Pastor Victor Kanyari has come clean about what drove his string of controversial TikTok live sessions.
He admitted that chasing views, keeping audiences hooked and receiving virtual gifts influenced what he said on the platform.
The Salvation Healing Ministry preacher made the admission during an interview on Radio Maisha, expressing genuine regret over how far things went and what it ultimately cost him in terms of public standing.
What did Kanyari say about his TikTok glory days?
At his peak, Kanyari was a fixture on TikTok’s late-night scene, hosting live sessions around midnight that pulled in enormous audiences and generated a steady flow of virtual gifts from followers.
He revelled in the status, describing himself at the time as the undisputed king of the platform.
“Kuna wakati nilikuwa the president of TikTok. Iyo wakati nilikuwa naongea vitu, ndo maana nilitoka TikTok,” he said.
But the preacher now recognises that the pressure to stay entertaining led him down a path he cannot fully walk back.
“Nilikuwa naingia saa sita usiku lakini sasa niko na views kama elfu kumi, lakini at the same time nimechoma kuchoma,” he admitted, acknowledging both the drop in viewership and the reputational damage he has suffered.
His live sessions attracted widespread criticism for content many considered deeply inappropriate coming from a man of the cloth.
Despite his decline, Kanyari admitted he still does not fully understand what made his content trend in the first place, and why that formula no longer seems to work for him.
“Mimi nashangaa, I don’t know hata saa hizi nitatrend tu mimi. Sijuangi ni nini nimesema na mbona mambo yangu hayatrend kama mambo yangu funny,” he said, sounding genuinely puzzled by his inability to replicate his earlier viral moments.
His current live sessions reportedly draw around 10,000 viewers, a significant fall from the numbers he commanded during his most active period on the platform. For a preacher who once positioned himself as TikTok royalty, the contrast is hard to ignore.
