Colleen Mae Ballinger ( ; born November 21, 1986) is an American comedian, YouTuber, actress, singer and writer. She is best known for her creation and portrayal of the Internet character Miranda Sings, posting videos of the character on YouTube, performing her one-woman comedy act on tour in theatres worldwide, and creating and starring in a Netflix original series titled Haters Back Off (2016–2017). Ballinger created the comically talentless, egotistical and eccentric character to satirize the many YouTube videos featuring people singing badly in hopes of breaking into show business but who appear unaware of their lack of talent.
Ballinger also features comedy and lifestyle videos on her personal YouTube channel and a vlog channel, Colleen Vlogs. Her YouTube channels, combined, have surpassed 5 billion total views. The Miranda Sings channel has more than 10 million subscribers, and the character has more than 13 million TikTok followers and 6 million Instagram followers. In 2015, Ballinger won a Teen Choice Award for "Web Star: Comedy"Harwood, Erika. "Teen Choice Awards 2015: See The Full Winners List" , MTV.com, August 16, 2015 and a Streamy Award as Best Actress.
Ballinger has appeared as an actress and singer in theatre, television, recordings and web series. She appeared in the web series Escape the Night (2018–2019), played Dawn in the Broadway musical Waitress (2019), and has appeared three times on The Tonight Show (2016–2017), among other talk shows. Ballinger has also published two best-selling books, written in Miranda's voice, Selp-Helf (2015) and My Diarrhe (2018).
In July 2023, Ballinger cancelled her forthcoming live shows following allegations of inappropriate conduct. She continues to vlog and host podcasts.
Early life
Colleen Mae Ballinger was born and raised in Santa Barbara, California, the daughter of Tim Ballinger, a sales manager, and his wife Gwen (née Trent), a homemaker.McLaughlin, Rhett James and Charles Lincoln Neal III. "Ep. 25 Colleen Ballinger (Miranda Sings)" , at 23:40, 25:00, 26:20 and 31:52, Ear Biscuits, Soundcloud.com, March 31, 2014 Ballinger was homeschooled during middle school,Rudetsky, Seth. "How Did Waitresss Colleen Ballinger First Become Miranda Sings?", Playbill, November 1, 2020"Colleen Ballinger (Miranda Sings) Biography" , Biography.com, August 31, 2018 attended San Marcos High School"San Marcos Grad a YouTube Sensation" , Edhat Santa Barbara, June 25, 2016 and graduated in 2008 from Azusa Pacific University, where she majored in vocal performance.Briscoe, Jake. "Colleen Ballinger Snapchat Name – What is Her Snapchat Username & Snapcode?" , Gazette Review, October 7, 2017 She has two older brothers, Christopher and Trent, and a younger sister, Rachel.
Career Acting career From 2007 to 2009, Ballinger performed at Disneyland in California; gave private voice, movement coaching and piano lessons to children; and performed at parties and cabaret spaces.Spangler, Todd. "Miranda Sings Leads the Way for Digital Stars Leaping to TV" , Variety, June 21, 2016"Miranda Sings Visits Clevver TV" , BroadwayWorld, November 4, 2009, accessed October 4, 2014; Velasco, Schuyler. "Interview: Miranda Sings" , Backstage, August 3, 2010, accessed October 4, 2014; and Seabaugh, Julie. "The Woman Behind Miranda, One of the Strangest and Most Beloved Characters on YouTube" . LA Weekly, July 23, 2015 In 2009, she played Kelsi Nielsen in High School Musical at Candlelight Pavilion Dinner Theatre in Claremont, California."Disney's High School Musical at Candlelight Pavilion" , Inland Theatre League, May 7, 2009, accessed October 4, 2014 Ballinger appeared on the 2010 album More With Every Line, by songwriter Tim Prottey-Jones,Gould, Robert. "More With Every Line – The Music of Tim Prottey-Jones" , BroadwayWorld.com, September 29, 2010, accessed October 4, 2014 and the 2011 album Self Taught, Still Learning by Chris Passey."Self Taught, Still Learning – Chris Passey (Album Review)" , Polly Browne's Blog, November 15, 2011, accessed October 4, 2014 In New York in 2011, she played Lynda Bird Johnson in a staged reading of First KidsMedeiros, Linnae. "Get to Know Waitress's Colleen Ballinger and Todrick Hall!", BroadwayWorld.com, August 27, 2019 and created the role of Circe in the American Theatre of Actors Off-Broadway production Odyssey – The Epic Musical.Hetrick, Adam. "Colleen Ballinger", About the Artists, accessed October 4, 2014; and "Odyssey – The Epic Musical to Feature Eddie Korbich, Emma Zaks, Janine DiVita and Colleen Zenk", Playbill, September 22, 2011
In 2012, Ballinger was featured as nurse Royal in the web series Dr. Fubalous.Dr. Fubalous, Facebook, accessed October 4, 2014; and Dr. Fubalous , Internet Movie Database, accessed October 4, 2014 She also gave a talk at the Boston Children's Theatre about how to use social media to promote yourself as a performer.Jarvedon. "YouTube Sensation Miranda Sings Visits BCT!" , BostonChildrensTheatre.org, July 20, 2012Shanahan, Mark and Meredith Goldstein. "Woman behind Miranda Sings a real character" , The Boston Globe, July 11, 2012 In 2013, she starred in the episode "Under the Bed" in the web series The Flipside"Under the Bed – The FlipSide" , YouTube, February 27, 2013, accessed October 4, 2014 and as Amara in episode 9 of season 2 of the web series Hipsterhood.O'Neill, Emma. "Hipsterhood Season Two Has Arrived" , Geeky News, September 1, 2013, accessed October 4, 2014; and "'Hipster Mecca: The Silverlake Farmer's Market' – S2:E9" , Hipsterhood, YouTube, October 22, 2013, accessed October 4, 2014 She plays Meg on the Volume 12 DVD of Family Guy in the live-action version of the show's introduction."Family Guy Live Action Intro Homemade for Volume 12 DVD" , CineFix, December 10, 2013, November 30, 2014 Also in 2013, she was featured on the MTV True Life episode "I'm Famous Online"."True Life: I'm Famous Online" , MTV, December 6, 2013, accessed October 4, 2014 In 2014, she appeared in the episode "Wedding Plans!" on the web series MyMusic."Wedding Plans! (MyMusic Season 2 Episode 23)" , TheFineBros, YouTube, January 21, 2014, accessed October 4, 2014
Ballinger was a guest co-host on The View in 2015."Colleen Ballinger Takes Over The View, Dishes on Creation of Miranda Sings" , Empty Lighthouse Magazine, January 22, 2015; Brouwer, Bree. "YouTube Star Colleen Ballinger (AKA Miranda Sings) Guest Hosts ABC's The View" , YouTubeFilter.com, January 23, 2015 The same year, she was interviewed on the podcast RuPaul: What's the Tee?,"Episode 24: Anti-Porn Unicorn" , RuPaul: What's the Tee?, February 25, 2015 starred in a Todrick Hall video, "Beauty and the Beat Boots",Tousignant, Lauren. "Beauty and the Beast LGBT Parody Calls Belle 'Basic'" , New York Post, May 7, 2015 and appeared in the Season 2 finale of the Condé Nast Entertainment webseries #HeyUSA, with host Mamrie Hart.Spangler, Todd. "YouTube Star Mamrie Hart Hits Road Again in HeyUSA Travel Show for Condé Nast" , Variety, March 20, 2015; Hart, Mamrie. "Mamrie + Colleen Ballinger: San Francisco Part 1" , HeyUSA, TheScene.com, May 7, 2015; and Hart, Mamrie. "Mamrie + Colleen Ballinger: San Francisco Part 2" , HeyUSA, TheScene.com, May 10, 2015 Later that year, both as herself and as Miranda Sings, Ballinger starred in a six-episode beauty series parody called How to Makeup on the I Love Makeup YouTube channel operated by Collective Digital Studio. In this show, "Colleen has fantastically found a way for guys to become interested in a makeup show ... there's a plot".Klima, Jeff. "Team Colleen or Team Miranda? Colleen Ballinger Squares Off Against Miranda Sings for New Makeup Show" , New Media Rockstars, June 18, 2015Patel, Sahil. "CDS and Colleen Ballinger (and Miranda Sings) Debut New Makeup Series" , TheVideoInk.com, June 18, 2015 Re/code featured Ballinger to exemplify "an emerging economy" of internet content providers.Kurzweil, Ethan and Cecilia Stallsmith. "Fame's Dose of Democratization" , Re/code, July 22, 2015 She is featured on the track "Clouds" in Flula Borg's 2015 EP, I Want to Touch You.Bork, Flula. I Want to Touch You, iTunes, accessed September 28, 2015
Ballinger appeared in a series of 2016 DiGiorno pizza commercials.Shields, Mike. "DiGiorno Taps YouTube Talent for TV Ad Campaign Leading Up to the Super Bowl" , The Wall Street Journal, January 28, 2016 In 2018, she appeared as The Disco Dancer in season 3 of the web series Escape the Night,Gutelle, Sam. "Season Three of Joey Graceffa's Escape The Night Now Available Via YouTube Premium" , Tubefilter.com, June 21, 2018; and Hoggatt, Aja. "Colleen Ballinger among final cast revealed for Escape the Night season 3" , Entertainment Weekly, May 31, 2018 in a cameo role in the animated film Ralph Breaks the Internet,Desta, Yohana. "Ralph Breaks the Internet's Cast List Is Full of Fun, Surprising Easter Eggs", Vanity Fair, November 21, 2018 and in the Ariana Grande music video "Thank U, Next".Butler, Bethonie. "'Thank u, next': All of the pop culture references and cameos in Ariana Grande's new music video" , The Washington Post, November 30, 2018 She appeared as The Duchess in season 4 of Escape the Night (2019)."Escape the Night Season 4 Now Streaming on YouTube" , BroadwayWorld.com, July 11, 2019; and Huff, Lauren. "Full cast of Joey Graceffa's Escape the Night season 4 revealed" , Entertainment Weekly, June 12, 2019 She made her Broadway debut in the musical Waitress, as Dawn, where she appeared from August to September 2019.Levitt, Hayley. "How Waitress's New Dawn and Ogie Took the YouTube to Broadway", TheaterMania.com, August 24, 2019 The week of Ballinger's debut, box office grosses for the musical increased by $358,783 to $938,087, and they continued to rise, reaching $963,408 the following week.Gans, Andrew. "Grosses Analysis: What the Constitution Means to Me Breaks Box-Office Record in Final Week on Broadway" , Playbill, August 26, 2019; and McPhee, Ryan. "Grosses Analysis: Waitress, With Todrick Hall and Colleen Ballinger, Packs Theatre Ahead of Final Shift"], Playbill, September 3, 2019 On Halloween 2020, Ballinger played Janet in a livestream reading of The Rocky Horror Picture Show, starring original cast members Tim Curry, Nell Campbell and Barry Bostwick.Beresford, Trilby. "Tim Curry Reprises Dr. Frank-N-Furter Role in Rocky Horror Political Fundraiser", The Hollywood Reporter, October 31, 2020
In 2021, Ballinger voiced the role of Crandy on the Netflix animated series Centaurworld.Craig, Jo. "Will Centaurworld Return for Season 3? Netflix Renewal Explored", HITC, December 8, 2021
Comedy act and videos
In 2009, Ballinger began to make a living by performing her live one-woman comedy act in character as Miranda Sings."Photo Flash: Miranda Sings, Joshua Ledet, & More Visit Birdland!" , BroadwayWorld.com, May 29, 2012 She continued to tour thereafter and stated that, of all her professional activities, she gets the most satisfaction in her career from her live performances.Klein, Jessica. "YouTuber Colleen Ballinger Loves Performing Live Even More" , Thevideoink.com, April 1, 2014McLaughlin, Rhett james and Charles Lincoln Neal III. "Ep. 25 Colleen Ballinger (Miranda Sings)" , Interview of Ballinger at 46:10 and 50:00, Ear Biscuits, Soundcloud.com, March 31, 2014 In addition to her Miranda tours, Ballinger toured with her then-husband, singer and fellow YouTuber Joshua David Evans, in music and comedy shows in December 2015"Calendar" , San Jose Mercury News, December 16, 2015 and January 2016 across the US as "The Colleen & Josh Show"."The Colleen & Josh Show brings music, laughs" , The St. Augustine Record, January 14, 2016; "The Colleen and Josh Show" , San Diego Theatres, accessed January 9, 2016; "More events for Wednesday, Jan. 13, and beyond" , Statesman.com, January 12, 2016; and Ballinger, Colleen. "We're Going On Tour!" , Instagram, December 6, 2015