LonelyGirl15: One of YouTube's first ever viral stars returns after eight years in eerie video

After being killed off in 2008, Bree Avery is back from the dead

LonelyGirl15 (YouTube)

One of the first ever viral YouTubers has re-emerged in a sinister video almost a decade after she disappeared.

Before Zoella, Alfie Deyes and other influencers dominated YouTube with videos broadcast from their bedrooms, LonelyGirl15 was one of the most famous vloggers.

After uploading her first video under the name LonelyGirl15, Bree Avery, 16, quickly became one of the most viewed people on the rapidly growing site. Shot in her room, often with her friend Daniel, or whilst out hiking, her videos ruminated on her loneliness, boredom, and relationship with her parents. Interest in her was exacerbated by hints that her parents were involved in a strange religion, possibly a cult, and Bree’s vague references to a ceremony she was expected to take part in.

At the peak of her fame, Bree’s videos had amassed millions of views and a global following. They also sparked conspiracy theories and a hunt to determine who was really behind LonelyGirl15 that ultimately proved successful.

As well as being a viral superstar, LonelyGirl15 was also the protagonist of one of the biggest internet hoaxes of the decade. Bree was actually Jessica Lee Rose, an actress, and LonelyGirl15’s viral success was carefully constructed by Miles Beckett and Mesh Flinders. After the truth was uncovered, the series continued until Bree was killed off in 2008.

Bree has now returned with an eerie video about the ceremony that sparked the global clamour to discover her true identity. LonelyGirl15 was recently revisited by The Guardian and it is unclear whether the new video is related to this feature.

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“Nothing happened to me,” she says. “Everything was fine. I went through with the ceremony. Now that you have reached your 15 birthday, you too will be selected."

Rose has confirmed the video is part of a forthcoming LonelyGirl15 series. Speaking to Seventeen, she refused to reveal any details of plots. “There's a Snapchat channel that recently came out for one of the characters (handle: TheDBeast), and there's also a Facebook page and a website that people can interact with. But there are clues in the videos, the Snapchats will have clues, and the Facebook will have clues, so I can't say anything, because I might spoil it.”