If confidence has a face in GenZ, it is tube girl.
Known for her more than confident videos, “tube girl” has become somewhat of an inspiration to socially anxious people.
The 22-year-old became a literal overnight viral sensation, and all it took was one crazy video in the underground tube in London – and her life changed forever.
But who is tube girl?
@sabrinabahsoon At the end of the day… im a delulu girlie… but i wont falter again 🫡 #tubegirl #tubegirleffect
Sabrina Bahsoon, tube girl’s real identity, is a Malaysia born and raised law student at Durham University in London, England.
In 2020, Sabrina began sharing comedy sketches and skits on TikTok.
At the time, she was working as a waitress to pay for her university education before COVID happened.
That’s when she turned to social media to explore other creative channels.
She continued to capture little moments during her time at Durham University, and judging by the creation, she was constantly aware that she wasn’t very excited about the prospect of a corporate job.
She told Screenshot: “I was always told that I have to do certain things my whole life. So, I studied law.
“I was a very academic person for a really long time but I was never happy with that and I never saw myself in a corporate role. I just knew with my personality I would not survive there.”
Cut to 2023, and Sabrina became such a huge star that a fellow TikToker from Poland recreated her videos crediting them to tube girl.
@jeleniewska ily @Sabrina Bahsoon 🚇🖤 #tubegirl #jeleniewska
Sabrina remembers how the entire tube thing started when her friend declined her request to film a video of her in an actual underground tube, and Sabrina decided to record herself instead. And that’s exactly what she did.
The video literally became the subject of obsession overnight, and gained over 660,000 likes and 6.2 million views in total.
The confidence thing keeps being said all the time, but there isn’t any other way to describe tube girl’s viral success.
When asked how she does it, Sabrina said: “I think it’s realising that people actually don’t care that much. There have been so many times when a person has been fully sleeping and hasn’t shown any signs of movement, they don’t even flinch. And I have some videos where the people in the back are staring but fair enough, I am doing something crazy on the tube.”
She continued: “If you’re going to enjoy yourself more doing that, then I shouldn’t stop restricting myself from just having fun or living my true self. And I think that I’ve always wanted to branch out into a more creative industry, I love music and I love fashion. So, in that sense, I thought ‘Okay, if I want to do this for real I have to stop getting in my own way and I have to just put myself out there because you’ve got to be comfortable with being seen if you want to be seen in these places’.”
What is tube girl’s go-to jam?
@sabrinabahsoon Had to post another one cuz the hair smacking my face on beat at the end was too good #tubegirl #water @Tyla
Tube girl’s go-to song is “The Way I Are” by Timbaland.
She told Screenshot: “That one song, that’s what made me go like ‘yes, I can strut’.”
Much to our delight, she has an entire playlist that came out on Friday, September 15.
What are tube girl’s go to makeup brands?
Alongside her infectious confidence, fans have also been praising tube girl’s glam makeup looks.
When asked to share her favourite lip liner and lip glosses, she said: “My favourite is the Mac one that I use which is either in ‘Cork’ or ‘Brick’.
“I love the Laneige lip balm, I use that as a gloss a lot but the Dior Lip Addict Maximiser, I had a sample of that and I used it once and that was beautiful.”
“Fenty’s lipglosses are always fire. Even just the way the colour compliments you, especially my skin tone, that’s the hardest thing with gloss. With brown people, it’s hard to match colours in that way, and so I found that Fenty did a really nice brown one.”
What is tube girl’s favourite tube line?
For filming, she says that the Central Line is “the GOAT.”
She continued: “I love the Central line, the lighting is nice and soft and the wind is elite, it pulls through. For normal commuting, I think the Hammersmith & City line, just because it’s so comfortable.”
@sabrinabahsoon Getting litty with my girlies have me acting silly on the tube 🤪 #tubegirl
When asked what one should do to become more like her, her answer was pretty great.
She said: “I think the biggest advice is that you need to be your biggest cheerleader in life and in everything. If you want to achieve great success, you have to fully believe in yourself.
The TikTok sensation continued: “Things started to really change for me when I just was like, ‘Okay, I am this person and I can be this person.’ I started telling myself, I started telling others—knowing your own value is so important.”
“Especially when there are girls who are having fun and living their life and enjoying themselves, so many people are quick to humble them and say ‘This is too vain’ but you need to ignore those voices and be like ‘Yeah, I am that girl. I am a person who is confident and I have a great personality.’ Just knowing the value you have and what you bring into a room when you walk in is so important.”
Sabrina thinks that not being a judgmental person is the biggest thing that will stop you from feeling judged by others.
If you’re not judging a person who is walking on the street doing their own thing and living their own life, you’re not gonna care about the next person’s opinion.
She questioned: “Why would you care about somebody who doesn’t even care about you? I don’t even know you, and I don’t take a second in my life to judge you.”
The 22-year-old added: “You need to constantly repeat to yourself ‘Okay, I am that person, I believe in myself’ because even your loved ones, when you have these big dreams, will doubt you just because they’re your big dreams. I was a very shy person for a lot of my life, up until the last year of my university when I finally found my own voice. I would not have even considered doing this a year ago. But I’m here and people are watching me dance on the tube for fun.”
