Life no longer sweet for Candy - Social media star has fallen on hard times

A far cry from the glitz and glamour of social media fame, Candy says life is not always a 'wow'.

Candy, whose given name is Kerisha Brandon, first rose to fame in 2019 after a video of her dancing to Vybz Kartel's Come Home went viral on social media. Since then she has been known for her unfiltered personality and her infamous catchphrase 'Can I get a wow?' But Candy says fame has not equated to financial security in her life.

"Right now me nuh have nuh food, mi nuh have nothing. Mi child, she gone a school right now and me wah go di shop fi buy likkle foodstuff and me cyah do it. So more time me fed up."

Speaking with THE STAR, Candy shared that since her mother recently put her out, she has had to depend on a boyfriend to take care of her.

"Mi get di good care from him you know. From down here mi come up, look fi mi daughter and so forth. Mi mother turn ar back," she said. "Mi nah nuh money, mi a walk upon dung a look it." Candy, 31, says that while she has no idea how she will do it, she is hoping to make some money so that she can can build a house for her father.

"Mi have whole heap a plans, but is just money me nuh have. Build a nice, concrete house 'cause the one over yah a board house," she said. But her father, Derrick, has other plans.

"Di ting weh me woulda really wah she get is a house fi harself, but yuh cyah put har deh. Cah if you put har deh she a go walk out left it. Suh it nuh mek nuh sense you tell yuhself seh you a go put har somewhere," he said. But Candy replied, "If me doah stay deh, yuh nuh can stay deh."

"Sometime mi worry 'bout har, but me done know she can take care a harself. So me nuh need fi ova deh 100 like mi a worry every day, cah she will make me stress out," Derrick said.

Regardless of the financial difficulties she is facing, Candy has not lost even an ounce of her personality.

"Yes, me a star, me a one in a million. Mi still have life. Nuh matter how me mother throw me out, mi nah dead. Mi nah mek chu dat get me dung. No stress. Jus hol' on pon God," she said.