Who is Bobbi Althoff? Why do people think she’s an industry plant? (2024)

Bobbi Althoff (@bobbialthoff) is the influencer-turned-podcast-host of “The Really Good Podcast” on YouTube, who some people are speculating may be an “industry plant.”

The 25-year-old mother-of-two recently interviewed singer Drake in an episode where the two appeared to be lounging in bed drinking wine. Althoff’s interview style is very casual, sarcastic and dry.

After the interview went viral, it left many people wondering who exactly Althoff was and how she secured an interview with Drake. In fact, Althoff seemed to appear on the podcast scene so suddenly that it even led some to speculate that she is an industry plant.

What is an industry plant?

An industry plant is someone who is meticulously planned, primed and launched by an industry to be a star. Unlike an organic artist, who may have a hit song and get discovered, an industry plant is someone industry leaders choose ahead of time and prep to be a “star.”

Any industry can have a plant. Althoff did not have a background in podcast hosting, so her sudden hosting gig and impressive first guests led some to speculate that she was a plant all along.

But while Twitter may have speculated about Althoff’s sudden success, some on the app also defended her, pointing out that the young content creator has actually been around for a long time.

Who is Bobbi Althoff?

Bobbi Althoff got her start as a TikTok influencer with an account that she has since shut down, primarily focused on parenting content. In her early videos, she often called herself a “40-year-old.” She even posted a video about why she doesn’t smile.

As a parenting influencer, her content includes videos about her “uneven” breasts — a common condition that can happen in breastfeeding parents — which she often jokes about.

Althoff’s shift into podcasting

Althoff has been open about her decision to shift out of mom content. In an interview with Teen Vogue, she described her decision to stop posting her children on TikTok and how she wanted to avoid having her children someday read mean comments about them on the internet. In fact, she nicknamed her two daughters “Richard” and “Concrete” to avoid using their real names on social media.

“Richard is not always going to be my little girl. She’s going to be a person,” Althoff told Teen Vogue. “I want her to have the opportunity to write her own story. I’ve decided to make it my job to entertain people but it’s not my kids’ job and I don’t want to make it their job.”

Althoff posted her first interview on her TikTok in April 2023 with actress Jenna Marshall from Pretty Little Liars, who Althoff jokingly referred to as an “extra” on the show.

The interview was set in the same style as her chat with Drake, featuring dry humor, sarcastic digs back and forth and what’s become her signature, intentionally paused-for-effect conversational approach.

“This may take a second to catch on but it’s going to take off,” one commenter predicted after watching the clip.

After her first interview with Marshall, Althoff continued posting increasingly awkward and sarcastic podcast interviews that were met with mixed reactions.

“I generally can’t tell if this is a sketch or a genuine moment in time,” one commenter pointed out.

Barstool Sports journalist looks into whether Althoff is a plant

Jack Mac (@jackmacbarstool), a journalist for Barstool Sports, did a deep dive into why he thinks Althoff is the real deal and not an industry plant.

Despite revealing that he very much believes that industry plants are real and “running amongst us,” Mac listed the three reasons why he thinks Althoff is not one of them:

1. She already had an online presence as a mom TikToker beginning in 2020.

2. In March 2023, Teen Vogue included Althoff in an article and described her as having 3.6 million followers on TikTok.

3. She got signed by WME, a legitimate and prestigious talent agency, the likes of signing with Mac likened to “getting into Harvard.”

“Nothing about Bobbi Althoff screams to me industry plant,” he said in summary. “It just seems like she is a great success story for one of the biggest talent agencies in the world to shift her content a little bit. She was doing a lot of ‘MomToks,’ and now she’s interviewing Drake. You know, that kinda works sometimes.”

“Like if something’s successful, they push it,” he added. “You want to know why? Because it makes them money. So yeah, stop saying that about Bobbi. Leave her alone.”

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