Photo: Instagram
She has mastered social media.
By Sarah Gangraw — Written on Sep 27, 2018
Andrea Russett came out as bisexual and her YouTube following is here for her.
The 23-year-old social media mogul shared her story Friday in a lengthy and touching post on Twitter, which she later posted on Instagram, too.
"I came out to Sandra as bisexual 4 years ago. Surprise! Yeah, not exactly how I planned to come out publicly, but s--t happens I guess," The YouTube star from Fort Wayne, Indiana wrote. "Anyway, she was the very first person I came out to. Following this, as I came out to more and more friends, she was always there to give me advice on girls I liked. She sat with me while I cried about the thought of coming out to my parents. She knew me better than anyone in my life. She was family to me."
But the story quickly becomes one of hurt and betrayal when she explains that Sandra Poenar, her former best friend, said gays go to hell.
"Over the last year, my friend who is openly gay attended a nondenominational church with Sandra," Russett continued. "On the drive home, he was asking questions about her views on religion, one of them being 'So do you think I’m going to hell because I’m gay?’ Sandra responded yes. She went on to tell him that he can be 'saved' with conversion therapy."
"When he shared this information with me I was at a loss for words," she wrote. "But still, I knew I needed to ask her directly. I needed to hear it from her mouth. So I did just that.
"I straight up asked Sandra, 'Do you think that because I’m bisexual, I’m going to hell?’ She looked at me dead in the eyes and said yes."
She explained that she was hurt by the person she trusted most in the world. Poenar and Russett had even moved in together.
"She went on to tell me that she believes being gay [is] a choice," Russet went on. "I asked her is these have always been her views and she said yes."
Russett said she recounted all of her past interactions with Sandra and wondered if she had been judging her the whole time.
"I will never find the words to properly describe [the] hurt I felt in that moment," she shared. "She was one of the only people I trusted in my life. And now all I can do is rethink every conversation we had, every situation in which I was with a girl around her, and wonder what she really thought of me. Wonder if she was judging me."
Although the young star is confused and heartbroken, Russett decided to keep the story private from here on out.
"It is a very deep and personal hurt that I do not plan on acknowledging or discussing after this post," she wrote. "I am heartbroken and confused. I don’t know why she chose to move in with me while having these beliefs. I don’t know that I even want to know at this point."
Russett is working on getting past this major bump in the road and hopes her story can help others who are experiencing similar situations.
"I’m choosing to move forward and focus on the people in my life who love and accept me for who I am," she concluded. "And to anyone who is struggling with anything similar in their life, you are not alone. You are not any less of a person because of who you may choose to love. How you make others feel about themselves says a lot about you. Love is love."
Russett took to Twitter on Friday to thank all those who listened to her and show her appreciation for their support.
"Before i log off for a bit i just wanna say an enormous thank u. for listening. for empathizing. for understanding. i mean it when i say i never thought i would have the strength or courage to come out. it feels like a weight has been lifted, and like i can BREATHE. thank u," she posted.
So who is Andrea Russett, the YouTuber who just came out to the world as bisexual while sharing her heartbreaking story? Here is everything you need to know about her.
1. She has two YouTube accounts.
Russett lives and breathes YouTube. She has two separate accounts — one that is specifically for makeup and another for her personality. Her original and most popular YouTube account, Andrea Russett, has 2.8 million subscribers. She posts a few videos a month and each gains over a million views.
Her second account, andreaxbeauty, is — you guessed it — about beauty. This has a substantially smaller following than the first, totaling 254,000 subscribers. On the channel, Russett does makeup tutorials and product reviews she she hasn't posted anything new in four years.
2. She has 4.1 million followers on Instagram.
Yes, million. But she didn't get that many followers by chance. Russett said she worked for it.
“People think it’s like, ‘Dude, how do you have that following?” she said in a 2015 interview with Forbes, referring to her 4.1 million followers. “'You just take photos.' No-no-no-no-no."
Russett explained that she put a lot of work into growing her Instagram account.
“I take 80 photos until I like it and it looks perfect,” she said. “And then I put a filter on it until it matches the rest of my photos. It takes time.”
3. She dropped out of high school.
According to Forbes, Russett's middle school principal told her she would be a dropout — and she is.
"I had a half of a year left when I stopped. Just because I feel like everybody learns differently and I don’t learn by reading and writing a report. I need to be doing something to learn.”
She attended a private Catholic school until she moved out to California, where she tried online schooling, which she decided was not for her.
4. She recently bought her own home.
Getty Images
Russett posted on Instagram that she signed the papers to her own L.A. home August 30.
"I haven’t posted in some time, buuuuuut... i found my dream home. and today i signed the papers. :) busy month ahead but i can’t wait to share more with u!" she captioned a photo of herself with purple hair.
5. She's been in three movies.
Russett's first movie break came when she was cast for Expelled in 2014 alongside another Internet personality, Cameron Dallas. She continued on to play roles in Sickhouse (2016) and Mike and Dave Need Wedding Dates (2016).
6. She had her own TV series.
Russett signed with Fullscreen and starred in her own show, Apologies in Advance with Andrea Russett. The 40-minute comedic talk show featured the YouTuber serving drinks and talking about life, relationships, and more. The show ran for 38 seasons and had a variety of guest stars in which Russett and her bartender, Rachel Scanlon, shared gossip.
7. She's a gymaholic.
Russett doesn't shy from posting her workouts and gym selfies on the 'gram. She even has an Instagram Highlights for her workouts alone.
She's earned the right to post whatever gym-related thing she desires because she is one dedicated gym rat.
8. She was a radio DJ in 2014.
Getty Images
Russett's ascend to fame had already begun when she was scouted by HOT 107.9 in her hometown of Fort Wayne. The 16-year-old hosted RANDOM RADIO WITH ANDREA RUSSETT on Saturdays from noon to 2 p.m.
At the time, she had over 250,000 subscribers on Youtube and 100,000 followers on Twitter, which is why the station's GM/content director Phil Becker hired her.
"Everything our company does is designed to capture attention. We've never met anyone with the innate talent ANDREA has for connecting with fans," he said at a press conference at the time. "Armed with just a webcam and her own wit, she’s built a fan base bigger than that of almost every major radio personality. Move over Mr. DJ, now there's something Tweetier."
9. She was in Justin Bieber's movie NEVER SAY NEVER.
In 2009, Russett made a music video using iMovie on her mom's computer for a contest to meet Justin Bieber. It took her three weeks to create and, although she didn't win the contest, the video appeared in the Never Say Never singer's movie in 2011.
RELATED: How Old Is Danielle Cohn? New Details About The Mystery Surrounding The YouTuber's Real Age
Sarah Gangraw is a travel-addicted cat lady who lives on black coffee and cheese. She has a degree in journalism and writes about all things news, entertainment and crime. You can follow her on Instagram and Twitter — she's occasionally funny.