Rising Stars

Vanillamace is the kind of creator who makes the internet feel like a friend group. Over the past six months, she’s exploded in popularity thanks in part to her viral blind box saga — an epic, slightly unhinged video where she kept pulling the one Pop Mart figurine she didn’t want. That TikTok alone racked up more than 15 million views and helped launch her into creator stardom. With 4.5 million TikTok followers, a lively Twitch presence, and over 1.3 million YouTube subscribers, Vanilla is building a joyful little universe across platforms, filled with gaming streams, LA life vlogs, and her two beloved cats, Chai and Miso. Her YouTube content captures everything from Renaissance faires and comic conventions to IKEA trips and candid conversations about anxiety. Expressive, effusive, and obsessed with all things Sanrio and Sonny Angel, Vanilla is more than a collector of cute things; she’s a deeply relatable voice in the chaos of online life. In a digital world that often rewards filters and facades, she’s winning by simply being herself.

"I’m gonna be truthful even if it makes me look bad." That was one of the first lines uttered by Tareasa "Reesa Teesa" Johnson of Atlanta in her beloved 50+ video TikTok series, "Who TF Did I Marry?," and that candor has endeared her to millions (nearly 3.5 million on TikTok alone).

Chronicling Johnson’s meeting, courtship, marriage, and divorce to a man she described as a “pathological liar,” Johnson shared her heartbreaking and relatable tale in a novel format: 50 five- to 10-minute videos. Johnson’s clear-eyed retelling of her life falling apart is now the basis for a forthcoming television show starring Insecure and White Lotus star Natasha Rothwell. 

On her social channels, Johnson, who has a degree in criminal justice, is moving beyond her love woes. Her videos describe everything from public speaking anxiety and her devotion to Beyoncé to slogging through Hartsfield Jackson International Airport; her social media persona is relatable, not sensational. Simply by being herself, Johnson has shown that while novelty often grabs the public’s eyes, it takes an engaging personality to keep them.

Becca Bloom lives a good life. Her 3.5 million followers on TikTok and 1.2 million followers on Instagram know it. The influencer went viral this year, accumulating a mass following and embedding herself into a part of TikTok where luxury is anything but quiet. Bloom is seemingly always decked out in designer wear, posing on yachts, private jets, and from five-star hotels in the Seychelles, Capri, and the Amalfi Coast. Followers and internet sleuths have been quick to unmask more about Bloom, a University of Southern California graduate, who also allegedly works a full-time job in finance. Everything from her engagement to her Lake Como nuptials to her parents’ credentials is discussed in online forums and in stitched TikTok videos. Whatever people’s views are, fans are enamored by her sweet personality – and, more than anything, they can’t seem to get enough of her lifestyle.

"Very demure, very mindful" — these words need very little introduction. Jools Lebron is a 32-year-old Chicago-based creator who masterminded the defining catchphrase of 2024, thanks to a viral TikTok. In August 2024, Lebron (@joolieannie on TikTok) posted two TikToks instructing people on the art of demureness in the workplace. Little did she know that those two videos would go on to amass over 56 million views combined. "You see how I do my makeup for work? Very demure, very mindful. I don't come to work with a green cut-crease." The power of "demure" was so ubiquitous that the phrase was named Dictionary.com's word of the year in 2024 and even got a mention from Beyoncé during the 2025 Cowboy Carter tour. Now with 2.3 million followers, Lebron's success has enabled her to afford gender-affirming surgery. The year of demure may be over, but its legacy lives on in all our hearts.

British comedian, rising TikTok star-turned-presenter Charley Marlowe originally hails from Liverpool, UK, and describes herself as a "scouse prinny" (essentially a Liverpudlian princess). Now in her mid-20s, she started making TikToks when she was at university and working in TV, and has since amassed more than 700,000 followers on TikTok, 44 million likes, and nearly 200,000 followers on Instagram. As a rising internet star, Marlowe has landed presenting gigs, including narrating BBC Three's lesbian dating show I Kissed A Girl, and she was recently announced as BBC Radio 1 as a summer presenter. Marlowe is now a red carpet interviewer, having recently interviewed A-listers at the star-studded BAFTAs. The sky's the limit as far as Marlowe's concerned: she has said she wouldn't mind having her own late-night talk show. We'd certainly tune in.

Few things have been as synonymous with mac 'n cheese as TikTok’s Tini since Kraft launched its blue box classic. Tineke "Tini" Younger, 24, has been a popular food creator for years, but she truly hit the mainstream with her pre-Thanksgiving mac recipe that racked up over 101 million views. It broke the internet, with everyone and their mother attempting to make her recipe. The virality was certainly helped by the fact that lots of home cooks struggled with making a roux, thus messing up Tini’s delicious creation. It’s a reminder that though Tini often focuses on homestyle, accessible dishes for her 11.3 million followers on Tiktok, she is professionally trained. It’s why you’ll see her go viral for everything from fried catfish to Eggs Benedict. Tini's TikToks frequently reach millions of views, especially as she’s let her audience peek into her family life. Folks proved super invested, for instance, as Tini recently announced she’s having twin girls with her husband. It’ll be interesting to see how TikTok’s favorite chef adapts her cooking as her family grows.

Jack Innanen is one of the many content creators melding social media celebrity with TV stardom, and he's doing it in style. (Look no further than his collaborations with fashion brands like Ralph Lauren, Dior, Louis Vuitton, and Coach.)

The 26-year-old Canadian comedian has amassed 3.4 million followers on his main TikTok account (@yungjackinnanen), all eager to tune into his hyper-specific character sketches. Examples include an apostle who forgot to Venmo Jesus for the Last Supper, or the most performative man in New York City, where Innanen himself is based. Over on his spam account (@oldjackoutoutout, 1.1 million followers), Innanen gets more unfiltered. Lately, that account has been the site of behind-the-scenes facts about Innanen's role in FX's Adults, where he plays charismatic softie Paul Baker — a role that spawned Innanen's quest to claim the title of "White Boy of the Month." The result is part press campaign, part charm offensive, and all reason to know that Innanen is one to watch.

With razor-sharp wit and relatable humour about life and pop culture, Caleb Hearon is guaranteed to make you laugh. The comedian, writer, actor, and podcaster, originally from Missouri, started performing stand-up comedy at venues in Chicago after graduating from college. Then, during the pandemic, his character skits and funny videos began going viral on social media. In 2020, Hearon began writing for Netflix's Human Resources, and since then, he's acted in a number of hit shows and movies, including Mr. and Mrs. Smith and Jurassic World: Dominion. Hearon is billed to appear in the recently announced sequel, The Devil Wears Prada 2 (2026), and in 2025, he'll be filming his debut HBO comedy special. In 2024, Hearon launched his popular podcast So True with Caleb Hearon, which features regular culture guests, including Trixie Mattel, Dylan Mulvaney, Drew Afualo, and Brittany Broski. Hearon has 930,000 followers on TikTok and 360,000 followers on Instagram.

If you want pop-culture news delivered with wit and flair, Loren LoRosa is your go-to. The 35-year-old producer-turned-host fronts The Latest with Loren LoRosa, a daily pop-culture podcast that launched in March, distributed by Charlamagne Tha God’s Black Effect Network and iHeartPodcasts.

Now based in New York City, LoRosa parlayed years as a TMZ reporter and producer into co-hosting "The Breakfast Club" morning radio show for Power 105.1, where she is a senior news producer, and the show's 12 million-plus followers on social.

On Instagram and TikTok, LoRosa posts clips and teasers from "The Breakfast Club" and The Latest to her own followers, sharing behind-the-scenes clips and highlight reels, which include her coverage of the Diddy trial this year. In each podcast episode and her morning show segment, LoRosa breaks down everything from celebrity scoops to culture-shifting moments, all in under 30 minutes, fueling her reputation as an incisive yet relatable voice in digital culture.

Comedian, lifelong theater kid, and cutie-pie content creator Ashby Florence exploded onto the social scene this year, racking up over 2.2million TikTok followers for her comedic takes on the likes of Alexander Hamilton, Pitbull, and The Lorax. The 24-year-old, LA-based influencer works full-time as a graphic designer, and has a long history of content on her grid that dates back to 2017, ranging from original music and lip syncs to more standard vlog fare and TikTok livestreams.

Joining a parade of other creators to tackle the #alexanderhamilton lip sync challenge, her take on the founding father landed her on countless FYPs and gave the performer her first real taste of internet fame. But it wasn’t until her send-up of legendary Dr. Seuss character The Lorax went viral (it’s surpassed 10 million views to date) that people really started paying attention. She's shown up on TikTok Live as The Lorax a few times since, each time donning a bright orange body suit and the character's signature fuzzy eyebrows and mustache. And with another 260,000 on Instagram (at the time of this writing), Florence is definitely one to keep an eye on.