next LEVEL

First Bella Poarch took over TikTok. Now, she’s ready to dominate the pop charts.

- DEVON PRESTON

We will never forget 2020. Our lives were turned upside down and many of us were inspired to pursue new passions in our free time, including Bella Poarch, who joined TikTok in April. Unlike most people who merely picked up a hobby or mastered a new recipe, Poarch is now the third most followed creator and has the most-liked video on the entire platform. “I still feel like I’m the same person,” Poarch says. “Sometimes I forget I’m famous because of Covid-19 and I don’t really go out much. I’m sure it’ll be interesting when the world opens up again.”

Although she’s acquired over a billion likes and counting on TikTok, Poarch wasn’t always the popular girl. She spent her earliest years growing up in the Philippines and then, as a teenager, she moved with her family to Texas, where she struggled to fit in with her peers. “I got made fun of for the way I looked and for the Filipino food my mom would pack me for lunch,” Poarch says. “Kids even called me ‘Ling Ling.’ It wasn’t the easiest time.”

After having so much trouble fitting in during high school, Poarch wanted to get as far away from home as possible once she graduated. She enlisted in the United States Navy, a decision that not only took her far away from Texas but gave her independence, a trait she would carry for the rest of her life. “During my first year in the Navy, I was stationed in Pensacola, Florida, and I went to a bar to hang out with some people I’d met,” Poarch says. “I remember standing at the bar and this huge Marine started staring at me. He was clearly drunk, picked me up by both arms and was yelling, ‘You’re so small!’ I told him to let me go and put me down, but he wouldn’t listen.