Who is Ballerina Farm influencer Hannah Neeleman – and why is she angry at a British newspaper? The mum-of-8 gave up ballet for rural life in Utah and is married to the son of JetBlue’s founder
- Hannah Neeleman has spoken of her shock at reading a profile of herself in The Times, which dubbed her ‘queen of the trad wives’ and which she felt portrayed her as ‘oppressed’
- But even as the Utah-based mum-of-8 continues to spark debate online, the Neeleman family’s Ballerina Farm social accounts only keep growing – with more than 21 million followers to date
When Hannah Neeleman – an influencer known for her Ballerina Farm social media accounts and aesthetic lifestyle in Utah – finished her interview with the Times of London, she said she felt it had gone well.
“We were taken [aback], however, when we saw the printed article,” she explained to her followers in a post on Instagram. “It shocked us, and shocked the world by being an attack on my family and my marriage, portraying me as oppressed with my husband being the culprit.”
So who is Hannah Neeleman, and how did her seemingly ordinary family become embroiled in widespread controversy?
Hannah Neeleman’s early life
“Dance was my first love. I wanted to be the best,” she shares on the “about us” page of her website. “My brothers still joke that all the profits from the flower shop were funnelled into paying for my pointe shoes and ballet lessons. This is probably true.”
To cover her tuition, she competed in scholarship pageants – beauty contests that offered academic scholarships or tuition money to winners – securing Miss Springville/Mapleton in 2008 and runner-up in Miss New York City in 2010.
How did Hannah Neeleman meet her husband?
