KUALA LUMPUR: ACTRESS and television host Noor Neelofa Mohd Noor has numerous popular awards sitting on the display rack in her office, proof that she has a huge fan base.
As the 28-year-old pointed out herself in a posting on her Twitter account, she has, to date, some 4.9 million followers on her Instagram account.
Neelofa wrote: “4.9m guys! We have come a long way together and thank you for being with me all the way here! Here’s to more fun times on IG! #ilofayou.”
This officially makes her the most popular local celebrity on Instagram, pushing the previous record holder actress Nora Danish, 35, a rank lower with a total of 4.8 million followers.
Nora has been holding the record as the Malaysian celebrity with the most followers since August 2014, which was when she hit the 1 million mark.
As for Neelofa, it is believed that the rise in her popularity started when the TV drama series she starred opposite 26-year-old actor Fattah Amin, Suri Hati Mr Pilot (directed by Michael Ang), aired in October last year.
It even prompted fans to coin the hashtag combining the name of the two stars, #lofattah. The on-and-off-screen romance between the two co-stars even drove fans wild, long after the show had ended.
When their relationship came to an end, the #lofattah fans could not move on; and when Ang came up with a new drama starring Fattah and 33-year-old Nur Fazura Sharifuddin, Neelofa’s name was still very much in the discussion among Netizens, this time comparing the two leading actresses.
Like the quote she posted last Friday on her Instagram account “See good in all things”, the silver lining to all the hoopla surrounding the recent controversies must have been one of the factors that contributed to the increase in the number of her followers on the social media platform.
Neelofa is filming a new TV drama series, also directed by Ang, titled Red Velvet.
In the 20-episode romantic comedy, she plays the leading female role opposite talented actor, singer and TV host Alif Satar, 26.