The Hidden Price of Going Viral in College | Kylan Darnell
Post Run High
iHeartPodcasts
1.1 • 4.5K Ratings
🗓️ 23 February 2026
⏱️ 84 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
Kylan Darnell went from a town of 1,500 people in rural Ohio to 200,000 followers in a single day — and nobody was more shocked than her. In this episode, the University of Alabama senior, Rush Talk icon, and former Miss Ohio Teen USA gets real about what overnight fame actually costs, why being a perfectionist nearly broke her, and how she rebuilt her confidence from the inside out.
We get into the hidden pressure of being a public figure on a college campus, what it was like watching her sister and mom join her online, the sorority call that devastated her during 2025 Bama Rush, making $100K in a month as a college student, and why dropping the perfect version of herself was the best thing she ever did.
Plus — Kylan teases what's coming next for the Darnell family, her move to New York, and her future in sports broadcasting.
In this episode we cover:
- Going from 1,500 people in rural Ohio to 200K followers overnight
- The hidden pressure of being famous on a college campus
- Making $100K in a month as a college student
- The 2025 Bama Rush call that devastated her
- Why perfectionism was crippling her
- Her sister Izzy and Mama T joining her online
- What's next — New York and sports broadcasting
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | The population of my hometown is like 1500. |
| 0:03.8 | It was so small. |
| 0:04.8 | How quickly did the fame hit? |
| 0:06.8 | Very quickly. |
| 0:07.7 | Because at the time I was Miss Ohio Teen USA. |
| 0:09.6 | If I would have been caught on camera taking a drink, |
| 0:12.8 | everything would have been down the drain for me. |
| 0:15.6 | From zero to 200,000 followers in a day. |
| 0:18.1 | Rush Talk icon and Miss Ohio Team USA 22. |
| 0:22.2 | Kyle and Dernel reveals the hidden pressure of going viral. |
| 0:24.9 | What fame costs? |
| 0:26.1 | How she rebuilt confidence and the Dernel's next surprise project. |
| 0:29.5 | Everybody was getting invited to date parties and all the freshmen were excited going out. |
| 0:32.9 | And I couldn't really do that until after I had given up my title. |
| 0:36.7 | I only put out content that I thought was 100% perfect. |
| 0:40.1 | I didn't let people see my true personality. |
| 0:42.2 | But I realized it turned me into more of like a robot |
| 0:44.4 | and like doing exactly what I thought was perfect. |
| 0:46.7 | But this is where social media was great for you |
| 0:48.3 | because you started making your own money pretty quickly. |
| 0:50.5 | I remember making in one month |
| 0:52.5 | and being like, holy crap. It all happened because I got a call |
... |
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