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Russian mum influencer breaks back trying Nicki Minaj stiletto challenge
The Straits Times
|August 08, 2025
Just eight weeks after giving birth, a 32-year-old Russian mum influencer tried the Nicki Minaj stiletto heel challenge that has taken TikTok by storm in recent weeks — and failed spectacularly.
She broke her back.
Yet, Ms Mariana Vasiuc said on social media it had all been worth it because it had, in a way, made her even more popular than if she had succeeded in the acrobatic act.
In a video she posted on Instagram on Aug 1 that had been seen more than 500,000 times and re-posted many times on TikTok, Ms Vasiuc can be seen trying to balance — while wearing high heels and staying cross-legged — on one foot on a tub of baby formula stacked on top of an overturned saucepan on a countertop.
Off to the side, someone is holding her right hand, as she holds another tub of baby formula with her other hand.
As soon as she lets go of the hand, however, she loses her balance and falls — back first — to one corner of the table.
This story is from the August 08, 2025 edition of The Straits Times.
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