Colleen Ballinger, the YouTube star who made a name for herself via her hopeless alter-ego Miranda Sings, is pregnant! The comedian-singer-writer broke the news via social media in May, and fans who’ve followed her closely through the years know the announcement carries special significance. Learn about her previous attempts to build a family, and find out more about her baby daddy (aka Colleen Ballinger’s husband), Erik Stocklin.
Who Is Erik Stocklin?
Stocklin, a 38-year-old New Jersey native, is an actor who’s had recurring roles on ABC’s Mistresses and CBS’s Stalker. He’s also appeared in The Vampire Diaries, Bones, and Criminal Minds.
According to his IMDb page, his most recent projects include the TV movie Alive, starring Ryan Phillippe, and the Freeform series Good Trouble.
But Ballinger fell in love with more than his acting skills. In June 2018, she gushed about her husband in an interview with People.
“Erik’s so wonderful,” she said. “I’ve never been treated so amazing. He treats me like a princess… Every morning he brings me breakfast in bed and he brings me my vitamins. He gives me shoulder rubs every night. And brings me presents. He is my biggest cheerleader and just the best partner in the world. I feel lucky.”
Colleen Ballinger Met Her Husband On The Set Of ‘Haters Back Off’
Ballinger didn’t exactly heed the common advice of not mixing work with pleasure. She met Stocklin when he played her best friend and love interest Patrick in the series Haters Back Off! The comedy, which essentially served as Miranda Sings’ origin story, ran for two seasons on Netflix between 2016 and 2017.
“It really was just a friendship story that turned into more,” Ballinger said in a 2018 vlog. “And we’re very much in love and very much the happiest people ever.”
The couple initially kept things quiet for various reasons.
“He is not an Internet person. He’s not a YouTuber. He’s not a social media star. And he’s really terrified of the Internet,” she said, “…but I can’t hide it anymore.”
Stocklin is Ballinger’s second husband. She was previously wed to fellow YouTuber Joshua Evans, aka JoshuaDTV, but the marriage only lasted a year.
Even though Haters Back Off! is no longer in production, Ballinger and Stocklin continue to collaborate on projects. They currently co-host the podcast Relax! With Colleen and Erik, and in less than a year they’ve attracted over 184,000 subscribers on YouTube.
The Two Tied The Knot In 2018
Ballinger and Stocklin married in a secret ceremony in 2018. Ballinger casually shared the news in a YouTube video, leaving fans shocked.
“Yeah, we got married,” she said. “Whoops, forgot to tell you that one!”
It capped off a very busy year for the entertainer, who was already carrying her Stocklin’s child and said yes to a recent proposal.
“He’d been planning it for so long and we’ve been talking for so long about getting married and having kids, but then this happened first,” Ballinger said. “He was like, ‘I don’t want you to think that I did this for any other reason other than that I love you so much.’ It was so sweet.”
Colleen Ballinger And Erik Stocklin Are Expecting Twins
Ballinger gave birth to her first child, son Flynn, in December 2018. She became pregnant again a few years later but suffered a miscarriage.
“It made me so excited to be pregnant, excited to meet that baby, so losing that was devastating,” she said in a February 2021 vlog. “Immediately, Erik and I knew this was something we wanted in our lives. We knew that we immediately wanted to start trying to have another baby.”
Ballinger successfully conceived months later, but the experience was fraught with anxiety. In May, she experienced bleeding and was convinced that she was having another miscarriage. When she was checked out by a doctor, she was surprised by the results. It turned out her body was trying to rid itself of a polyp—but that wasn’t all.
“We do an ultrasound and she goes, ‘You’re not having a miscarriage. You’re having twins,'” said Ballinger. “In a matter of 10 seconds I went from I’m having another loss … to I’m having twins.”
She said the pregnancy is referred to as dichorionic diamniotic, which means the couple won’t know if the little ones are fraternal or identical twins until they’re born.
Ballinger is due in December—we’re thrilled for her and Stocklin and can’t wait to see the baby pics that follow!