Grandmother, 95, hailed as a 'national treasure' for 'perfect' viral video about her collectable toys
Brenda Allen, who resides in a Majesticare Luxury Care Homes branch in Evesham, has been hailed a 'national treasure' after she went online to speak about her quirky, cuddly toys, with some people even going as far as to say they would 'die for Brenda and her Jellycats'.
The soft plushies are available in an array of shapes, characters, and objects, from bunny rabbits to surf boards and are particularly popular with Gen Z and Millennial women who are splashing their cash to build up their collections.
The 95-year-old was encouraged by one of the carers at the home to make a TikTok video, with the employee saying: 'This is my resident Brenda and she wants to show you her Jellycat collection and you better be nice!'
And it wasn't long before Brenda was showing off her adorable stuffed avocado named Florence. The pensioner said: ''This is my avocado... this is the first one I've had and she has a knitted hat... she's got a pom pom hat so she's a little girl.'
Her haul also included a green peas in a pod, two birds and a cute smiling pain au chocolat Jellycats.
She added: 'Now anyone would think I've been to France because this is what they call a pain au chocolat, and that's French, and I learnt French at school, so I like him. He's got chocolate going all the way through him.
By the end of the short clip, Brenda had mastered the art of comedic timing, joking that her mushroom toy was a 'very fun guy'.
The TikTok amassed more than a whopping 2.4 million views on TikTok, with users from around the world hailing Brenda a 'legend', with some asking to see more clips of her speaking about the collectable toys.
One wrote: 'French lady here. Very proud of sweet Brenda for pronouncing 'pain au chocolat' so perfectly. Lovely Jellycat collection as well!'
Another penned: 'I bet Brenda was a teacher - she is giving teacher energy.'
A third said: 'I'd die for Brenda and her jellycats.'
A fourth commented: 'Brenda is a legend. She needs to record some bedtime stories. Her voice is so soothing.'
Others were even tagging the official Jellycat account in the comments to try to ensure that Brenda was on their radar.
And it worked, with Jellycat eventually responding: 'We absolutely loved watching your Jellycat collection Brenda! Thanks for being an amazing Jellyfriend.'
John Lewis also chimed in and said: 'Protect Brenda at all costs. And her Jellycats.'
The department store, Jellycat and kind strangers then surprised her with an array of new additions for her growing collection of stuffed toys.
Brenda - who has had her videos re-posted by Love Island stars - unboxed a latte cup from John Lewis, to which she said: 'Isn't that lovely?'
'Overwhelmed' with the level of love and support on her videos, she also revealed that she's going to continue collecting the cuddly plushies with the plan of selling them to raise money for charity.
When she received another parcel from the Jellycat team, she gasped as she unboxed a yellow sunflower toy, a blue bunny and a bumble bee.
'I want to take [the bunny] to bed,' Brenda said, before one of the carers responded: 'Well you can, you can sleep with him every night!'
She also then received another package from a fan named Anna, who came across Brenda's video and wanted to spread some joy.
She sent the grandmother a treasure chest with some stickers and wrote: 'Brenda, as you're our new national treasure on TikTok, I hope you enjoy adding this treasure chest to your collection, lots of love, Anna.'
'Thank you to all you lovely ladies who sent me some Jellycats following my little talk about them and now I've got a collection that people have sent and I am so grateful for it and I'm sure [I will put them] to a good cause.'
Brenda said that she initially only had the avocado one for a long time but had racked up more and more gradually when she received them as gifts. It wasn't long after the first video was posted that the care home started getting people calling up wanting to send more Jellycats to Brenda.
Speaking to the Guardian, Brenda said: 'One of the girls asked me to do a video. I didn't know what it was for, really. She just said would I do a little video for her about jelly cats? So I said yes, and it's gone from there. It's gone mad. I've had some lovely messages. Everyone thinks I have a nice voice, apparently.'
However, while the care home resident appears to be flattered by her online stardom, she doesn't want her fame to continue for much longer.
She added: 'I don't want to keep it on too long, I'm 95, you know.'
Her daughter, Julie, said the family had been 'blown away' by her cult following, telling the outlet: 'We don't quite understand it, but it's amazing and it's lovely.'
Brenda is now planning on using her internet stardom for good by auctioning off her Jellycat toys to donate the money to a local children's hospice.
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