How Nikocado Avocado fooled the internet and kept his staggering 250lb weight loss secret from his 8m followers – as YouTuber tells trolls ‘the jokes on you’
It was a social media stunt two years in the making, but this past weekend, YouTuber Nikocado Avocado finally revealed his staggering 250-pound weight loss to his millions of followers.
The 32-year-old internet personality, who is originally from Ukraine and now lives in the US, has amassed more than 4.22 million YouTube subscribers over the past eight years by filming himself gorging on ultra-processed fast food.
At his heaviest, the star, whose real name is Nicolas Perry, weighed 400 pounds (187 kilograms) and was classified as morbidly obese.
However, two years ago, the YouTuber decided to drastically change his lifestyle and secretly lose weight.
The star, who now lives in the US, filmed two years of videos before embarking on his drastic diet, without his followers noticing.
Pictured: YouTuber Nikocado Avocado — whose real name is Nicolas Perry — before his drastic 250-pound weight loss
Pictured: Nicolas Perry after his stunning weight loss, which he managed to keep secret for two years
In his most recent viral videoTitled “Two Steps Ahead,” Perry said, “Today I woke up from a really long dream. I also woke up with a 250-pound weight loss.
‘Just yesterday people called me fat, sick, boring and irrelevant.
“Humans are the most deranged creatures on the entire planet, and yet I’ve managed to stay two steps ahead of everyone else. The joke’s on you.”
Speaking with NBC NewsPerry explained how he “strategically” posts videos he recorded in 2022.
He said, “I edited the videos to make them look recent so I can focus on healing my body behind the scenes.”
Additionally, Perry shaved his head to avoid being recognized in public, and he says a handful of YouTube friends helped him keep it a secret.
His YouTube video opens with the star wearing the head of a giant panda, which Perry says is a reminder that social media is “not as black and white” as it seems.
He told the publication: ‘While everyone was pointing and laughing at me for eating too much, I was in control the whole time.’
Nicolas (pictured before he started his weight loss journey in 2022) said: ‘I edited the videos to make them look recent so I can focus on healing my body behind the scenes’
YouTuber Nicolas Perry before and after his staggering 250-pound weight loss, which took him two years
Just three months ago, Perry announced in a YouTube video that he had given up on losing weight, claiming he had seen “no lasting results” in two years.
He said in the video, “Oh, well, some people are fat. Get over it.”
“Do you think we’re put on this earth to just starve ourselves, count calories, and restrict carbs? I’m done with it; it doesn’t work. I keep trying; it doesn’t work. I’ve accepted that I’m fat. And I think most people should just do that.”
Introducing his latest video, Perry said, “I’m always – two steps ahead. This has been the greatest social experiment of my entire life.
“People consume whatever they’re told to consume,” he said, suggesting that the past few years had also been one big experiment.
In preparation for his weight loss, Nicolas filmed two years of content beforehand so viewers wouldn’t suspect anything
Pictured: Nicolas after his 250-pound weight loss. In his reveal video, the YouTuber compared his followers to ‘ants’
So I’m the bad guy, because I made one myself.
“And you will continue to consume these stories about me,” he said, making his point.
‘Year after year, after year, as long as I tell the internet that I’m the bad guy.
“Stories that penetrate, linger and infect the minds of the ants,” he continued, continuing his theatrics.
‘Influence the ants. Brainwash the ants. You are the ants.’
Perry ended the video by eating a large serving of black bean noodles.
The comments under both videos expressed awe at the YouTuber’s deception, with many wondering if his drastic weight gain was perhaps an elaborate ploy, as he himself said.
“The Ozempic has been working overtime,” wrote one commenter, accusing the influencer of using the increasingly popular weight loss drug to shed pounds.
He said he had recorded enough videos to last him two years, during which time he shed the pounds he had gained during his meteoric rise.
The influencer was once thin, but has gained more than 400 pounds in the eight years he’s been posting on YouTube
At the time of writing, the video was ranked number three on YouTube’s website and had been viewed over 30 million times.
Others pointed to the most recent foodie outings posted a few months ago, writing, “He said he hadn’t made a video in almost 2 years… he had enough videos under his belt to keep entertaining, concerned, and controversial for all that time. Dude is a f**king genius.”
Another simply added, “Nothing makes sense anymore.”
Once one of the most recognizable faces on the platform, Avocado now looks more like the 24-year-old who rose to internet stardom seven years ago with his ASMR eating videos, when he weighed just 150 pounds.
Within a few years he weighed a whopping 159 kilos.
Because this happened in real time, commentators often paid attention to the way the influencer destroyed his body to attract more viewers, imitating the video style from Korea.
Despite this, Avocado continued with his high-calorie meals, piling on the pounds, while vowing to eventually lose them.