How did YouTuber Tana Mongeau become so rich? Stalker stories and messy relationships

By Charlie Sawyer

Published Feb 15, 2024 at 09:00 AM

Reading time: 6 minutes

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Images courtesy of Tana Mongeau from Instagram

Hey girlies, me again. Believe it or not, I’m still being allowed to explain things on a weekly basis—I know, shocking. This week, we’re putting the side hustles and Swiftonomics aside to shine a spotlight on the origin story of someone who’s practically YouTube royalty for many: Miss Tana Mongeau.

Now, I’d be remiss if I, in all my iconic blondeness, didn’t touch upon the whirlwind of controversies surrounding Mongeau. However, my main aim in this exploration is to equip you with all the necessary insights should you aspire to carve out your own niche as a YouTuber or internet sensation. As we’ll uncover together, it appears that stirring the pot might just have its rewards…

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Tana Mongeau has been a fixture in the digital world for nearly a decade, but don’t let that fool you into thinking she’s anywhere near slowing down or that she’s getting old or anything. The girl started when she was a literal child. Having kicked things off back in 2015, Mongeau has now successfully made a career out of being messy.

Born on 24 June 1998 in Las Vegas, Nevada, where she was raised, while on MTV No Filter: Tana Turns 21, Mongeau said that her parents lacked parenting skills which caused her to have a strained childhood. Moreover, while Mongeau’s mum has featured in a number of the YouTuber’s older videos, there’s very little information online about her dad.

To say the YouTuber’s storytimes are legendary would be an understatement. Whether it’s evictions, dating dramas, stolen money, or Uber murderers, Tana’s been through it and has always documented the entire process.

Plus, I think I maybe spent a solid 50 per cent of my teenage years far more invested in Mongeau’s stalker storytimes than I was in school or homework.

For those of us who started watching Mongeau before she owned a proper camera, we’ll know that her YouTube career started off with her mostly sat on the floor of her bedroom, living room, or kitchen—very Trisha Paytas-coded—telling us stories about something that had happened to her that week. I think the first video I actually ever watched of Mongeau’s was her storytime about being scammed over Coachella tickets.

And while Mongeau’s content has naturally grown over the years and she’s tried out different types of videos such as try-on hauls, daily vlogs, and bigger-scale deep dives, the OGs know that, deep down, she’s a storytime girly through and through.

Week after week, Mongeau set up her little vlog camera and entertained millions of us with her ‘gives zero fucks’ attitude, bolshy opinions, and overall complete lack of filter. I’d argue that Mongeau was one of the first girls on YouTube who was intentional with her controversy—she didn’t shy away from being both authentic and real about who she was and how she wanted to hold herself in the public eye.

Mongeau also joined the platform early enough that there wasn’t a wealth of other influencers to compete with for attention. Her content stood out and differed vastly from cookie-cutter beauty gurus such as Bethany Mota and Laura Lee. Mongeau’s success has also definitely come from her ability to retain relatability, irrespective of how wealthy she’s become.

As previously mentioned, Mongeau is often best known for her extensive stalker story series—a collection of videos where the YouTuber would talk about a man who followed her for years, found out where she was at all times and intruded on her life in some of the creepiest ways possible.

However, that particular stalker, who is potentially named William, doesn’t seem to be around anymore. While it’s unknown what happened to the man in question whom the YouTuber used to speak about regularly on her channel, it seems as though Mongeau might now have a completely different stalker in tow. Recently, the 25-year-old has been speaking about a new stalker who discovered her through her OnlyFans (OF).

Mongeau has not revealed a lot about the current stalker, presumably because of the legal proceedings she is dealing with.

Other famous Mongeau stories include the time she fought a “grown ass couple” at an airport, the time she was evicted from her beautiful home due to a crazy landlord, and of course, the ongoing drama that she has with YouTube convention VidCon.

Now, while we’re on the topic of crazy stories, we have to talk about the insane flop that was Mongeau’s attempt at her own YouTube convention aka TanaCon. That was the definition of a hot mess.

For anyone who isn’t familiar, in 2018, Mongeau decided to host her own YouTube convention after sharing her disdain for the previously mentioned VidCon which, at the time, was one of the biggest social media events out there and was annually attended by hundreds of content creators.

While the thought was there, TanaCon turned out to be one of the biggest messes YouTube has ever seen. The entire event was shut down after only six hours due to overcrowding.

According to The Intelligencer, the venue that Mongeau had selected could only hold approximately 5,000 people, however, a whopping 20,000 screaming tweens showed up in hopes of catching a glimpse of Mongeau’s bleach blonde extensions. Plus, the supposed VIP package, which according to event-goers promised a “concert, gift bags, private signings, and personal pictures,” actually only contained stickers and a TanaCon-themed condom…

Much of the blame fell on talent manager and event organiser Michael Weist, or as he’s better known, “Segway guy.”

The entire thing was so horrendous that poor Dr. Phil even hosted an episode on the ordeal:

Convention drama aside, let’s also quickly talk about one of Mongeau’s most tumultuous and controversial romantic relationships. In 2017, the YouTuber hard launched her relationship with former Disney star and actress Bella Thorne. The couple dated for just over a year and were very honest about the fact that they also opened their relationship up to other romantic partners.

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Considering how open the pair was about their romance starting online, it’s not really that surprising that they were equally as open about their breakup.

While it seems as though the pair have now reconciled as friends, it definitely seems as though Thorne didn’t take the news of Mongeau’s “engagement” to fellow YouTuber Jake Paul very well. Honestly, I sometimes forget about the whole Jake and Tana fiasco… Oh, those were the days.

It feels only right that I now give you a brief rundown of what went on between Mongeau and Paul back in the summer of 2019. And, pre-warning, I’ve had to trim my nails purely to deal with the physical endurance of typing out an entire section on the mess that was this relationship.

Paul, who is an incredibly controversial YouTuber and brother of equally controversial YouTuber Logan Paul, first drifted into Mongeau’s sphere after the pair began posting videos together about their budding romance.

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Then, after a whirlwind online romance—which was 100 per cent curated for the cameras—Paul popped the question and everyone sat in silence as we watched the duo actually proceed to host an entire wedding ceremony. While we all knew that there was no legal basis behind the video, it did still feel eerily real.

A lot of people have pointed out that Mongeau had genuine feelings for Paul and, from the way the 25-year-old has spoken about the ordeal online, that does ring true.

Either way, less than six months after the couple tied the fake knot, they called it quits:

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While it’s never been officially confirmed how much Mongeau is worth, we can make a pretty decent estimation. For one, let’s think about the fact that on top of the nine years the influencer has been on YouTube, she’s also pursued a number of other ventures including tours, podcasts, and numerous lines of merchandise.

Mongeau’s vodcast Cancelled, which she co-hosts with bestie Brooke Schofield, has over 2 million subscribers and regularly receives over 500,000 views every episode. The show primarily consists of Mongeau and Schofield talking about internet drama, their beef, funny stories from the past, and of course any YouTube controversies they want to dip their toes into. They’ve had a ton of different guests on the show including podcast host Sofia Franklyn and comedian Hannah Berner.

The pair have also locked in several high-flying sponsors such as adult product company Adam & Eve, and website-building company Squarespace.

Moreover, the Cancelled Podcast Tour was a massive hit:

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Mongeau has also become a permanent fixture on the vodcast JEFF FM, a show hosted by fellow popular content creator, comedian Jeff Witteck.

So, considering all of those ventures, is it that hard to believe that the 25-year-old could be worth between four and six million dollars? Again, this is all speculation.

Either way, there’s no doubt that Mongeau has been incredibly strategic and successful at maintaining relevancy and keeping us interested. Not once in the decade that she’s been an online creator have we ever muttered the word “boring” while watching one of her videos. And that, girlies, gays, and theys, is why you should never underestimate a blonde with a knack for storytelling.