NikkieTutorials Calls ‘Ellen Show’ ‘Teletubbies After Dark’ After Unsettling Experience Behind-the-Scenes

YouTuber Nikkie de Jager, also known by her handle NikkieTutorials, is speaking out about her negative experience on The Ellen DeGeneres Show back in January, saying while she was expecting “a Disney show” based on public perception of the hit daytime talk show, she ended up getting “Teletubbies after dark.”

Appearing on Ellen after coming out as transgender amid a difficult situation in which de Jager revealed someone attempted to blackmail her with the personal information, the makeup influencer told Dutch publication &C earlier this month that she was disappointed with her treatment. “Call me naive, but I kind of expected to be welcomed with confetti cannons: ‘Welcome to The Ellen DeGeneres Show!’ But instead I was greeted by an angry intern who was a bit overworked.”

She additionally had an issue with the bathroom situation behind-the-scenes. “Every guest at Ellen’s had a private toilet, but I didn’t. I was not allowed to use the nearest toilet, because it was reserved for the Jonas Brothers. ‘Why do they get a private toilet?’ I thought,” de Jager added. “But in the end my item had eight million views afterwards and theirs two million, ha!”

In the end, the makeup mogul said she learned “don’t meet your idols” from the experience, adding she was “happy” with her experience on show otherwise, calling it a “great summary for people who didn’t know me.” This isn’t the first time the blogger has spoken negatively about her interview with DeGeneres, praising the host on Dutch show De Wereld Draait Door for greeting her ahead of the show. “It’s nice that you say ‘hi’ before the show … she didn’t,” de Jager said, according to E! News. “Ellen is just such a different world. …It was a huge honor to be on that stage with Ellen, but it wasn’t as nice as I thought,” she said.

In de Jager’s January interview on Ellen, the blogger opened up about coming out after being threatened with exposure, saying, “I’m not thankful to the person who did this. I am thankful that it happened now, and now I get to be free.” She recalled that prior to coming out, she was receiving emails from someone accusing her of “lying,” telling her that he would release the information if she didn’t. De Jager decided to come out herself in the end, which she said was an empowering twist to a difficult story. “I feel like his entire goal with this was to destroy my life, but plot twist: That didn’t happen,” she said.