Madeline Argy’s world shifted with a worm. Well, the worm first found its way into her sister’s leg while she was travelling, and then Argy decided to tell TikTok about it: how she pleaded with her sibling to see a doctor, and how, horrifyingly, a second worm-shaped protrusion in the limb appeared. This squirmy storytime was Argy’s first viral moment, clocking up 5.7m likes and accelerating the 23-year-old’s now-6.5m follower count across TikTok, YouTube and Instagram. “Things changed with the worm video,” Argy tells me. “Someone came up to me in public to say hi. That was the first time something from inside my phone entered the real world. It’s all kind of hit me in the face since then.”
Whether you’re a chronic scroller or have fleeting dalliances with TikTok’s FYP, chances are you’ve caught one of Argy’s storytimes and skits. She began posting on TikTok in March 2021 (“pretty late, right?”), making her distinctive style felt quickly on the platform. Her videos sometimes chaotic, quick-paced affairs akin to a friend’s FaceTime, while others are caustic and clear-eyed on subjects from misogyny and mental health to sexuality. While there’s no shortage of TikTokkers trying that to-camera, slippery-humoured approach, Argy feels authentically tumultuous, anxious and she keeps her banged-up old car.
