Helen Van Winkle, 97, was known online as Baddie Winkle and had more than three million followers on Instagram. She has been hailed a ‘living legend’ after her death
Internet sensation Helen Van Winkle, better known as Baddie Winkle, has sadly died at the age of 97.
Her great-granddaughter broke the news to her three million Instagram followers this evening, stating “an era ended and a star ascended.”
Captioning a picture of her late loved one, she wrote: “Yesterday, an era ended and a star ascended. My great grandmother Helen Ruth Elam Vanwinkle danced her way to heaven.
“She was joy, rebellion, and tenderness wrapped in one. The crown is eternal, & her love on many realms will live forever. This isn’t a goodbye, this is a See ya later my superstar.”
“Oh no I’m so sorry. I’ve loved seeing her become an icon over the last few years. I’m sure she’s going to be shaking things up in the afterlife. So sorry for you and your family,” one fan wrote in the comment section as the news broke.
Another added: “Loved me some Baddie! She inspired us all that being fabulous has no expiration date! Thank you so much for sharing her over these past few years. Shine Bright my girl!”
Speaking in 2018, at the peak of her early success on social media, Helen revealed that her great-granddaughter Kennedy help her set up an Instagram account and become a viral sensation.
“She taught me everything I know about the internet, helping me set up an account on a new smartphone. It felt strange posting pictures of myself online, and I didn’t see how anyone could be interested – but to my astonishment, tens of thousands of people liked my snaps,” she said at the time.
“Fast-forward four years, and I have more than 3 million followers on Instagram, including celebrities such as Beyoncé , Rihanna and a fair few Kardashians. I’ve been the face of clothing brand Missguided, appeared on an advert for Smirnoff, and on Nicole Richie’s reality show. Miley Cyrus even took me to the MTV Music Video Awards as her plus one – I wore a flesh-coloured catsuit (left) covered in rhinestones, and carried a matching, blinging walking stick.”
Before becoming everyone’s favourite Instagram influencer, Helen worked as a clerk in a factory. Her life wasn’t smooth sailing and she sadly lost her husband Earl when he was killed in a car accident on their 35th wedding anniversary.
Heartbreakingly, 20 years later, Helen lost her son David to cancer. “You’re never supposed to lose your son. I fought for years trying to get over their deaths. I miss them every day. That’s life, you have to take what you get,” she said in 2018.
“Now is a new chapter in my life, and it’s got more interesting as a matter of fact. But, right down deep, I don’t think I’ve changed that much. Baddie Winkle enables Helen to do wild things she hasn’t been able to do. Sometimes I’m Baddie and sometimes I’m Helen.
“Being Baddie has brought me so many opportunities. I made a bucket list of everything I still wanted to do, from shaking my ass at a Samba class in Rio to riding a helicopter across the Grand Canyon. I’ve made it to DJ at London superclub G-A-Y, and I even swung by Buckingham Palace, but sadly I didn’t meet the Queen . I’d have told her she could do with a splash more colour – not that she’d listen to me.”
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