A Maltese woman who started a TikTok account to keep her two children entertained during the pandemic has taken the video-sharing platform by storm, racking up millions of views.

When Theresa Anna Cachia opened up the app and created her account in March, her aim was to produce a funny video to distract her children stuck indoors.

Just three months later, the 36-year-old who posts under the profile name tereza1783 has proven to be a hit on the platform popular with teenagers, and has been entertaining millions with her dances, lipsyncing and challenges.

Her most popular video – a clip of Theresa performing the chicken dance – has been viewed more than eight million times since she uploaded it in May.

“It started as a joke in all honesty,” Theresa told Times of Malta.

“We were sitting quietly at home and it seemed like a fun thing to experiment with, a break from monotony.”

I like being funny and creative, I take pleasure in making people laugh

Another video features Theresa clutching a bottle of wine, lip syncing over audio from an iconic episode of the television series Friends, in which David Schwimmer’s character Ross insists he is fine while appearing visibly upset. 

Posting two to three times a day, she says that her simple videos have evolved to include more props and edits to keep her growing audience of 40,000 fans entertained.

“I like being funny and creative, I take pleasure in making people laugh, TikTok is just a new way to express it,” she says.

The feedback from her videos has been overwhelmingly positive and she has since started a Facebook page to make her videos accessible to a wider audience.

Her positive attitude was formed from a painful event, however.

“Five months ago my mother unfortunately passed away and while it was devastating, I felt like I only had two options – let myself wallow in sadness, or pull myself up and try to make the best out of a bad situation,” she says.  “At that time, I felt I needed someone to get me to laugh. I feel the value much stronger than before of stumbling across something, as silly as it may be.”

Currently on leave from work, Theresa says that while she won’t have as much time to dedicate to TikTok when she returns, she doesn’t plan on abandoning the platform and hopes to continue posting often.

“I never say no to an opportunity,” she says. “If people are enjoying it then why not?”