User:Chughe43/sandbox

Zoella

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Zoe Elizabeth Sugg (born 28 March 1990) is an English fashion and beauty vlogger, YouTuber, and author. She is best known by her YouTube username Zoella. Her debut novel, Girl Online, was released in November 2014 and broke the record for highest first-week sales of a first-time novelist since Nielsen BookScan began compiling such records in 1998.

Personal life[edit]

Sugg is the older sister of Joe Sugg, who is also a vlogger and internet personality known on YouTube as ThatcherJoe. The siblings grew up in Lacock, Wiltshire, where Sugg attended The Corsham School secondary school and arts college. Sugg made the move to Brighton in 2014, after "gr[owing] to love it...A LOT" during frequent visits the previous year. As of October 2014, she lives with her boyfriend and fellow Youtube star Alfie Deyes, whose relationship with Sugg was first made public in August 2013.

Anxiety

Sugg regularly speaks out about her anxiety on her platforms. In 2011, she made a blog post called “Panic Attacks”, and in 2016 made a post called “Anxiety – The Update”. She details her struggle with anxiety, her progress with therapists, and offers advice to her readers. Sugg also took to her Youtube channel to discuss the topic. She released “Dealing with Panic Attacks & Anxiety” in 2012, “Anxiety Q&A” in 2014, and “Winding Down & Mindful Minutes” in 2016.

Sugg is also an active member in the world of mental health. In 2014, she became Mind, a mental health charity’s first Digital Ambassador. In her beauty line, Sugg released a makeup bag that says ‘Just Say Yes’, relating to a video she released with the same title encouraging viewers to not let anxiety get in the way of their life.

Anxiety is also prominent theme in Sugg’s book series, Girl Online. In an interview with Independent UK, Sugg explained that she “wanted to share [her] personal experience with anxiety through Penny – the main character in my Girl Online series – because I felt it could help others to speak out about it”. Sugg also revealed in the same interview that she has been accused of pretending to have anxiety in order to boost her subscriber count.

Privacy

Sugg and Deyes recently moved houses due to privacy issues. The address of their previous home was available on the internet, and on occasion the couple would voice their complaints about fans visiting in vlogs, or on social media. In 2015 Sugg tweeted: “Really starting to lose my patience with people just turning up at our house and peering in or ringing our bell… makes me hate my house!” Deyes also tweeted his annoyance: “Parents who drive their kids to our house & put them on their shoulders so they can lean over our walls to try and take pictures of us without us realizing..I see you! I'm on the sofa in my pyjamas relaxing. Go away. If you want to meet me, I love that! Come to a meet up :)”.

In one of his daily vlogs, Deyes disclosed the extensive security that exists in their new home. Deyes said, “We’ve got things in the corner of every room that as soon as we go to bed, or if we go to sleep or into particular rooms, the security kicks in. If we ever get broken into or there are any intruders, they make an instant call to the police.” The house also came equipped with hidden panic buttons that if pressed, alert all police cars in the surrounding area to come to the house. There are also cameras around the property, including one at the house’s gate, and one at the front door, both of which record and have facial detection software.

Career[edit]

Sugg was working as an apprentice at an interior design company when she created her blog, "Zoella", in February 2009. By the end of the year it had a thousand followers and as of September 2015 it has received over 540 million total visits. The fashion, beauty and lifestyle blog expanded into a YouTube channel in 2009, while Sugg was working for British clothing retailer New Look.

In 2013, Sugg was named as one of the National Citizen Service's ambassadors, helping to promote the newly launched youth service. 

YouTube[edit]

Sugg's main channel, Zoella, first named "zoella280390" after her birth date, is mostly fashion, beauty hauls, and "favourites" videos (showing her favourite products of the previous month). Her second channel, MoreZoella, contains mostly vlogs where she shows her viewers what she does in her day. Sugg has done many collaborations on her main channel with other YouTubers, including: Louise Pentland, Tanya Burr, Alfie Deyes, Tyler Oakley, Troye Sivan, and Grace Helbig. Sugg appears alongside some of these Youtubers and many others on the channel Daily Mix, which is managed by the company Gleam Futures. Sugg is represented by Dominic Smales at Gleam, and is also a member of the Style Haul network.

As of November 2017, Sugg's main YouTube channel has over 12 million subscribers and over 1 billion video views, and is the 50th most subscribed channel on the website; her second channel "MoreZoella" has over 4.7 million subscribers and over 660 million video views. Sugg's influence continues on social media: she also has over 12 million followers on Twitter and over 11.2 million on Instagram. In 2013, she was named by The Telegraph as one of "Britain's most influential Tweeters".

With such an audience comes influence, and undoubtedly criticism. In December 2014, Sugg was criticised for filming whilst driving her car. A member of the Metropolitan Police said "She could have killed someone. How can anyone who has their eyes off the road for that amount of time be in complete control of a vehicle?" Sugg's spokesperson stated that "at the time of filming she was in mostly stationary traffic."

Published works[edit]

Sugg signed a two-book deal with Penguin Books in 2014. The North American publishing rights were purchased by Atria.

Sugg's debut novel, Girl Online, was released on 25 November 2014. The book is aimed at a young adult audience and surrounds a 15-year-old anonymous blogger and what happens when her blog goes viral. While based around similar experiences, Sugg has stated that the book is "in no way autobiographical". The novel achieved "the highest first-week sales for a debut author since records began in 1998," 78,109 copies. As of December 2014 it is also the fastest selling book of the year.

Penguin stated that "Sugg did not write Girl Online on her own", stating that she "has worked with an expert editorial team to help her bring to life her characters and experiences in a heartwarming and compelling story". It has been reported that young-adult novelist Siobhan Curham was a ghostwriter for the novel, although neither Penguin nor Sugg have stated this. Penguin stated that Curham was an "editorial consultant" for the novel. After the controversy surrounding her first novel and ghostwriting, Sugg confessed in an interview with Cosmopolitan that a second book almost didn’t happen. ^[89] Sugg had weekly workshops with her editor, and her writing process was often documented in time-lapse segments in her vlogs. ^[90]

A sequel, Girl Online: On Tour, was released on 20 October 2015.

A third book, Girl Online: Going Solo, was confirmed by Sugg in July 2016 and published on 17 November 2016.

Sugg's books, alongside those by other YouTubers, have been criticised for 'not being challenging enough' in a number of UK newspapers.

Music[edit]

Main article: Band Aid 30

Sugg featured on the 2014 single "Do They Know It's Christmas?" as part of the Band Aid 30 charity supergroup, raising money for the Ebola virus epidemic in West Africa. The single debuted at No.1 on the UK Official Singles Chart.

Television appearances[edit]

In the summer of 2014, Sugg appeared on two UK talkshows. In June she was a guest panellist on the daytime chat show Loose Women, and in July she spoke about social anxiety on This Morning. She also appeared on This Morning in July 2014, to talk about social anxiety. Sugg took part in the 2015 comic relief edition of The Great British Bake Off.

Sugg, along with The Slow Mo Guys and Vice News, featured in television, print, and billboard advertisements in the UK which ran from 25 September 2014. The prime time TV adverts will be broadcast on the three terrestrial UK channels.

Madame Tussauds

On September 29, 2015, London’s famous wax museum Madame Tussauds unveiled statues of Sugg and Deyes in the bedroom they frequently film videos in. The pair’s fans were involved in the creation of the statues, with fans voting for Sugg’s lipstick colour, Rimmel’s Kate Moss 107, and the colour of Deyes’ t-shirt.

Brands and Collaborations

Zoella Beauty[edit]

Sugg launched a range of beauty products under the brand name Zoella Beauty in September 2014. The "bath and beauty" range launch was, according to the Metro, the "biggest beauty launch of the year". She launched an edition of the products called "Tutti Fruity" in 2015, as well as a limited Christmas edition. In 2016 she launched an edition called "Sweet Inspirations". In July 2017, the "Jelly & Gelato" range was released.

Zoella Lifestyle

In September of 2016, Sugg unveiled a home and interior company: Zoella Lifestyle.  The new range included products like stationary, diffusers, pillows, and candles. The original collection was a gifting range, available only for Christmas 2016. Sugg released an all-year round lifestyle range in August 2017, and recently released the Christmas gifting range in September 2017. Sugg talks through each collection’s products in detail on her vlogging channel, ‘MoreZoella’.

Zoella Book Club

In June 2016, Sugg released a video titled “My Book Club Picks”. She revealed that she had partnered with WH Smith, a popular retail chain in the UK, to create “The Zoella Bookclub”, which features eight young adult novels selected by Sugg. The books selected would be sold at WH Smith with an exclusive “Zoella Book Club” limited edition cover. Sugg briefly describes each book and why she included it in the book club in her video, and in 24 hours authors saw their sales skyrocket. Beautiful Broken Things by Sara Barnard had sales on Amazon increase by 95 percent, and broke into the top 100 Bestsellers list. Other novels such as Fangirl by Rainbow Rowell and The Sky is Everywhere by Jandy Nelson jumped position by over 1,000 percent.

In October of the same year, Sugg posted another video with the same title, revealing the eight new novels in the next round of the book club.

In a video on her vlogging channel, ‘MoreZoella’, Sugg discussed an update to the book club. This time around, it was called “The Zoella and Friends 2017 Book Club”, as Sugg had invited four other authors to join in and help her make the book selections.

SuggLife

On December 9th, 2016, Sugg teamed up with her brother and fellow Youtuber, Joe Sugg, to create the brand Sugg Life. Merchandise included clothing, stickers, phone cases, and more. Sugg Life is a brand available in The Creator Store: an online store created by The Creator Store Limited, a company of which Deyes is the sole director. The Creator Store features merchandise released by several other popular Youtubers including Tanya Burr, Louis Cole, and Mark Ferris.

In August, 2017, Deyes released the video “WE CAN FINALLY TELL YOU!!”, where he revealed that Sugg Life and Deyes’ brand, PointlessBlog, were collaborating. On top of that, there was going to be a pop-up shop in Covent Garden London where apparel, phone cases, posters, and more were available. On the first of the twelve days the shop was open for, there was over a five hour queue, and Sugg, Deyes, and Joe were forced to leave for safety reasons.

On July 7, 2017, Sugg Life released a pink version of their Sugg Life hoodie, and they sold out within half an hour.  

On October 23, 2017, Sugg Life released limited-edition Halloween merchandise, which also sold out in under an hour.

On November 12, 2017, Sugg Life released Christmas merchandise, including a festive jumper and sticker set.

Controversies

Christmas advent calendar controversy[edit]

Sugg attracted criticism from some of her followers and in the media in November 2017 after releasing a 12-door £50 Christmas advent calendar, with criticism focusing on the "extortionate" price and alleged poor quality. The calendar contained items such as a small pack of confetti, a packet of seven stickers and cookie cutters. A spokesperson for Sugg responded that "Zoe is incredibly proud of the Christmas collection and excited to see it in store. However, the pricing and in store promotional strategy of the collection, including the calendar, is at the control of third parties and is not set by Zoe."

Sugg addressed the issue at the end of her vlog "Christmas Adverts & How We Met" posted on November 14th 2017. Sugg said, "I didn't want to not address it because I want you guys to know I do care how you feel about things, and the last thing I want to do is anger, upset, or disappoint anyone because that is not my intention." Sugg described how she is responsible for the creative side of the product, and that pricing is out of her hands because the retailer decides the selling price. She voiced her frustration with the situation, saying "I feel just as let down by this".

Later on that day, Boots, the British retailer that was selling the advent calendar, announced that they would be cutting the price of the advent calendar in half. As of November 15th, 2017 the calendar is available for £25.

Offensive social media posts controversy[edit]

Sugg apologized in November 2017 following controversy surrounding posts she had made on social media between 2009 and 2012 mocking gay people and "chavs". Sugg responded on Twitter claiming the posts had been "taken out of context" and writing "I’m sorry if I have offended anyone, that was not my intention."

Awards and nominations[edit]

Sugg won the 2011 Cosmopolitan Blog Award in the "Best Established Beauty Blog" category and went on to win the "Best Beauty Vlogger" award the following year. She was also awarded the 2013 and 2014 "Best British Vlogger" award at the Radio 1 Teen Awards; the 2014 Nickelodeon Kids' Choice Award for "UK Favourite Vlogger"; and the 2014 Teen Choice Award for "Choice Web Star: Fashion/Beauty".

Sugg was listed as one of The Telegraph's "40 best beauty bloggers" in September 2014, and "Queen of the Haul" by British Vogue in November. Hers was the fourth most popular channel in the UK in 2014. She was included in the 2015 Debrett's 500, listing the most influential people in Britain, under the New Media category. In 2015 she was named as the "Most Inspirational Women of the Decade" in technology by Grazia and she was named the 34th Sexiest Woman in the world by FHM.

Sugg won the "Choice Web Star" award in the 'Fashion/Beauty' category at the 2015 Teen Choice Awards.