From Superwoman to super host: YouTube star Lilly Singh debuts on NBC with late-night show

The most famous YouTuber on the planet and Superwoman, Lilly Singh debuted on the late-night show with her own special A Little Late with Lilly Singh on Monday.

With this achievement, she becomes the only woman host on the late-night segment among the four big networks (ABC, CBS, NBC, and Fox) as she took off in style with a conversation with writer-actor Mindy Kaling and other stars.

Singh is no stranger to fame with her YouTube channel amassing more than 14 million subscribers and three billion views, and ranking tenth on Forbes’ 2017 list of the world’s highest paid YouTube stars, earning a reported $10.5 million.

Want to know more? Here are 10 things about Lilly Singh, which proves she is a Superwoman all the way.

• With her own show, A Little Late with Lilly Singh, she now becomes the second woman of colour to host the late-night show on a major network. The first was VH1 VJ Cynthia Garrett who hosted NBC’s Later for a year almost 20 years ago.

• Lilly was born in Scarborough, Canada, to parents who hailed from Hoshiarpur, Punjab, India. She graduated from York University, Toronto, with a bachelor’s degree in arts. Growing up, she was strongly connected to her Indian roots through her frequent visits to India.

• In the same year, Lilly started a YouTube channel under the name Superwoman. These were small, satirical takes on everyday life replete with common complaints and idiosyncrasies.

• Soon after, she started her second YouTube channel, Superwoman Vlogs, which featured the behind-the-scenes action from her Superwoman videos.

• In 2015, Lilly Singh moved to Los Angeles to further her career. Her YouTube channels grew in popularity, and she soon started collaborating with celebrities on her videos. Many stars like Dwayne Johnson, James Franco, Kunal Nayyar, Priyanka Chopra, and others featured in her videos, and her virality shot through the roof.

• Singh took a shot at music by featuring along with Jassi Sidhu in his Punjabi song Hipshaker. She also collaborated with Canadian artiste Sickick for The Clean Up Anthem. Her album Voices, a mix of pop and hip-hop, won acclaim for its portrayal of different emotions, especially the voices in her head.

• Lilly Singh also played small parts and cameos in movies, especially Indo-Canadian productions, and also played the role of a tabloid blogger in HBO’s film adaptation of Fahrenheit 451.

• Singh is also Unicef’s Goodwill Ambassador, and has travelled to South Africa to campaign against bullying and classroom violence.

• This year, the YouTube star also came out as bisexual on her social media accounts. In a tweet, she said, “There is nothing more important than living your truth.”

• The star has also struggled with mental health issues and took a break from YouTube last year. She spoke of being “mentally, physically, emotionally, and spiritually exhausted”.

(Edited by Megha Reddy)

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