She didn’t do anything out of the ordinary, just stared at the camera for a few seconds. That’s how 23-year-old Australian influencer Leah Halton captured the world’s attention on TikTok with a video of just 12 seconds that had racked up more than 676 million views and 46 million likes as of Tuesday. Posted on February 6, the clip shows Halton miming a snippet of YG Marley’s song “Praise Jah In The Moonlight” while driving her car. That simple appearance made her account (@looooooooch) reach 8 million followers.
The most liked video on TikTok to date is another equally simple one: a 10-second clip of Bella Poarch, a Filipino-American internet celebrity and singer, who also mimes, this time to Millie B’s song “M to the B.”
Bella Poarch’s video, originally posted in 2020, has 65.7 million likes and is on track to be surpassed by Halton’s video, which reached 46 million in just over two months. Halton is also close to matching Poarch’s record for views, with 819 million.
With a prominent presence across multiple social media platforms, Leah Halton is also popular on Instagram, where she has more than a million followers, and on YouTube, with approximately 1.25 million subscribers. Her content sparks debates between those who consider her one of the most beautiful women and those who criticize the popularity she gained with the video.
The viral video begins with a close-up of Halton displaying a confused expression that quickly changes to a smile as the music starts. He then mimes the song’s lyrics, wrinkles his nose, and ends by flirting with the camera while playing with his hair. This video, along with Halton’s expressiveness, has proven to be a smash hit on TikTok.