Understanding the viral popularity of FoodToker Courtney Cook – "Authenticity always wins"

January 12 2026

Courtney Cook is an American high school teacher from Georgia whose TikTok food videos have exploded in popularity – and if you want to understand the qualities people are looking for in influencers these days, it's hard to find a better case study.

She first started posting on TikTok in May but her following has skyrocketed over the last two months and she now has nearly three million followers.

Her fast-growing community of fans are tuning in to her daily food videos and inspired to try her often quirky concoctions – everything from baked sweet potatoes with cheese to soup dumplings in onion cups and chocolate-dipped Weetabix dunkables.

She also makes British staples like ploughman's lunches and roast dinners – complete with homemade Yorkshire puddings. She credits classic novels with inspiring her passion for British cuisine, saying in an interview that "The small descriptions you get in British literature, like the banquet scenes in Jane Austen, got me really excited."

People talk about Courtney being so "positive" and "comforting" to watch:

• "Her whole being is a positive vibe. It's so refreshing."

• "She's so light and comforting. I'm kind of jelly of her... I'm such a 'bothered person', she's opposite of me!"

• "She is such a delight and comforting to watch. A beautiful soul"

• "I'm going through the most intense break-up of my life and I swear her energy and her videos have been keeping me going I swear. She’s so sweet and I just love her personality"

She's authentic and relatable, not an overly "polished" influencer:

• "Courtney Cook is just unapologetically and authentically herself. Her personality is quirky, and her food choices are quirky. She doesn't apologize for being weird or liking weird foods or for her mannerisms."

• "She is real. She isn’t curating her content. She’s just being her. Authenticity always wins. People want relatable."

• "She seems genuine and doesn’t come off as performative. She also isn’t worried about having everything looking so aesthetically pleasing."

Courtney also gets lots of praise for having a "healthy relationship with food" which fans say is "refreshing" to see on social media:

• "I love her love for food! She’s bringing a positive view to eating that we rarely see anymore."

• "It's so nice to watch a woman who ENJOYS her food without tempering it with the shame that stereotypically accompanies a female having a good appetite. It's liberating."

• "Courtney Cook is a fab example of the internet making the right person famous. She’s delightful and his having a real impact on people’s relationship with food."

Courtney explained in an interview with People, "I am learning to live for myself rather than shaping my choices around people who may not understand me. If my videos help someone feel more confident, joyful, and free with their own food choices, then that is exactly the message I hope to share."

You only have to look at the hundreds and thousands of people who've been making her viral sweet potato and chocolate Weetabix recipes to see the influence she's having – it really does seem like TikTok just can't get enough of her.