Nikocado Avocado (real name Nicholas Perry) is a Ukrainian-born American YouTuber famous for posting mukbang videos on YouTube. Avocado has amassed over 5 million subscribers and over 1 billion views across five YouTube channels. Originally from South Korea, the mukbang style video has found a home among YouTubers in the United States.
A mukbang (or eating show) is a video in which the host consumes food while interacting with the audience. Avocado was one of the first male YouTubers to try out mukbang videos. The videos have since earned him millions of followers who enjoy watching Avocado eat as he rambles on about his melodramatic life.
Avocado quit veganism because he came to believe that humans are meant to be omnivores
Nicholas Perry was born on 19th May 1992 in Kherson, Ukraine, and was adopted by an American family when he was an infant. Before he joined YouTube, Perry was a classically trained violinist and a worker at The Home Depot.
He started posting on YouTube in 2014. His violin covers and vegan lifestyle vlog attracted a few thousand followers. Avocado lived in New York and had dreams of playing the violin on Broadway. However, one needed more than musical talent to succeed in the big city, Perry toldTrisha Paytas.
The stiff competition coupled with Perry’s lack of connections severely diminished his chances of making it to the big leagues.“I was just a small, little fish in a huge sea,”he lamented. In 2016, Perry announced that he had quit veganism.“I don’t know, [it] doesn’t do it for me anymore,”Nikocado said as he ate a vegan bowl of lentils and potatoes.
“I’m scared and confused and I don’t want people to hate me because of what I eat,”he added. Perry said that his veganism had driven away his family and friends. Avocado added that he’d watched many videos portraying animal cruelty, but he’d found little to convince him to remain vegan.
He further claimed that veganism had adversely affected his health.“Over biology, over the fact that we’re omnivores, no matter how you look at it,”Avocado said.“The world will never be victim-less, no matter how hard we try… whether it’s humans, animals. I’m confused, I am sick of not feeling good, no matter how healthy I eat, no matter how many years I stick to it.”
Perry’s prediction that he would receive backlash came true. However, the criticism seemingly strengthened his resolve.“People are afraid to question veganism in these types of senses,”Avocado said.“Vegans will say anything so that you join their group. That’s why I’m saying veganism is viewed as a religion to so many people.”
Avocado told theDaily Mailthat he no longer wanted to be associated with veganism.“Even if the majority of my new diet remains plant-based, I never again want to be associated with vegans,”he said.
Avocado’s seemingly spiraling mental health concerned his fans and other YouTubers
In a 2019 interview with Trisha Paytas, Perry revealed that his mental health struggles started when he was 5 years old. He acted out because he couldn’t understand his biological parents’ decision to put him up for adoption.
At age 5, Perry started therapy; two years later, he began taking antidepressants, and as a preteen, doctors diagnosed him with ADD (Attention Deficit Disorder) and OCD (Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder).“I would just, like, always want attention,”Avocado said.“I wanted the spotlight.”
Perry’s decision to quit veganism brought him more attention than he’d ever received. A lot of it was negative attention, but Avocado cared little. Attention meant more followers, more likes, more views, and consequently, more revenue. Perry knew how to keep the limelight shining on him: drama.
Avocado spiced up his mukbang videos with frequent melodrama, and as expected, the followers kept streaming in.“They like when I’m upset, they like when I’m crying, they like when I’m hyper,”Perry told Trisha. Videos with titles such asmy life is falling apartandnobody likes me, I’m donebecame common on Perry’s feed.
He told Trisha that he made his titles ‘clickbaity’ to attract views. However, he suggested that he didn’t make up the emotions displayed in his videos.“I have episodes of manic where like, everything seems really hard for me,”he said.“I’m like a tornado.”
As Perry became more dramatic and controversial, fans started to express concern. In December 2019, he engaged in a prolonged internet feud with fellow mukbanger Stephanie Soo. Most fans and fellow mukbangers sided with Soo. In 2020, he started posting videos claiming that he’d broken up with his husband because of people’s YouTube comments.
“All of your comments over the last month are seeping into his head and he is questioning us as a couple,”Perry lamented. Avocado continued on his downward spiral by accusing David Dobrik of ‘stealing [his] DNA’ and ‘his future’. He later enraged fans when he forgot Kobe Bryant’s name after bringing up the NBA legend’s death.
In response to Perry’s gaffe, thousands of people signed an online petition pleading for Perry’s removal from YouTube. In an April 2020 video, Perry claimed to have spoken to Jesus about his second coming.“I saw Jesus and he told me the secrets of the world,”Perry said. Fans wondered whether Perry meant to troll his followers or the video was a cry for help.
Avocado cried, ripped up paper, referenced the Olsen twins, and bemoaned the color of his Invisalign.“I’m just here,”he said.“And I’m just stuck in this mess. It’s like I’m trapped.”The comments section under the video filled with comments from concerned fans.
Nikocado promised to take a break from YouTube to focus on his health, but he failed to follow up on his pledge
When Avocado started his YouTube journey, he had a lean build. In November 2020, Avocado announced that he’d hit 320 pounds and that his weight had become a serious concern.
Mukbangs are profitable to people like Perry because it earns them revenue from YouTube views and from brands marketing their foods via the YouTuber. Gorging on delicious foods for pay sounds easy, but Avocado toldMen’s Healththat it is quite difficult.“It’s a full time job,”Perry said.
He sets up everything, films the video, cleans up the mess, edits the content, and finally posts the video. Perry appreciates the revenue and fame, but it has come at a cost.“I started having erection problems,”Nikocado toldMen’s Health. “It never happened until I started doing mukbangs.”Perry also stated that he experiences bloating, stomach pains, and frequent diarrhea.
“I can’t fall asleep because I feel like my digestive tract is on fire,”he said.“And then I’m running to the bathroom. I’m sitting on the toilet crying.”However, Terry explained that he isn’t worried about his health because he consumes plenty of greens outside of filming.
In November 2020, Perry seemed quite concerned with his health.“Yesterday’s video was the last one and I meant it,”Avocado said. Except, it wasn’t his last one. In Perry’s 2019 interview with Trisha Paytas, he said that he sees himself posting YouTube videos for the next decade. He explained:
“I come from a performance background. I can’t sing, can’t act, don’t do dance, anything like that, but I do like being on camera. I do like the attention. Honestly, if I imagine myself 10 years from now. I’m still gonna be on the internet, making videos.”
