Addison Rae: TikTok star opens up about trolling and body image

She has 76 million followers, over four billion likes and is TikTok's highest earner, but Addison Rae says there's good and bad bits about being one of the app's biggest stars.

Famous for dance routines, lip syncs and beauty videos, at just 20 years old Addison has an estimated fortune of $5 million!

What's even more incredible is she joined TikTok less than a year and a half ago, in August 2019!

She's now done an interview with Glamour magazine - here's what we learnt from it.

How Addison's TikTok journey started

From the age of six, Addison had been competing in dance competitions across the USA.

In an interview with Glamour magazine, she explains that a disappointment in her dance career saw her join the app: "I was trying out for the college dance team, and I ended up not making it.

"I was like, 'Oh my gosh. How am I going to continue entertaining and performing without making the team?' I thought I had to give up on all my dreams, but about four to five months later I started social media and TikTok.

"All of a sudden - out of nowhere - I was posting all the time and getting likes, views and followers. Social media offered me a really awesome roadway to take. Sometimes the road you didn't think you were going to take is the one that you do, and you're glad that you did," she said.

Addison Rae spent time in TikTok's Hype House with other creators

She soon swapped her college home for TikTok's Hype House in LA - a huge mansion - big enough to house 19 creators - complete with a gigantic swimming pool.

The house was also home to other huge TikTok stars, Charli and Dixie D'Amelio and Addison's boyfriend, Bryce Hall.

Now Addison - like lots of people around the world - is stuck inside because of the coronavirus pandemic.

But unlike most people around the world, from her new apartment in LA, Addison is making content that is seen by millions of TikTok users every day.

Trolls

With huge success, there can often be a down side, and for Addison that has been the trolling she receives on each post.

"I've dealt a lot with online hate and social media drama," she told Glamour.

"People that are very opinionated and don't want people to be happy."

Addison says that jealousy can make people say mean things and admits she was guilty of doing the same before she became famous.

Body image

A lot of the negative feelings Addison has had while posting online, has been because of pressures to look a certain way which she describes as "a really hard thing to deal with".

"A lot of it has to do with body image," Addison says.

She adds: "It's a backhanded compliment sometimes because people will be like, 'I'm so glad she's confident that she doesn't look perfect.' It hurts sometimes when people say that, because I think everyone's perfect, so why is there some standard of 'this body is the ideal body'?"

Advice

Rae says she's been attending therapy to help her cope with her life-changing 18 months.

Addison shared some of the advice she has taken away from her sessions, admitting that it's important to focus on yourself and not what others are doing.

"Making your life what you want it to be. You're making your destiny," she said, adding that taking time away from her phone, speaking to people in the real world, exercising and also filling her social feed with positivity when she is using apps, has been a big help.

Admitting that lockdowns have made things harder - she's tried to avoid social pressure to do certain things while also dealing with life through a pandemic.

"There is so much going on in the world today, adding self-esteem onto that is really tough. If you can't mentally, emotionally or physically love who you are it becomes really difficult to even be happy," she told Glamour magazine.

Amongst her many achievements over the past few months, Rae says that this would probably be what she's most proud of.

"Just staying mentally healthy has been a really big accomplishment for me," she said.