Gladys Berejiklian Has Become TikTok’s New Hero And It’s Utter Chaos

I regret to inform you that TikTok has lost it, and has reached the “stanning Gladys Berejiklian” stage of lockdown.

Yes. Just like Dan Andrews had his moment last year with memes about Melbourne’s lockdown taking over TikTok, Sydneysiders have decided that it’s the NSW Premier’s turn to have her cursed and chaotic moment to shine on the app.

my whole tiktok fyp is about gladys berejiklian i can’t do this :,)

— enna ♡’s jersey (@Iivscardigan) June 28, 2021

With the majority of NSW stuck in lockdown as the Delta variant of COVID-19 spreads throughout the community, people on TikTok have started to develop Stockholm Syndrome with Gladys Berejiklian.

Crowning Gladys the ultimate #GirlBoss for her handling of the new wave of coronavirus sweeping over Sydney, TikTok has been flooded with fancams of the Premier, who has concerningly been nicknamed ‘Daddy Gladdy’ — and I wish I were joking.

People have become particularly excited by the reliable 11am updates TikTok’s new hero delivers daily without fail.

Perhaps this excitement comes from Sydneysiders slowly losing their minds from the mundanity of a two-week lockdown or maybe it’s just that Gladys Berejiklian’s face genuinely brings people comfort as we’re 18 months into a pandemic. Whatever it is, getting to see the NSW Premier at 11am every day has become a bonding opportunity for those stuck in lockdown.

“Getting to see what state she is in each day is genuinely so entertaining,” one person shared.

“Literally the highlight. My day is broken up into two parts. Pre-Gladys and Post-Gladys,” said another.

These TikToks come at a time where Sydneysiders are trying to find any little bits of joy they can during lockdown. It’s something we’ve seen with people playing “COVID bingo” in livestream comments before the Premier speaks at her daily press conference.

“Red jacket, black pants, 24,” comments read on the NSW Health Facebook page. “Pink Oodie, 78 cases.”

“Good morning everyone, blue with 25 cases,” others add. “Gloves, green jacket, 28 cases.”

Sure, people taking bets on what colour jacket Gladys might wear or the number of cases she might announce may seem slightly bonkers. But when people are stuck at home waiting to hear any depressing updates about a pandemic that’s still ravaging a severely under-vaccinated country 18 months in, it’s all just a bit of fun to pass the time.

Really at this point in the pandemic, with only a mere 7.3 percent of the Australian population vaccinated, the only thing anyone can do is laugh. And in Gladys Berejiklian’s defence, enforcing a lockdown to try and keep the spread of coronavirus under control was the right #Girlboss decision to make.

I mean, it should’ve happened right when the Delta strain entered the community, and information around the new wave should’ve been way clearer from the start, but better late than never, right?

It’s clear that this whole “stanning Daddy Gladdy” thing is just one big pisstake designed to make light of the current stay-at-home orders plaguing NSW — a state that has been pretty good at avoiding major lockdowns up until this point.

In fact, some people are even jokingly thanking Gladys Berejiklian for enforcing lockdown orders because it’s had a positive impact on their lives. Like ruining plans people never wanted to go to in the first place or giving people an excuse to stay home in PJs all day long.

So everyone say thank you to Daddy Gladdy for all her hard work.