"Eat your heart out, Hana": 75-year-old nursing home resident from Ramle takes TikTok by storm
The world of TikTok is accustomed to young influencers, but few expected the meteoric rise of 75-year-old Rochele Shlomi. A resident of a nursing home in Ramle, she went viral within just two days of launching her account, amassing thousands of followers.
The world of TikTok is accustomed to young stars trying to break through, but it is doubtful that anyone expected the drastic rise of Rochele Shlomi. Under the username 12345ggio, the 75-year-old resident of a nursing home in Ramle opened a new account this week and became a viral sensation in the Israeli network within just two days. With a profile description featuring her "handsome husband Moshe" and a humorous reference to "my 2,000 wonderful grandchildren," she quickly accumulated thousands of followers and tens of thousands of likes.
The first video that put Rochele on the map received unprecedented exposure under the intriguing title: "Come with me to rate my nursing home." In the video, she presents photos of her fellow residents and gives them merciless scores. Among others, resident Ruchama was defined as "too cheeky" with a score of 1/10, while Sima, her best friend, received a 10/10. Menachem, described as someone who "thinks he is the cool one in the nursing home," received a score of only 2/10.
Responses were swift, with comments like: "Why do I have so many old people on my For You page?" When one user claimed she was Ruchama's granddaughter and that the grandmother was offended by the low score, Rochele replied:
"Tell her that I can't stand her."
Rochele's directness attracted many young users who began demanding follow-up videos, asked her to make them kubbeh, and jokingly wondered how one grandmother managed to take over their feed.
Alongside the amusing ratings, Rochele uses the platform for matchmaking. In one post, she turned to her followers for help: "Itamar, my dear grandson, is still single; I need to find him the love of his life." The post sparked a wave of reactions, and Rochele even began rating the profile pictures of her followers.
The peak moment occurred in a video that reached over 650,000 views in a remarkably short time. In it, Rochele is seen in two photos, one labeled "before Moshe" and the second "after Moshe." At the end, she wrote: "I am still with Moshe, eat your heart out, Hana."
The official stamp of success came when singer Noa Kirel shared Rochele's video via a "repost." Kirel's move exposed Rochele to millions of users. Now, holding exposure data that even young influencers would envy, it only remains to see what the next rating from the new internet star of Ramle will be and what Ms. Hana will have to say in her defense.
