TikTok star Noah Beck, 20, feels 'pressure' to maintain his six-pack abs to satisfy his 33M followers
TikTok star Noah Beck shared the reality of internet fame as he opened up about facing pressure to look a certain way after his quick rise to celebrity.
The 20-year-old is one of the most famous personalities who gained notoriety on the short-form video app, amassing over 33 million followers. And although his success has expanded beyond the platform onto Instagram, YouTube and provided him opportunities to launch a podcast, attend global fashion events and even star in Coach's Spring 2022 campaign, the Arizona native opened up about fears that his career is closely tied to his appearance.
"I didn't even know about social media before I went to college. I had an Instagram but I posted game day photos with the boys and just like the most cliché things. I went to college, COVID hit and then all of a sudden I find myself posting videos because I was bored and then it blew up for me. I was like, alright, now what?" he said in an episode of his Put a Sock in It podcast.
Beck has previously talked about how he unexpectedly gained popularity on TikTok, most notably in a feature for GQ. "I did a dance out there that got like 30 million views, and I was like, what the f***?" he told the publication. The next day, he had over 20,000 followers. It's important to note that his highly-viewed "thirst traps" typically included him being shirtless.
At the time, he attributed his six-pack abs to his Division 1 soccer career at the University of Portland. Now, the pressure to stay in shape remains but for a different reason.
"As a college kid, this was literally two years ago, I literally was in college in my dorm room and like worrying about girls, grades, all these things, just like normal 20-year-old things. I was playing soccer at the time for my college, so I was like always focusing on athletics and how do I get better, how do I get in the best shape?" he recalled. "Fast forward two years, very different. A complete 180 with my career path. I wanted to go pro, now I'm a social media influencer and I'm still worried about the same things. I'm still worried about relationship issues, it happens. I’m still trying to be in the best shape of my life because I feel like if I don't, if I let loose a little, if I let go and start eating good, I feel like I'll lose followers because that’s how I gained most of them. There's so much of this pressure behind it."
Beck isn't the first male in the spotlight to speak about the pressures surrounding body image. In fact, former Disney star Dylan Sprouse recently posted about wanting to "change my body" after years of wearing a T-shirt to the pool as a kid. Beck assured listeners that people with followings and fame aren't immune to those insecurities.
"It's interesting because you do see these people on social media that post great content and you can just tell they look so happy, you can just tell they love what they do. And then you meet them and it's like, oh they're going through the same problems I am," he said. "At the end of the day, if you're a 20-year-old boy, girl, whatever you are, I don’t care, if you're 20 years old, you're most likely going through the same things as the person next to you, no matter what the career path."
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