'I'm 96 and have 15 million followers': The grannies taking over TikTok

At 96, Lillian Droniak has 15 million followers and pays her care home fees with brand deals. Known as Grandma Droniak, the Connecticut grandmother is part of a wave of older women finding unexpected fame on social media - and turning it into serious business.

Droniak went viral with her cheeky videos, but fame had its costs: her care home once threatened to evict her over a post, though they later reached a settlement that let her keep filming. Her grandson edits her sponsored content, which includes partnerships with food and beauty brands. "I always knew I had it in me to be famous, I just didn't think it would happen in my 90s," she says, adding she wants to show younger people that "it's not that bad to get old."

Across the Atlantic, 82-year-old Viv Truran has more than 800,000 followers for her daily outfit videos. She films twice a day from her bedroom-turned-studio and tracks her views in a notebook - she is now on book five. She does a couple of sponsored posts a month, favoring local brands and charities like Age UK: "I'm very picky about who I work with."

Then there is Grace Geramita, 85 - "the internet's Italian grandma" - whose cooking videos draw millions, and 77-year-old former teacher Barbara Costello, whose cookbook helped a university student learn to cook for herself and whose book signings bring back former pupils: "It's a full circle moment. I really can't believe this is my life."

Naomi Baker of influencer agency We Are Social says older creators appeal to brands and offer followers a kind of "virtual grandma" comfort. For these women, the message is the same: life does not stop at 90 - it can go viral.