YouTuber Nikocado Avocado is shocking fans with his dramatic weight loss, which he's highlighted in repeated recent posts on his social media pages. The social media star — known for his videos that show him eating large quantities of food — shared in a YouTube video on Friday how much weight he'd lost, and revealed his dramatically changed appearance compared to his most recent post from seven months prior. The difference is stark because he hid his weight loss, he told NBC News via email.

The 32-year-old — whose real name is Nicholas Perry — rose to fame on the platform calling himself the “King of Mukbangs.” Mukbang, which originated in South Korea, is a genre of videos in which people show themselves eating excessive amounts of food, typically junk food, while interacting with viewers.

In a new video titled “Two Steps Ahead,” posted September 6, Perry shocked fans by debuting his drastic weight loss transformation, sharing that he just completed “the greatest social experiment of my entire life.”

“Today, I woke up from a very long dream, and I also woke up having lost 250 lbs. off of my body. And just yesterday, people were calling me fat and sick and boring and irrelevant,” he said in the video. “People are the most messed-up creatures on the entire planet, and yet I’ve still managed to stay two steps ahead of everyone. The joke’s on you.”

Nikocado Avocado's Weight Loss Journey: Two Years in the Making

It took Perry about two years to lose the weight, he told NBC News. At his heaviest, he weighed 411 pounds. He now weighs 158. He added that he's 6 feet tall.

To hide his weight loss, “I have been strategically posting pre-recorded videos for 2 years, on both YouTube and TikTok,” Perry told NBC News. “I edited the videos so that they would appear recent, allowing me to focus on healing my body behind the scenes. I shaved my head so that people wouldn’t recognize me in public. A handful of fellow YouTubers also helped to keep my secret.”

The Internet's Reaction to Nikocado Avocado's Weight Loss

The viral video has since garnered more than 30 million views. Fans of the content creator flocked to the comments questioning how he was able to achieve such a drastic weight loss transformation while all of his recent videos throughout the past year show him at a larger size.

“Let's be real. This is what we hoped for rather than facing his passing due to complications caused by his heavy weight,” one fan wrote while another added, “He gained weight. Became a MultiMillionaire. Lost weight. Biggest comeback ever.”

One follower also commented, “I was one of the people who said he’ll die soon. I deeply regret it. Congratulations!”

“The fact he was able to keep this entirely private, with no one in the world telling his secret, while actively creating rumors of heart attacks and failed weight loss is so complex I can’t even wrap my head around it,” another person wrote.

Nikocado Avocado's Weight Loss Prank: A Social Experiment?

Perry told NBC News that he had everything planned out, revealing that two years ago he weighed his heaviest at 411 lbs. and he’s now at 158 lbs.

The YouTuber also explained that the panda symbolizes how the “world of social media is not as black-and-white as it appears” and hopefully encourages people not to take the internet too seriously.

“While everybody pointed and laughed at me for over-consuming food, I was in total control the entire time,” Perry added. “In reality, people are completely absorbed with Internet personalities and obsessively watch their content. That is where a deeper level of over-consumption lies — and it’s the parallel I wanted to make.” 

The Legacy of Nikocado Avocado's Weight Loss Prank

After the shocking reveal in his viral video, Perry casually returned to his usual Mukbang content by pulling out a large plate of noodles to consume on camera.

Nikocado Avocado has said that he will now just be posting on his second channel and hinted that he will be sharing more about his story next week. We’ll be looking forward to it.

The internet was quite stunned by his drastic weight loss. Needless to say, that the content creator hiding his dramatic weight loss for a ‘gotcha’ moment was met with mixed reactions.

“nikocado avocado is a psychological horror to me. he’s been saying it’s an experiment from the start but the way he dropped all his morals of being vegan, put on this act for years, and then secretly lost it all for a gotcha moment. i am SCARED of him and his dedication,” one commenter wrote.

“inabber releasing a 7 hour video only to have it be utterly irrelevant days later because nickocado lost all the weight is delightful in ways I can’t describe,” another commenter wrote.

“Nikocado Avocado totally tricked everyone on the internet by raking in thousands, if not millions, from pre-recorder content?! all while focusing on his health and weight loss journey. 😳👀,” another commenter wrote.

One thing is for sure, Nikocado Avocado's weight loss prank has sparked a lot of conversation about the nature of online content and the blurred lines between reality and performance.