Colleen Ballinger, the mastermind behind the YouTube sensation Miranda Sings, has captivated audiences for over a decade. From humble beginnings to a multifaceted career encompassing book deals, comedy tours, a Netflix series, and major brand endorsements, Ballinger's journey has been nothing short of extraordinary. This article delves into her career, personal life, and addresses her experiences with body image and weight, particularly in relation to her pregnancy.
From Stage Dreams to YouTube Fame
Musical theater has always been a cornerstone of Colleen Ballinger's life, a passion ignited by her late grandfather. His encouragement fueled her love for the performing arts. In addition to her grandfather, Ballinger's grandmother also encouraged she and her siblings to perform in her living room as kids every year for Christmas. Before YouTube fame beckoned, Ballinger pursued her passion for performing. After graduating college, she landed a role in "Seussical The Musical." This led to an opportunity to perform in "High School Musical" at Disneyland, a dream come true for the Disney-obsessed Ballinger.
However, her Disneyland stint took an unexpected turn when her burgeoning internet fame as Miranda Sings began to overshadow her performances. As fans recognized her from YouTube, Ballinger was informed that her voice was no longer deemed up-to-par, and her role was reduced. Despite her disappointment, she harbors no ill feelings towards Disney.
In 2009, Colleen Ballinger uploaded a YouTube video to her channel called "Free Voice Lesson." It went viral, and the world was introduced to the pretentious tone-deaf singer, Miranda. Ballinger explained the genesis to the character in a January 2018 episode of Live with Kelly and Ryan, stating she was just imitating the mean girls in college to make her friends laugh. In 2010, Ballinger recalled life before Miranda to Huffington Post, saying, "I had begun by posting some videos of my own performances, and then I started seeing these links from girls who would sit in their bedroom and sing into the camera…
Battling Bullies and Building Confidence
While Ballinger's over-the-top singing persona made her the megastar she is today, she struggled a lot with her confidence after suffering years of bullying while growing up. She opened up about being bullied in this April 2018 YouTube video, where she describes her first bullying experience at age 11 while aspiring to be a model: "I remember there was a woman doing my hair and makeup and the whole time she's doing my makeup she made fun of my unibrow, she made fun of my frizzy hair, she made fun of my wiry body, she made fun of my clothes… Ballinger went on to explain how the bullying worsened as she grew older and entered high school, where she was physically assaulted, tormented, and shunned by her peers for her looks. As a child Colleen Ballinger was extremely close with her family. Daughter of dad Tim and mom Gwen, Ballinger was one of three children, which included her siblings Trent, Christopher, and Rachel. Ballinger describes her relationship with Trent in that same YouTube video, saying, "We were best, best friends. We did everything together. We played in the backyard together. We made up games. We sang songs. We laughed all day. We played all day.
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Navigating Relationships and Public Life
Ballinger's personal life has also been in the public eye. In January 2015, millions of online viewers got to watch as Evans proposed to Ballinger - because he documented it in a YouTube video. Sadly, the very public relationship would meet a very public end, when the pair announced they were divorcing a little over a year later. Ballinger released a (now deleted) emotional video announcing her divorce from Evans, explaining (via People), "We've shown you everything because we wanted to, and I don't regret any of that, but, you know, we chose to not share with you the hard parts of our relationship.
While her Netflix series came to an abrupt end in 2017, Ballinger gained something from the show more meaningful than ratings and critical acclaim: true love. While the couple remained relatively private throughout the course of their relationship, Ballinger gushed about her love to People, explaining, "Erik's so wonderful…I've never been treated so amazing. He treats me like a princess. …He is my biggest cheerleader and just the best partner in the world. It was evident the duo were in love, and in it for the long haul. And to the surprise of fans, Ballinger announced in a December 2018 YouTube video that the couple had actually already gotten married. In the 12-minute video, Ballinger stated, "This year I got pregnant and engaged and married all in the same year - yeah, we got married.
Literary Pursuits and Stage Presence
When Colleen Ballinger was in kindergarten, she aspired to be a writer and created her own books. Her one-time childhood dream came to fruition in July 2015, when Ballinger officially published her first book, Selp Helf. The book was co-written with her brother Christopher, and was a parody self-help book, filled with personality quizzes and step-by-step how-tos from Miranda. Her follow-up book, My Diarrhe, which was Miranda's "leaked diary," released on July 10, 2018. Ballinger announced the book with a hilarious video, done in character as Miranda. My first kiss, my first period, stories about secret family members, secret photos of other celebrities, etc…
Colleen Ballinger is in love with performing live on stage. The internet star began taking her Miranda character across the world on-tour, after receiving a call from Jim Caruso, who asked her to perform at his Bird Land Cast Club. Ballinger explained in this October 2018 YouTube video, "I was a musical theater kid. I loved theater. I did theater in high school, I used to go see theater with my grandpa when I was a little girl. I always knew I wanted to be on stage. The entertainer performed on stage as Miranda for 10 years, with her time on stage nearing its end in 2018 - or so she thought. After announcing she would need to stop touring, Ballinger announced she would be heading out on another (much shorter) tour with her new baby in 2019.
Haters Back Off and Professional Success
In January 2016, Netflix ordered "Haters Back Off," an eight-episode series, created by Colleen Ballinger and her brother Christopher Ballinger, based on the fictional life of Miranda Sings. In an October 2016 interview with The Verge, Ballinger described creating the show with her brother, "Six or seven years ago, we started developing the idea of Miranda's world. We were actually writing a movie, but then we quickly realized we had so much more story to tell that we wanted to make it into a TV show. Ballinger used the series to show audiences a more in-depth, "real" side to her Miranda Sings character. The show ran for two seasons before sadly being cancelled in December 2017. Ballinger expressed her devastation over the situation in this Tweet writing, "I put my entire heart and soul into this show, and finding out this news has left me heartbroken. First comes a hit Netflix series…
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Pregnancy and Body Image
2018 was an insane year filled with major life changes for Colleen Ballinger. Along with getting married to the love of her life, Ballinger got pregnant and had a baby boy! In a December 2018 YouTube video recapping the year, Ballinger explained she and her husband Erik knew very early on they wanted children and began trying for a baby, thinking it would take time. While Ballinger was over-the-moon to be pregnant, she documented her very difficult journey - filled with pelvic pain and fainting spells - over the course of nine months. On December 10, 2018, Ballinger's water unexpectedly broke, and she went into labor. In typical YouTuber fashion, Ballinger vlogged about her labor and delivery in this December 2018 YouTube video and alerted fans with this Tweet.
Her body changed after pregnancy… While most moms bounce back from pregnancy - or at least present it that way on social media - Colleen Ballinger had a much different experience. The YouTube star opened up in a February 2019 YouTube video about how pregnancy affected her mental state, and how her body changed significantly. The online personality, who was 117 pounds pre-pregnancy, gained almost 70 pounds over the course of nine months. She explained, "…once I started gaining a bunch of weight, I started to hate the way I looked. …I felt so disgusted with myself that I couldn't accept a bigger-size body on myself. I couldn't accept seeing the weight gain. Looking back, Ballinger, considered herself underweight before getting pregnant, though she shockingly revealed that she didn't feel that way at the time - she actually thought she should lose weight. After giving birth, she had a shift in perspective, and realized that she was going to have some days where she was okay with her post-pregnancy body, and some days where she struggled - and that was fine.
Colleen Ballinger was extremely transparent about her struggles throughout the course of her pregnancy, so it's no surprise she would open up to fans about her parenting trials and tribulations as well. In January 2019, Ballinger opened up about her struggles caring for a new child, showing the reality of motherhood with this Tweet depicting a stained shirt and unwashed dishes. Ballinger responded to criticism in this January 2019 YouTube video explaining, "I was just trying to send a message out to moms out there who are struggling to take a shower, or struggling to… put on a clean shirt. Sometimes you don't have time to do that stuff, and that's OK, and you're still an awesome mom." After that, Ballinger made the decision to be more selective about what parenting things she shares online, explaining in the same video, "I haven't really talked about it a lot online because… the mom community, the parenting community…
Friendships and Collaborations
During Colleen Ballinger's rise to fame, the YouTube star befriended two of the most influential individuals within the entertainment industry - Ariana Grande and her brother, Frankie Grande. Although she doesn't spend as much time with them as she did in the past, Ballinger still regards the Grandes as family, as she explained in this March 2017 YouTube video, "I love the Grandes so much. …The Grandes were the first people to ever really believe in me as a performer, as a comedian. They took me in as a stranger… really helped me with my career. So, it's no surprise Ariana Grande would recruit a very-pregnant Ballinger to be a part of her hotly anticipated music video for her single "Thank U, Next," which dropped on November 30, 2018. In the video, Ballinger helps recreate moments from the teen comedy film Bring It On. She's not a regular mom.
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