Chinese mainland eating show internet celebrity “Gan Fan Yingying” (real name Chen Ziyi) with a million fans, passed away on August 17 at the age of only 24. Her parents announced the obituary on social media on September 4.
According to Shaanxi TV News, on the morning of September 8, it was discovered that “Gan Fan Yingying’s” Kuaishou account, which originally had over 1.2 million followers, could no longer be searched or viewed, and all the content on her main page had disappeared.
In her last video posted on August 14, “Gan Fan Yingying” revealed that a few days before, she had repeatedly eaten during a live broadcast, causing potassium loss and resulting in her hospitalization. Her blood potassium levels dropped to as low as 2.3 at one point, and around 2.5 when she was in the emergency room.
She admitted that she was well aware that the repeated occurrences of low blood potassium in her body were closely related to her work as an eating show host, and she reminded her fans, “While making money is important, your health should always come first.” Sadly, three days later, she passed away suddenly.
The news of “Gan Fan Yingying’s” death once again raised concerns about the abnormal competition within the eating show industry for food consumption, live streams, and viewership.
Before her death, “Gan Fan Yingying” revealed that eating shows are different from regular live broadcasts. In order to attract viewers and enhance the live broadcast effect, hosts often have to continuously eat. For example, she mentioned that during a live broadcast selling preserved eggs, she had to eat sixty to seventy preserved eggs in one session, and the same applies when trying other foods.
For eating show hosts, the amount of food consumed often becomes part of the live broadcast effect. The more they eat and the more exaggerated the scenes, the easier it is to attract viewers to stay, comment, or make orders. However, what may seem like “superior eating capacity” on screen could potentially be the host sacrificing their health for popularity.
According to public information and sources, the “miracle of not gaining weight while eating excessively” in the eating show circle is usually based on practices such as induced vomiting or the use of laxatives. Frequent induced vomiting can cause severe erosion of stomach acid on the esophagus and teeth, leading to metabolic alkalosis and increasing the risk of low potassium.
“Gan Fan Yingying” had long been troubled by low blood potassium issues, and had been hospitalized multiple times for low blood potassium. Another insider revealed that she likely suffered a sudden cardiac arrest due to prolonged low blood potassium levels, though the specific cause of death has not been publicly disclosed by her family, leaving room for further confirmation.
Based on medical education materials, low blood potassium can manifest symptoms such as muscle weakness, fatigue, cramping, palpitations, and irregular heart rhythms, and in severe cases, it can potentially affect the normal functioning of the heart.
The tragedy of “Gan Fan Yingying” is not the first time the eating show circle has sparked health warnings. In the past, there have been instances in mainland China where eating show internet celebrities faced health emergencies or passed away due to issues arising from prolonged excessive eating and extreme dietary habits.
In June 2025, a well-known eating show blogger in Hangzhou induced vomiting with a toothbrush, which slipped into her throat and reached her stomach, requiring emergency gastric endoscopy surgery to remove the foreign object.
In July 2024, a 24-year-old eating show internet celebrity, Pan Xiaoting, collapsed suddenly during an eating show in her rented room, and was pronounced dead after being rushed to the hospital.
In March 2022, 32-year-old “Sniffing Taste Brother” passed away. Despite suffering from severe uremia and requiring long-term dialysis, he continued to engage in high-fat, high-salt, high-calorie eating shows driven by profits and viewership, eventually dying from multiple organ failure.
In March 2021, 29-year-old eating show internet celebrity “Bubble Dragon” (Yu Hailong) passed away, with doctors attributing her death to prolonged excessive eating that wore down her body.
In 2020, a 30-year-old male anchor from Shenyang gained 176 pounds in just six months from eating shows, and tragically died from a sudden brain hemorrhage.