19 minutes.

References/ Citations

  1. YouTube Rewind: Top Videos That Singaporeans Were Watching In 2017”. Nookmag. December 10, 2017. Accessed on 14 October 2020.
  2. Choo Yun Ting. “Local content rules in YouTube 2018 trending list in Singapore”. The Straits Times. December 6, 2018. Accessed on 14 October 2020.
  3. 3.0 3.1 3.2 Peggie Neo. "TERMINATOR BURGER CHALLENGE w/ RANDY SANTEL!! Beef Burger, Fries & Coleslaw | Food Challenge". YouTube. October 7, 2017. Accessed on 23 October 2020.
  4. Randy Santel. "Singapore Terminator Burger Challenge w/ PEGGIE NEO!!". YouTube. April 19, 2018. Accessed on 23 October 2020.
  5. Matthews, Melissa. "These Viral 'Mukbang' Stars Get Paid to Gorge on Food—at the Expense of Their Bodies". Men's Health. January 18, 2019. Accessed on 23 October 2020.
  6. Harris, Margot. "'I don't like to eat alone': Inside the world of 'mukbangs,' extreme-eating videos that are making YouTubers rich". Insider. March 3, 2020. Accessed on 23 October 2020.
  7. 7.0 7.1 7.2 7.3 7.4 7.5 Peggie Neo. “Why Peggie Eats? Q&A Video”. YouTube. September 3, 2016. Accessed on 13 October 2020.
  8. Peggie Neo. “PHO CHALLENGE IN UK! Hair down finally haha!”. YouTube. March 30, 2017. Accessed on 14 October 2020.
  9. Peggie Neo. "With Singapore's No. 1 Competitive Eater, aka the brother Zermatt Neo 😂😂😂". Facebook. September 28, 2017. Accessed on 13 October 2020.
  10. Peggie Neo-Robinson. "Relationship". Facebook. Accessed on 23 October 2020.
  11. neopeggie. "Hey everyone, hope you are doing well :)". Instagram. June 1, 2020. Accessed on 13 October 2020.
  12. neopeggie. "Cousins 💕 #chinesenewyear". Instagram. February 5, 2019. Accessed on 13 October 2020.
  13. Peggie Neo. "How I eat A LOT and NOT gain weight? The Truth Revealed". YouTube. May 12, 2017. Accessed on 23 October 2020.
  14. 14.0 14.1 Peggie Neo. "About". YouTube. n.d. Accessed on 13 October 2020.
  15. Peggie Neo. “WEET-BIX CEREAL (Eating Show - Mukbang) Peggie Eats S01E01”. YouTube. September 29, 2015. Accessed on 12 October 2020.
  16. Peggie Neo Art. “Drawing Harley Quinn - Margot Robbie - Suicide Squad | Colored Pencil Timelapse Speed Drawing”. YouTube. March 7, 2018. Accessed on 14 October 2020.
  17. Peggie Neo Art. “Drawing Captain America - Steve Rogers - Chris Evans Colored Pencil Speed Drawing | Marvel Fan Art”. YouTube. September 16, 2019. Accessed on 14 October 2020.
  18. Peggie Neo. “Huge Jollibee Feast in Hotel! Spicy Chicken Joy, Hot Dogs & Cheesy Sweet Spaghetti Noodles - Mukbang”. YouTube. September 17, 2020. Accessed on 14 October 2020.
  19. Peggie Neo. “VERY CHEESY! DEL TACO Feast - Queso Loaded Nachos, Carne Asada Wet Burrito & Crunchy Tacos - Mukbang”. YouTube. September 3, 2020. Accessed on 14 October 2020.
  20. Peggie Neo. “Wendy's Super Cheesy Chili Cheese Fries & Chicken Sandwich! Spicy Chicken Nuggets - Mukbang Asmr”. YouTube. August 20, 2020. Accessed on 14 October 2020.
  21. 21.0 21.1 Peggie Neo. "NUCLEAR FIRE NOODLES CHALLENGE • Mukbang • Eating Show".YouTube. July 5, 2017. Accessed on 23 October 2020.
  22. Peggie Neo. “[MUKBANG] Indomie Fried Noodles Mi Goreng | Indonesian Noodles”. YouTube. May 18, 2017. Accessed on 14 October 2020.
  23. Peggie Neo. “JOLLIBEE FEAST! Fried Chicken, Spaghetti, Burger Steak & Fiesta Noodles • Mukbang • Eating Show”. YouTube. August 2, 2017. Accessed on 14 October 2020.
  24. Peggie Neo. “McDONALD'S MCGRIDDLES!! Big Mac, Fried Chicken Pizza Balls, McWings & McFlurry | Eating Show Mukbang”. YouTube. June 10, 2018. Accessed on 14 October 2020.
  25. Peggie Neo. “$100 SUSHI FEAST!! Salmon Sashimi, Nigiri, Sushi Rolls, Seafood | Japanese Food Eating Show Mukbang”. YouTube. August 25, 2018. Accessed on 14 October 2020.
  26. Peggie Neo. “KFC ALL CHEESE FEAST 2!! Mac 'N Cheese Zinger, Crunchy Fried Chicken | Mukbang w/ Asmr Eating Sounds”. YouTube. February 26, 2019. Accessed on 14 October 2020.
  27. Peggie Neo. “PHO CHALLENGE IN UK! Hair down finally haha!”. YouTube. March 30, 2017. Accessed on 14 October 2020.
  28. Union Viet Pho challenge”. Union Viet. n.d. Accessed on 14 October 2020.
  29. 29.0 29.1 Peggie Neo. “MASSIVE ENGLISH BREAKFAST CHALLENGE! (With Hungry Ronin)”. YouTube. April 2, 2017. Accessed on 14 October 2020.
  30. The Wonder Cafe Challenge”. Wordpress. n.d. Accessed on 14 October 2020.
  31. Roadhouse’s Terminator Burger Challenge”. FoodChallenges. n.d. Accessed on 14 October 2020.
  32. Peggie Neo. “2KG MONSTER BURRITO CHALLENGE!! Food Challenge”. YouTube. December 25, 2016. Accessed on 14 October 2020.
  33. If You Can Finish This 2kg Monster Burrito First, You'll Get Free Burritos For An Entire Year”. Coconuts Singapore. November 30, 2016. Accessed on 14 October 2020.
  34. Lin, Olivia. “S’pore’s very own Mukbang YouTuber trashes UK guy in massive food challenge”. Mothership. April 17, 2017. Accessed on 14 October 2020.