A young woman streaming upbeat, lighthearted content in Twitch’s Just Chatting category is hardly unusual. What is unusual is managing to rise above the noise, and Emily “ExtraEmily” Zhang is one of the few who genuinely has. In just a few years, she’s become one of the platform’s most recognizable female creators, growing a huge audience and earning broad recognition along the way.
With The Streamer Awards 2025 coming up, here’s a closer look at ExtraEmily’s background and the key milestones that shaped her rise in livestreaming.
Who is ExtraEmily?
ExtraEmily, whose real name is Emily Xuechun Zhang, is an American streamer born in January 1998. Her parents immigrated to the United States from China, and she grew up in Omaha, Nebraska.
In 2016, Emily enrolled at Columbia University in New York City to study Financial Engineering, where she also joined the Tau Colony of the Asian-interest sorority Kappa Phi Lambda. She excelled academically throughout her time at Columbia, graduating magna cum laude in 2020. Emily also received the Outstanding Student Service Award in Industrial Engineering and Operations Research, recognizing both her academic performance and her contributions to the university community.
ExtraEmily during her trip to China / Photo: instagram.com/extra.emily
After graduating, ExtraEmily moved from Nebraska to New York City and took a job at a local bank. Around the same time, in April 2020, she created her ExtraEmily channel on Twitch and began her first broadcasts. On March 23, 2021, she officially became a Twitch Partner — a major milestone for any creator.
ExtraEmily on Twitch: Early days and rapid rise
ExtraEmily’s early days on Twitch were centered around gaming streams, especially Wii Sports and other Nintendo Wii titles like Super Mario 64. A major boost during this period came from her friend Nicro, a fellow Twitch streamer who already had a small, loyal following. His raids played a key role in helping ExtraEmily’s channel gain its first real traction and build an initial audience.
As her channel grew, ExtraEmily leaned further into IRL content, putting together off-beat marathons and playful challenges that routinely caught fire online. One of her early breakout moments came in April 2022, when she used a tiny camera to “explore” her own ears and belly button live on stream. It was weird, funny and unmistakably her, and the clip spread fast on social media, pulling in tens of thousands of views and introducing her to an even larger audience.
Behind-the-scenes IRL content / Photo: esports.gg
ExtraEmily’s viral clips soon caught the attention of creators within the One True King (OTK) community. Following this, Matthew “Mizkif” Rinaudo invited her onto his game show OTK Schooled, a school-themed competition loosely inspired by ‘Are You Smarter Than a 5th Grader?’, where contestants answer questions from different grade levels.
Emily ended up winning the show. Her victory came with a $50,000 prize and an invitation to visit Mizkif and the entire OTK team in Austin, Texas. The exposure proved massive for her career: within just three months, her Twitch channel skyrocketed from roughly 25,000 followers to more than 80,000.
ExtraEmily in a signature OTK hoodie / Photo: x.com/extraemilyy
Over the following months, ExtraEmily continued appearing in joint streams with the One True King crew, and in January 2023 she officially became a full member of the organization. Despite her growing popularity, she stayed true to her signature style — chaotic, playful and delightfully weird IRL content. Her audience especially loved her Wall-a-thon, where she duct-taped herself to a wall and let friends pelt her with water balloons. In another stream, she buried herself up to her neck in a barrel of compost, pretending to be a happy plant. And once, she even dove into a kiddie pool filled entirely with breakfast cereal. Clips from her antics consistently pulled strong numbers on Twitch and went viral on platforms like TikTok, helping her channel grow even faster.
Naturally, ExtraEmily’s content stirred plenty of debate within the streaming community. She attracted both devoted fans and vocal critics. Many viewers admired her relaxed, creative approach, while others dismissed her streams as “cringe content.”
At the same time, fellow streamers often praised her for taking an informal, fearless approach to IRL content, applauding her willingness to experiment and push boundaries in entertaining ways.
One of ExtraEmily’s first standout achievements came on October 20, 2023, during TwitchCon in Las Vegas, when she was immortalized as the global Twitch emote “TwitchConHYPE”. The emote originated from one of her famously bizarre streams, where she buried herself in a trash bin filled with mulch, leaving only her head visible — a moment that perfectly captured her quirky and unpredictable style.
ExtraEmily and controversies
While opinions on ExtraEmily’s content vary, she’s never been accused of toxic behavior or deliberately chasing attention through scandals. That said, she has occasionally found herself in controversial situations. One notable example occurred during an IRL stream when she was driving and accidentally ran a red light.
Although ExtraEmily’s actions were clearly unintentional, many viewers were unhappy with her seemingly dismissive reaction to the incident. Someone reported the stream to Twitch, and the platform temporarily banned her channel for nearly a full day.
ExtraEmily runs a red light while looking at her phone
— yeet (@Awk20000) April 12, 2025
“In Austin..the stoplights here are really long..usually I just go past..it’s fine”
pic.twitter.com/yIRuOlnxeD
After the 2025 ban, she made her return with a driving school stream, where she took lessons from OTK producer Jacob Gregory, turning the controversy into a humorous and educational moment for her audience.
Another notable incident took place in early 2025, when ExtraEmily was helping Mizkif tidy up his room. She accidentally came across a gun case and jokingly pointed it at him on stream. Many viewers deemed the act unsafe and called for consequences, but Twitch decided not to ban her channel this time.
A major community drama erupted over Emily’s relationship with her parents. During one stream, she revealed that her parents had spent roughly $170,000 (some reports say $140,000) on her college education, but she wasn’t planning to pay them back because “they don’t need it.” Her father later made a joking comment about the situation, which only fueled further discussion.
The remarks sparked widespread debate and gave her critics yet another opportunity to attack her online. Shortly afterward, ExtraEmily clarified that she had actually repaid the money, and urged fans not to take her father’s playful trolling too seriously or to speculate about it on social media.
Emily’s fans rallied to her defense, arguing that some people simply enjoy prying into others’ private lives. However, the situation escalated when ExtraEmily started issuing DMCA takedown notices on Twitter against accounts that shared clips about the controversy, further fueling the discussion.
ExtraEmily has often found herself at the center of controversy simply because some viewers reacted strongly to her comments. For instance, during a joint stream with Hasan “HasanAbi” Piker, she revealed that she keeps a spreadsheet tracking rankings and details about her sexual partners. The revelation immediately triggered backlash from some critics, while other streamers noted that there’s nothing inherently unusual about it — though topics like this are generally better kept private.
Despite these controversies, ExtraEmily steadily climbed the ranks to become one of Twitch’s most popular streamers. Her channel quickly attracted a large audience, and her accomplishments earned recognition not only from fellow creators but also from organizers of major streaming competitions.
Recognition within the streaming community
Emily teamed up with Emily Beth “Emiru” Schunk to announce an in-person show called “Always On Connected By AT&T.” The duo highlighted AT&T’s network while participating in various activities throughout the year. The show proved to be a major success and was subsequently renewed for a second season.
Emiru and ExtraEmily collaborating on content
Another major milestone came when Emily co-hosted the red carpet at the annual The Streamer Awards, alongside fellow streamers Connor Marc “CDawgVA” Colquhoun and Will Neff. At the event, she was nominated for a total of six awards — three individual, one organizational, and two collaborative — more than anyone else that year. Emily went on to win The Streamer Awards 2024 in the category “League Of Their Own”.
In May 2025, Emily was invited to participate as a Professor in Kai Cenat’s four-day event, Streamer University. Out of 137 participating creators, she ranked 7th for most-viewed streams, totaling 42 hours and 1.02 million views. Her efforts were recognized at the closing ceremony, where she received the “Engagement Guru” certificate. Reflecting on the experience, Emily called it the “best weekend of my life”.
In addition to her usual IRL content, ExtraEmily began hosting gaming streams and marathon sessions. Her most notable event came in August 2025, when she teamed up with Din “Agent00” Muktar for a Elden Ring Co-Op Marathon. The playthrough was anything but smooth — the duo racked up over 1,440 deaths before finally defeating the final boss, creating a hilarious and memorable experience for viewers.
ExtraEmily viewership statistics
In 2025, ExtraEmily’s channel surpassed 15.6 million hours watched, making it the third-highest among female Twitch streamers, trailing only Emiru and Ironmouse, and placing 73rd overall on the platform. In May, she set a new personal record for peak concurrent viewers, drawing 55,739 fans during her Streamer University broadcast.
Most watched female streamer on Twitch
Today, ExtraEmily continues to be one of Twitch’s top trendsetters. She regularly appears in shows and events, collaborates with other popular streamers, and serves as a key figure in the OTK community. For detailed statistics on her channel’s performance, you can check out her profile on Stream Charts.
