Nikocado Avocado reveals journey, social experiment

The internet was once again taken by storm when American YouTuber Nicholas Perry, famously known as Nikocado Avocado, posted a picture on social media showcasing his two-year-long weight loss transformation.

The photo, posted on X (formerly Twitter) on Tuesday, 10 September, included side-by-side mirror selfies. The left, a portrait of him at 250 pounds, and the right, showing himself at his current state.

'Two steps ahead'

The 32-year-old YouTube star recently revealed in his YouTube video last Saturday, 7 September, about the ‘greatest social experiment’ of his entire life referring to his "mukbang" videos where he would eat unhealthy amount of food in front of a camera which consistently garnered him with millions of views. He also revealed that the videos uploaded on his channel have been pre-recorded for the past two years.

“[A]ll these little consumers, all of these lost and bored people, people consuming anything what they're told to consume… People are the most messed up creatures on the the entire planet and yet I've still managed to stay two steps ahead of everyone. The joke’s on you,” he said in the introduction of his YouTube video now with already 33 million views, as of this writing.

In the video, he further elaborated on his "eight-year-long" journey, describing his mukbang channel and weight loss transformation as a bad dream he was waiting to end.

By the end, he addressed his viewers about his intention to remain a mukbanger and continue creating videos that people would enjoy, aiming to encourage them to savor their food just as much as he did.

“[T]hat's what "mukbang" is supposed to be, that's what was originally for and that's what I'm trying to bring back to the internet and I love being a mukbanger. I love food, I like eating food and I like being here,” he said.

'King of Mukbangs'

Perry’s social media journey began when he joined YouTube on 27 May 2014, already sharing about his food lifestyle as a vegan. Later on, in 2016, his videos on YouTube transitioned into "mukbangs" where he would eat large quantities of unhealthy food on camera that, at the time, viewers began to watch.

His videos consistently elicited a mixture of concern, disturbance, and entertainment, at times even turning his moments into ‘reaction memes’ and generating hate comments from both subscribers and non-subscribers. Critics targeted his weight, unhealthy lifestyle, and perceived lack of relevance on social media.

Despite the negative criticisms, Perry continued to upload his videos on YouTube with millions of viewers also consistently following through. At one point in 2018, he posted a statement on his channel’s community tab in response to the various feedback emphasizing his role in YouTube as someone who only wants to express himself, love for food, and share his life ‘flaws and all’.

“I don't claim to be healthy. I don't tell people to eat like I do. I don't claim to be perfect. I almost always admit when I make mistakes. I don't tell people what to believe, what to feel, or what to think,” he began in his statement.

“But again, it's not my obligation to be a leader, and I hate when people act like I'm some kind of evil person when ‘straying away from my promises’, when in fact, I never made such promises. I’m not a leader or a politician; I'm just a regular guy,” he ended.

Since then, he and his channel continued to grow into popularity with over 4.26 Million subscribers, a total of 869,134,468 views and 711 uploaded videos on YouTube.

Moving forward, Perry had also begun uploading videos on his second and third channel, Nikocado Avocado 2 and Nikocado Avocado 3. One of his continued and most recent mukbang videos and another of his original ‘two steps ahead’ statement video were re-uploaded from his previous one on 5 February 2022.

As of this writing, Nicholas Perry is set to make a comeback with plans to upload more "mukbang" videos following his recent activity on YouTube.

Viewers are also reflecting on his major revelation as a reminder for those consuming content without deeper understanding and as a reflection of the health rollercoaster faced by the YouTube star.