YouTube star Ms Rachel's life off-screen - mega net worth and forced break

11 November 2023 , 09:30

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Rachel has become a huge YouTube sensation (Image: @msrachelforlittles)

When she swapped her blackboard, chalk and pen for lights, camera, action, former teacher Rachel Griffin Accurso had no idea how much her life was going to change. The 42-year-old mum has made a new career for herself as an online educator, songwriter and social media personality who is helping to develop the language skills of toddlers and infants through educational music videos on YouTube, TikTok, Instagram and Facebook.

Engaging children through fun nursery rhymes and video singalongs, Msrachel.com now has more than 6.13 million subscribers. The mum started her channel back in 2019 because she couldn't find suitable resources for her son who had a speech delay and didn't speak his first word until he was two years old.

Over the last few years, her YouTube series, Songs for Littles, has become world famous. Despite the social media star’s popularity, it’s been a tough year for the former teacher who announced earlier this year she was temporarily stepping away from social media for the sake of her mental health. Here, The Mirror takes a look at her life away from the spotlight...

Composer husband

Rachel is married to Broadway music director and composer Aron Accurso and left teaching in 2019 to be with her son who is now four-years-old. The influencer has two master’s degrees in education - one in early childhood development and one in music education. and is studying for a master's in education while making content for her channel.

Her husband helps create the content and collaborates on writing the music and skits, editing and helping with everything else including the performing puppets. Aron has several adult musicals in development including The Dogs of Pripyat, Seeing Red with Joey Mazzarino (from Sesame Street) and loves writing choral music.

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Rachel is married to Broadway music director and composer Aron Accurso (@msrachelforlittles)

Net worth

Although Rachel grew up in Maine, she now records her videos from the family’s New York apartment. As of August 2023, Ms Rachel had a net worth of $8.24 million, according to Celebrity Net Worth. She is an advocate for children’s rights and works to ensure that all children have access to high quality early childhood education. She is also an ambassador for Save the Children and Room to Grow.

Backlash and trolling

The influencer faced backlash from some parents on TikTok earlier this year who slammed her content as "inappropriate" because it featured her co-star, Jules Hoffman, a musician who uses they/them pronouns. The use of they/them pronouns on her videos kicked off a debate when one TikTok user posted a video with the caption, "When Miss Rachel introduces they/them/their pronouns so you have to stop watching her,” resulting in nearly 5,000 comments.

Jules is a New York City-based singer songwriter who has worked in many musical genres and co-stars on many of Ms Rachel’s videos. In a TikTok video, mama_burg said she "had to stop watching" Rachel's content because she "introduces they/them/their pronouns."

She is reportedly worth more than $8m (@msrachelforlittles)

Then a few months later, Rachel suffered negativity again when a troll commented on a video she posted on Instagram saying she should lose weight and try to be prettier. In response to the comments, Rachel posted: "Finishing my second masters in education while someone comments I've gained weight and should lose weight and try to be prettier if I'm going to have a show teaching toddlers."

Thankfully, the comments were attacked by the mum’s many followers with one writing: "Your body is nobody’s business. Thank you for teaching kids what REALLY matters - kindness, empathy, helping others, being a good human. And just know…it’s THEIR own insecurities they’re projecting on you, nothing to do with you."

Jackie Annett