Popular beauty YouTuber and makeup artist , real name Nikkie de Jager, has come out as a transgender woman, sharing the news with her 12 million YouTube subscribers.
“I hope that me standing up and being free, it inspires you to do the same” de Jager says in the video, which runs for 17-minutes.
“To truly live your life like you want it and the way you deserve it.”
While the video has been met with overwhelming support and positivity, the circumstances around the star's coming out were far less joyful, with de Jager claiming that her hand was forced by a number of blackmail threats.
In the video, posted to YouTube, de Jager says that she started wearing girls’ clothes when she was 7 or 8 years-old and later began hormone therapy, before she "fully transitioned" at 19 years-old.
“At first it was frightening to know that there are people out there that are so evil that they can’t respect someone’s true identity,” she says.
“It is vile and it gross … they said they wanted to leak it because I’m lying or that I don’t want to tell my truth or that I’m too scared to tell people who I truly am.”
“At the end of the day, my story is beautiful,” Nikkie says, getting emotional.
“All I know is that I haven’t changed.”
The YouTuber was met with a wave of support on social media, with LGBTIQ+ organisations including the Human Rights Campaign (HRC) sending well-wishes.
"Nikkie, we support you and we know that your visibility [will] help trans youth and adults alike feel a little less alone," tweeted the official HRC account.
You can watch de Jager's coming out video, which already has over 8 million views, below:
