Chinese "Just Turned 18" Interview Girl

Submission 40,424

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About

The Chinese "Just Turned 18" Interview Girl, also known as the "My Tongue Is Too Flexible" Interview Girl, refers to a viral video of a street interview with a female Chinese influencer who tells the camera that she "just turned 18" and was "born in November 2005," among other statements like her tongue being too flexible and her weighing 35 kg (77 lb). The girl's cutesy way of speaking and flirtatious, suggestive answers were humorously ridiculed and mocked on TikTok in late 2023, leading to parodies and satirical usage. Many labeled her cringe or called her a Pick Me Girl in referential content. The original video was notably posted to Douyin.

Origin

The "Just Turned 18" girl originally went viral on TikTok's Chinese alternative Douyin in late 2023, across multiple videos posted by various Douyin^[1]^[2] users who interviewed her. She became known on the platform as the "刚满18岁" girl, which translates to "Just turned 18 years old," and her personal Douyin^[3] is @喵喵球. The girl was initially mocked by other Douyin^[4] users in parodies posted in late 2023.

Reposts of her interviews first appeared on the TikTok^[5] page @peterlee888888 on September 18th, 2023. Reposts uploaded by TikToker^[6]^[7] @peterlee888888 in October 2023 started to gain over one million plays each.

On November 8th, 2023, TikToker^[8] @havu2904 reposted an interview that gained over 15.6 million plays and 894,400 likes in two weeks (shown below). The repost predominantly inspired the girl's popularity and memetic usage on TikTok.

Spread

Parodies of her interviews spread en masse on TikTok going into November 2023. For instance, on November 11th, 2023, TikToker^[9] @ricky.liu posted a parody skit gaining roughly 9.3 million plays and 1.6 million likes in 11 days (shown below, left). On November 12th, TikTok^[10] @xiaopia0 posted a similar skit, gaining over 1.7 million plays and 141,200 likes in 10 days (shown below, right).

On November 21st, 2023, TikToker^[11] @candiselin86 posted a video that explained the girl's virality on Douyin and TikTok, labeling her a "pick me" girl. She also stated that the childish voice that she uses is referred to as a "pinched voice" in China. Also, the TikToker claimed that some Chinese internet users believe that the woman is 34. In one day, the video received roughly 1.4 million plays and 210,700 likes (shown below).