Bella Poarch

“My mental health was getting really bad in the military and so the doctors decided not to renew my contract and advised me to take a break.”

“Japanese culture is something I'm heavily inspired by. I was actually stationed for a few years in Japan with the Navy and I fell in love with a lot of that culture, especially when it comes to fashion and art.”

“I get most of my inspiration from anime and video games.”

“Growing up I used to get bullied and stuff, how I look like.”

“I actually wanna go back to the Philippines, not the old house that I used to live in but I would want to visit the Philippines.”

“My scars from abuse made me insecure. And so I had to cover up my scars with tattoos.”

“I grew up watching anime, and the girls in anime have really rosy cheeks. That's how I got inspired to do my rosy pink cheeks on TikTok. I think it's really cute.”

“My mother used to pack me Filipino food for lunch, and I would get made fun of because of the way it smelled. Kids would make fun of me because of the way I looked and call me 'Ling Ling.'”

“I wanted my first song to have a good meaning to it and to help a lot of people just to be more confident about themselves.”

“School was my escape even if I was getting bullied.”

“The difference between Philippine makeup and U.S. makeup is that Filipinos don't really like foundation or really thick makeup.”

“My dream collaboration is Rose and I love K-Pop and I love Blackpink. I'm obsessed.”

“I was my own role model.”

“Growing up in a brand-new country, coming from the Philippines, was hard. I was treated differently and felt like people thought less of me because I was Asian.”

“The first video I ever uploaded was of me singing, and it only got 100 views, so I took it down right away. So when 'M to the B' got a million likes in a day, I was in shock. I would never have imagined something like that.”

“I love 'Lord of the Rings.'”

“I love the Philippines. I feel like it's a huge part of me. It's my home.”

“I had a rough childhood.”

“I feel like there's a tremendous amount of pressure that society and the Internet put on people to look or be perfect.”

“I apologize to Koreans, because six months ago I got a tattoo of the red sun with 16 rays. At that time, I didn't know the history, but when I found out, I immediately scheduled it for removal.”