'I'm 96 and have 15 million followers': The grannies taking over TikTok
Grandma Droniak, Nonna Gracie, Viv Truran and Barbara Costello have all found fame on social media in their later years.
'I'm 96 and have 15 million followers': The grannies taking over TikTok
Grandma Droniak pays her care home fees with the money she makes from brand deals on social media
Ninety-six-year-old Lillian Droniak, known to her social media followers as Grandma Droniak, went viral in June after saying her retirement home had threatened to evict her for hosting parties.
The home later confirmed the threat, but reached an agreement with Droniak that let her keep partying – though not provide alcoholic drinks.
With 15 million followers, Droniak has turned her personality into a profitable business, making enough from social media to pay her nursing home fees of $12,000 (£9,000) a month.
The Connecticut grandmother is one of many older women discovering unexpected online fame, with most of their audiences often young enough to be their grandchildren.
From fashion and food to dating and homemaking, they are reaching new audiences and, in some cases, finding a new lease of life.
"I always knew I had it in me to be famous, I just didn't think it would happen in my 90s," Droniak tells me, explaining that her grandson started helping her post videos in 2020, initially out of boredom.
She thinks her appeal comes from showing younger people that life does not end as you get older.
"They think old people just sit and stare at a wall but I'm showing it's not that bad to get old. We embrace it, can still have fun and I'm still partying and going out sometimes."
Her grandson edits her sponsored content, which includes partnerships with food and beauty brands. Along with covering her nursing home fees, the money also goes toward a college fund for her great-grandchildren.
Although fans recognise her in public, she says fame feels different at the retirement home. "They don't get it as they don't go on TikTok."
Across the Atlantic, there is Viv Truran, an equally cheeky and cheerful 82-year-old from Cardiff.
She began posting on Instagram after her husband died and her neighbour suggested filming her colourful outfits.
Now she makes two videos a day from her bedroom-turned-studio, showing off her clothes, 22 pairs of glasses and two drawers of scarves.
"I get up in the morning, I never come downstairs until I've done my morning video and I'm very strict about that."
She also keeps a notebook tracking her followers and views – and is now on book five.
Truran is often stopped by strangers, many of them women in their 20s and 30s, who tell her they are "frightened of getting old" and she shows them "it's not that bad".
Brands have noticed too, and Truran says she'd "be stupid" not to do deals, though she is selective.
She does a couple of sponsored posts a month, focusing on local brands and charities such as Age UK, which paid her several thousand for a recent campaign.
"I've turned down some big deals because it's not my thing. I'm very picky about who I work with, I have to really love the brand."
Naomi Baker from influencer marketing agency We Are Social says older creators appeal to brands because they often have "deeply established, highly loyal" communities with greater purchasing power, which "carries a massive premium".
Grace Geramita, 85, has millions of followers who watch her cook recipes she has been making for decades.
Known as Nonna Gracie, she moved from Italy to the US when she was 18 and worked several jobs at once to support her two daughters. Now, she earns more than she ever did in a previous job.
Her grandson Matthew suggested they start filming her cooking six years ago, but Geramita was not interested because she knew nothing about social media and does not "speak very good English", though the videos took off.
"I always cry when people send me messages from all around the world," she says.
Much of her content is about more than food – she says she wants to pass on the "tradition of bringing family together around the table".
Baker from We Are Social says this is part of the appeal of TikTok grannies, as they "offer comfort in an uncertain world".
Their wholesome content can also serve as a "virtual grandma" for followers, she says.
That is certainly true for Barbara Costello. The 77-year-old former teacher now posts videos about cooking, cleaning and homemaking skills on her Brunch with Babs accounts.
Her followers tell her she reminds them of their own mothers and grandmothers, with some calling her "the mom I never had".
"Recently, a university student approached me in a restaurant to tell me my cookbook had helped her through her first year living independently and I was so happy."
Costello works with brands but says she has to think carefully about whether it is something she wants to put her name on.
She says the best part of being a creator is seeing former pupils at her book signings with their own children.
"It's a full circle moment. I really can't believe this is my life."