Will Dancing with the Stars make Peloton instructor Cody Rigsby a mainstream celebrity?

BuzzFeed News

Many social media influencers are treated like a sideshow, struggling to become stars on TV and in the movies. "Many creators have had success in Hollywood," says Stephanie McNeal. "Addison Rae is probably the one who has gotten the furthest so far, with the recent release of her film He’s All That and subsequent Netflix deal. Despite many other Hollywood projects from online creators tending to end in drama (Jake Paul getting kicked off the Disney channel), fall flat (Lilly Singh’s talk show), or be treated more like a sideshow or fan service rather than serving a mainstream audience (The D’Amelio Show), it seems like Addison could actually have a promising Hollywood career. However, I’m gonna argue there’s a dark horse for the title of the online celeb with the potential for the most mainstream success: Cody Rigsby from Peloton. My prediction is buoyed by the announcement this week that Cody will appear on the harbinger of true American fame, Dancing With the Stars. I know what you are thinking: Cody is not an internet celebrity! To that I say, how is he not? Going back to my musings above, is he not primarily building his brand via social media? The man has nearly 900,000 Instagram followers and a sponsorship deal with Capital One. And isn’t Peloton in many ways a social community, based primarily on the internet? Yeah, I know right. Mind blown. But why would Cody have more mainstream success than, say, Addison Rae? I believe Cody has the potential to reach a much larger audience than most internet celebrities. Unfortunately, years into the creator economy, many of its biggest stars are still treated as a sideshow. When influencers are discussed in the tabloids or given big brand deals, you always get the sense the powers that be are placating the teenagers they imagine are their fans. Cody, however, has broad mainstream appeal because his fan base doesn’t fit into this, albeit largely incorrect, box that people assume influencers draw."