An ‘accidental influencer’ has been crowned Australia’s most beloved social media star.
Bridey Drake, 23, earned the title of the TikTok Creator of the Year at the 2024 Awards in Sydney on Wednesday night.
Bridey has racked up more then 3.2 million followers on TikTok by documenting her hilariously relatable experiences of navigating young adulthood in Australia.
Her videos detail the highs and lows of starting up her own small business ‘Night Sweet Thing’ fresh out of high school with her best friend Jiny Maeng during the height of the pandemic and the duo’s move from New South Wales to the Outback.
Now Bridey’s decidedly ordinary escapades — including going viral for her lack of cooking skills in videos like ‘What the hell is an ounce?’- has snagged her the coveted award.
True to form, the petite blonde detailed her experience of getting ready for the awards show on social media whilst suffering from a gnarly pink sunburn.
‘So turns out I won,’ she began her video montage of the day’s events.
Social media star Bridey Drake, 23, was crowned Australia’s TikTok Creator of the Year at the 2024 Awards
Bridey has racked up more then 3.2 million followers on TikTok by documenting her hilariously relatable experiences of navigating young adulthood in Australia
Bridey’s TikToks detail the highs and lows of starting up her own small business fresh out of highs school, Night Sweet Thing, with her best friend Jiny Maeng (pictured) during the height of the pandemic
‘I started off by going on the pink carpet and doing a bunch of interviews. I was not feeling the best. I felt like I wasn’t on my A-game because I have a burn and a strapless dress.’
‘At this stage in the day I had no idea I was going to win at all,’ Bridey narrated the footage of herself sweltering through Sydney’s heatwave.
‘I got this white top and I shoved it underneath,’ she explained, as she pulled on a long-sleeve lace shirt to hide her fresh sunburn lines.
‘My best friend Jimmy, she knows everyone, she’s the best. I love the TikTok awards, I’ve been four years in a row now. Also, Robert [Irwin] came out with a snake and freaked everyone out.’
Her camera panned to show Robert Irwin surprising and delighting the crowd of influencers with a live python, which he escorted around the dinner tables for a meet and greet.
‘And then there was the moment where they announced my name [as the winner]. Jiny cried. I cried. My cousin cried. It was the wildest experience of my life. I actually blanked out on stage, I have no idea what I said during my speech, I was so nervous.’
Bridey is the fourth Aussie to have earned TikTok’s top gong since the social media awards first began in 2021, following in the footsteps of Mille Ford, Kat Clark and most recently, ‘chaotic’ mum-of-three Indy Clinton.
True to form, the petite blonde detailed her experience of getting ready for the awards show, held on Wednesday night in Sydney
Bridey said receiving TikTok’s top going is ‘the wildest experience of my life’
Bridey, who moves between outback NSW and the Central Coast, started up her TikTok account in 2021 to save her small business from going under due to Covid restrictions
‘This is such a huge honour, winning this award means so much, as TikTok has played a huge role in where I am today. Everything I have achieved as a creator and a business owner has been made possible thanks to this incredible platform,’ Bridey said in her speech.
‘I’m also so grateful to my amazing TikTok community who have been by my side since this journey began.
‘I can’t wait to keep creating, connecting, and sharing. Thank you to everyone who voted for me.’
Bridey, who moves between outback NSW and the Central Coast, started up her TikTok account in 2021 to save her pyjama business from going under when she could no longer work at local markets.
After sharing the plight on the popular social media platform, Night Sweet Thing’s stock sold out within five days and Bridey’s face soon became known to thousands of Australian’s via the app’s algorithmic FYP (For You Page).
Over several months, the business made $10,000 with 85 per cent of this profit coming through after sharing videos on TikTok.
Since then, she’s carved out several ‘niches’ on TikTok, based on her adorable friendship with her Korean best friend and business partner, who she met in primary school.
‘My first TikTok about Jiny was a bit of a fib,’ Bridey told ABC previously.
‘I posted that my best friend lived on the other side of the world, in Korea, when she actually just lived an hour away. And it went viral.’
Videos of the best friends show them getting on each other’s nerves and often getting into ‘petty arguments’, highlighting the depth and importance of our platonic friendships, and how they mirror other relationships in our lives.
All of the TikTok Awards 2024 winners pictured
Jiny eventually launched her own TikTok account and that took off too.
‘If we didn’t meet, I think our lives would be so different. Jiny’s helped me with my life in so many ways,’ Bridey said.
‘She’s really taught me how to stand up for myself more, and be more confident in who I am.
‘We’ve got such a sisterly bond, and we both only have brothers, so we need that in each other.’
Other nominees for 2024 Creator of the Year were Elle Ray (@elleray), Jonah Singer (@jojoasmr), Josh Jessup & Matt Moss (@joshandmattdesign) and Maddy Macrae (@maddy_macrae_).
