I became an overnight sensation by dancing on the London Underground: How ‘Tube Girl’ is taking TikTok by storm

• EXCLUSIVE: MailOnline spoke to Sabrina Bahsoon about becoming an overnight internet star
• TikTok’s iconic ‘Tube Girl’ has taken social media by storm with her antics
• She’s encouraging others to be confident and not care what people think

If you’re a regular TikTok user, there’s no doubt you will have come across ‘Tube Girl,’ the apps latest viral sensation.

Sabrina Bahsoon, 22, has taken social media by storm with her antics on the London Underground, filming herself dancing energetically and lip-syncing to music, no matter who’s watching.

The videos have earned her over 17million likes and 470k followers, kick-starting a unstoppable trend and inspiring other Londoners to let loose on public transport.

MailOnline spoke to Sabrina about becoming an overnight internet celebrity and what’s coming next for the new star.

‘It was craziest thing that could ever happen to me,’ she exclaimed, ‘I had no idea that it would be this big, the global reach was insane and I never expected it.’

MailOnline spoke to Sabrina about becoming an overnight internet celebrity and what’s coming next for the new star

Sabrina is originally from Malaysia but now lives in London after graduating from Durham University.

She explained: ‘Even just making it in the UK was a huge thing. Then for it to take over the world…I’m still processing it.

The Durham grad has had a few viral videos on the app before, mostly to do with fashion, where she would show off outfits she wore to university – but nothing compared to the ‘whirlwind’ of the last few weeks.

Before becoming a social media star, she was a Maths, Business Studies and Law tutor:

‘I had to say goodbye to one of my students so I arranged a meeting, and I was like. I’m so sorry. But I’m gonna have to stop tutoring and she was like, ‘Are you tube girl?’

It all started with a love for music and an idea – when her friend wouldn’t film a video for her, she thought why not do it herself?

‘I was living alone in London for a bit, and I was spending most of my time listening to music and just jamming out of my own home.

‘I heard the ‘Where them girls at’ audio on TikTok and saw people making really cool videos to it. They had cool camera movements and I was thinking okay, I can definitely make a video to this sound. 

Sabrina Bahsoon, 22, has taken social media by storm with her antics on the London Underground , filming herself dancing energetically and lip-syncing to music, no matter who’s watching

She was practicing in her house, then tried on the bus, then finally built up the confidence to do it on the tube, giving her the iconic nickname ‘Tube Girl’

The videos have earned her over 17million likes and 470k followers, kickstarting a trend and inspiring other Londoners to let loose on public transport

‘I asked a friend of mine to film the video for it, but he refused to film anything so complicated – so I thought ‘Okay, I’ll just have to do it myself.’

She was practicing in her house, then tried on the bus, then finally built up the confidence to do it on the tube, giving her the iconic nickname ‘Tube Girl’.

‘The wind was like blowing in my hair, I was like, you know what, I feel like I’m in a a music video right now. I need to get on my phone and just have a bit of fun with it’.

Although it seems like she has unwavering confidence, the 22-year-old admits she still ‘gets nervous’ when filming in front of people.

‘When I’m with my team and they’re like, ‘Okay, let’s do something’, I’m like ‘I can’t have you watch’.

‘It’s because it’s people I don’t know in the tube. Everyone knows in London that everyone minds their own business so I never felt uncomfortable.’

She continued ‘I don’t really care about what other people think of me. I know that it’s not what’s important. What’s important is that I’m enjoying myself.

‘I got into that mentality after I graduated and finally started doing what I love because I really used to live my life for other people. 

‘I didn’t see it as confidence at at first I just saw as I don’t care about what people think, and I’m just gonna live for myself.’

Although it seems like she has unwavering confidence, the 22-year-old admits she still ‘gets nervous’ when filming in front of people

The Durham grad thinks that everyone having fun with the trend is ‘the best thing’ to come from her videos – her advice to fans is to own what they’re good at and not live their lives for others

Sabrina’s first tube video went viral in August, where she wrote that ‘being the friend who lives on the other side of the city’ means she has to hype herself up during her commute – even with other people in the carriage, she remains unfazed.

Using windows as wind machines and the carriage as her own personal stage, her music-video style clips triggered a wave of people plucking up the courage to film their own ‘tube girl videos’.

The Durham grad thinks that everyone having fun with the trend is ‘the best thing’ to come from it: 

‘It’s my favorite part about all of this, and I love watching all of them when I have the time. I  literally just sit on my bed and go through every single one.’

Her advice to those who look up to her confidence is to own what they’re good at and not live their lives for others:

‘If you’re giving weight to other people’s opinions like you’re not living your true self and you’re not doing what you want to make yourself happy. 

‘Just think about what you want to do to make yourself happy, and then do anything it takes to get there, because, honestly, living your life for others isn’t the way to go.

 ‘Another big thing is to stop being so judgmental to other people. As soon as you’re not judgmental, you’re not gonna care about what others think of you.

‘If I’m not giving a moment in my day to like judge other people and if they are, then that’s their waste of time, because I’m not caring what they think’

‘Really know your value really know what you’re good at. Own it, and don’t be so shy about what you’re good at because being shy doesn’t get you anywhere.

‘Be like, Yeah, I am beautiful. I am smart, I am confident. Those are my strengths, and just be more outwardly about it.’

She advises fans ‘Really know your value really know what you’re good at. Own it, and don’t be so shy about what you’re good at because being shy doesn’t get you anywhere’

The Durham grad thinks that everyone having fun with the trend is ‘the best thing’ to come from her videos

Since being thrust into the limelight, the 22-year-old has already experienced amazing career highs.

After walking the runway at London Fashion Week for MAC Cosmetics, she’s going to be taking part in a digital campaign with fashion giant Hugo Boss for Milan Fashion Week, alongside other content creators. 

The experience has been a ‘whirlwind’ – Hugo Boss reaching out to see if she was interested to actually closing it and getting her the plane all took place in the space of six hours.

With her new life yet to sink in, she added: ‘I get recognised the most while I’m on the tube, which is funny. I love it.  The last few days have been a little crazy and I wouldn’t say that it’s my normal yet.’

Sabrina’s parents, who are both Malaysian, ‘love’ that this is becoming her career:   

‘They think that is the best thing ever. I’m trying to convince my dad to make one himself. They love music, they love dancing and I always had music in my house. 

So the fact that I get to do this with music is amazing – and and my mom loves fashion as well so it’s so cool.’

One user who posted her own video dancing on the tube, wrote ‘shout out to tube girl, this takes GUTS’.

Another user also gave it a try, writing ‘Day 1 of trying to become tube girl,’ and ‘I need to know what line she goes on coz her trains have handles’.

The trend has made it’s way around the world, with someone recreating the iconic dancing on the Subway in New York.

A TikToker from the USA captioned their video ‘Channeling tube girl because that’s the type of delulu confidence we all need.’ 

The comments were in agreement, with people saying ‘I love the tube girl community’ and ‘tube girl is an inspiration to us all’.

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