People get famous for plenty of bizarre reasons, but even in the age of the internet, it’s hard to imagine a more inexplicable or heartwarming rise to popularity than that of Rohit Roy.
The 41-year-old financial planning assistant from Melbourne has amassed hundreds of thousands of devoted and loving fans on TikTok by simply not drinking fizzy drinks.
“Hello everyone, no fizzy drink for me today.”
That’s how every video begins. Roy – often sitting on his couch – speaks directly to camera, earnestly and passionately updating his TikTok followers on his journey to beat his soft-drink addiction.
“I have been having the addiction to fizzy drink since so long,” he tells Guardian Australia. “I started at a very young age of five or six years old, and then since then I am continuously having drinks. I never stopped, pretty much.
Roy was up to three cans a day, drinking cola, lemonade or whatever he could get his hands on. Whether he was stressed, celebrating or relaxing, he says, he always turned to a fizzy drink.
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“I tried stopping so many times … Finally, I had the idea: why don’t I start putting videos on TikTok? Because then at least people will support me and then I will be accountable to them.”
Roy’s first few videos in June got a handful of views, but around day three or four, they exploded. Suddenly his daily updates were receiving ten of thousands of likes, some viewed more than a million times.
But the unique thing about Roy’s online fizzy-free journey was how positive every single comment was.
“Good luck brother, stay strong,” wrote one fan. “So proud of how far you have come,” typed another. Across the platform, people started referring to Roger as “king” and “legend”, painting portraits of him, and painstakingly crafting his likeness into landscapes on the videogame Minecraft.
“I did expect some support but I never expected that support,” Roy says, smiling. “But that’s actually good because it helped me make my journey a bit easier, focusing on action and getting all the inspiration from people.”
Cynical minds might suggest some of the newfound internet fame was based on irony, but Roy says he doesn’t think so.
“No, no, I feel all the support was actually very genuine and honest … Maybe one comment out of thousands might be negative or ironic, but that’s next to nothing. That’s negligible.”
Something about Roy’s calm and honest presence bypassed the internet’s usual veneer of ironic detachment and tapped into a well of wholesome appreciation.
“He is a very genuine person,” says Roy’s wife, Sapna. “He has a very pure soul and heart.”
Sapna, who says she is too shy to appear in her husband’s TikTok videos, has been trying to get him to shake his fizzy drink habit for years.
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“I always tried to stop him, but he never listened to me,” she says with a laugh. “I feel very proud that he really is getting positive support and is beating his addiction.”
Roy was originally planning to drink one can each week as a treat, but seven days in he announced he was feeling so strong he would swap his cola for water. Drinking a cool glass of water has now become his way of celebrating every milestone.
Roy hasn’t let any of the internet acclaim distract him from his mission, though, even turning down multiple paid sponsorship opportunities.
“Obviously I said no because I was more focused on doing my journey and getting rid of my addiction … Those products might not even be related to my journey so it doesn’t make sense,” he says.
“I just try to be myself, I don’t try to be anyone else … maybe that is the reason people support me and have been touched by me. It all comes down to honesty.”
More than three months in and it’s easy to see the positive effects of cutting out the sugary beverages.
“He has lost a lot of weight, especially on his face and shoulders,” Sapna says. “And he is more active now. Before he was like, ‘Sapna, I don’t want to wake up, I don’t want to do this.’”
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The 41-year-old looks happier, too, smiling more and more as the weeks went on.
Finally, on 15 September, Roy reached his ultimate goal – 100 days without fizzy drinks.
“Finally the day has arrived,” he says to the camera, raising a glass of water and pumping his fist at his achievement.
Six thousand comments were left congratulating him. “Rohit, single-handedly saving 2020,” says one. “Been here since day one, well done,” wrote another.
But Roy isn’t done just yet. “I want to continue this journey – 200 days, 300 days, a year as well,” he says. “With the help of people, I can do it.”
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