The Nicola Porcella Effect – Introducing Mexico’s Boyfriend
Para leer la version en Español, presiona aqui.
Quick reminder that nothing good can come from late night scrolling on TikTok. One minute you’re laughing at a silly video and the next you’ve downloaded a VPN, gotten a subscription to a Mexican streaming service and are staying up until 3AM watching a 24/7 livestream. Not the self-proclaimed reality TV show hater becoming absolutely obsessed with one. I hate this journey for me.
La Casa de los Famosos is finally over. So, since I have all of the free time in the world now, I’ve decided to begin analyzing what made me become so obsessed with this particular reality TV show and turns out the reasons are Wendy Guevara and Nicola Porcella. The first TikToks that came across my algorithm were heavy on Wendy Guevara and Nicola Porcella content so I’m inclined to believe that the obsession is rooted there.
Today I want to discuss second place on the show, first place in my heart: Nicola Porcella.
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Nicola Porcella is a Peruvian actor, reality TV star and TV show host that captured the hearts of many during his participation on La Casa de los Famosos. Though his career began in Peru, he traveled to Mexico in hopes of a second chance. In Peru he gained fame and fortune in his early twenties and as it often happens, Nicola didn’t know how to properly manage the pressure and the magnifying glass that was quickly placed on him. After a series of unfortunate events, allegations against him, toxic relationships and more rumors than any of us can keep track of; he found himself blacklisted from Peruvian media.
He walked into La Casa de los Famosos with a reputation that wasn’t favorable; in previous reality shows he was a bit aggressive and sometimes out of control, so that behavior was expected from him by the other members of the house. As the weeks of the show progressed Nicola used the isolation to explain himself, not only to the other participants on the show but also to the audience. He cleared up all the rumors, he expressed his side of the story, he shared his struggle with his mental health, (trigger warning: he openly discussed his past suicide attempt and the medication he takes daily to help alleviate his mental health issues) he took accountability for all of his dumb mistakes (which he admitted were many) and he allowed himself to be vulnerable in a house full of people that admitted to having a very negative idea of him in their head. On a show of 14 participants, over and over did Nicola Porcella prove to be the most loyal and honest out of all of them.
Slowly, Nicola started gaining the love of not only the Mexican audience, but his reach (thanks to TikTok) spread across Latin America and even crossed the border into the United States. They’re calling it the Nicola Porcella Effect.
What is the Nicola Porcella Effect? It’s the constant state of anxiety and slight obsession that a Nicola fan may find themselves in on a daily basis. The 24/7 livestreams provided us with so much Nicola content that many of us went through a bit of a withdrawal after the show ended. Did Nicola workout today? Is he eating? How many times has he tripped today? Is he finally wearing different clothes? Nicola, as a phenomenon reached every single social media app and that is thanks to his charisma and lack of fragile masculinity. Slowly, Nicola accumulated a powerful fan base that would rival any K-pop artist.
He entered the show feeling like Peru hated him and thinking that he’d leave the show within a week because Mexico didn’t know him. By the time he left the show, Mexico was so in love with him that they donned him “Mexico’s Boyfriend” and the Peruvian media was running positive stories about him for the first time in years. While inside of the house his fans showed their support in extravagant ways that included; balloons, a Mariachi serenade and an iconic drone show. The love didn’t stop once he won 2nd place on the show though, some may even say that the support has only become stronger. He’s been a trending topic on Twitter (I refuse to call it X and you can’t make me) weekly since the show ended and the ratings for the shows he’s appeared in significantly improve when he’s scheduled to be on.
Personally, I’ve never seen someone deserve a second chance more. I think we all agree that reality TV shows are full of personalities, but with a livestream running 24/7 there’s only so much faking a person can do. Nicola consistently showed how authentic he was being inside the house and though his friendship with Wendy is what first caught my attention, there’s no denying that Nicola provides more than enough content all on his own.
Now if we can discuss Wencola for a moment, it was so refreshing to see a man unapologetically flirting with a beautiful trans woman. His lack of care for any comments anyone may have about their relationship felt like a breath of fresh, especially on a show from a country that is so often homophobic. Not only that, but the way he allowed Wendy to do his make-up and dress him up like a woman; fragile masculinity was nowhere to be found.
@kingnicolamx Mariana y Silvana 💘 #parati #nicolaporcella #peru #viral #mexico #lacasadelosfamososmx #wendyguevara ♬ sonido original – 🧸💚
There’s a world full of opportunities in front of Nicola and he has millions of people rooting for his success. We’re all crossing our fingers that he makes the best out of the opportunities that his own personality has granted him. Here’s to whatever comes next, I fear i’ll be suffering from the Nicola Porcella Effect for a long time coming.
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