Honestly, if you were one of the millions of people watching the Jake Paul vs. Mike Tyson fight on Netflix, you probably remember one thing clearly. It wasn't the boxing. It was the blonde ring girl who seemingly appeared out of thin air and took over every social media feed in existence within twenty minutes.
That girl is Sydney Thomas.
She became an overnight celebrity in a way that feels very 2024. One minute she’s walking around a ring in Arlington, Texas, and the next, she’s being compared to Sydney Sweeney and gaining 500,000 followers while she sleeps. But here’s the thing: most people just see the viral photos. They don't know she was actually a full-time student at the University of Alabama during that entire whirlwind.
People kept searching for a Sydney Thomas high school link or some kind of deep backstory. The truth is way more interesting than just a viral moment.
The "Pretty Blonde" Myth and the 33 ACT
There is this super annoying stereotype that if you’re a model or a ring girl, you’re basically just a pretty face with nothing going on upstairs. Sydney has been pretty vocal about shutting that down. In one of her TikToks that went semi-viral, she straight-up told her followers that she scored a 33 on her ACT.
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For context? That puts her in the top 1% of high school students nationally.
She didn't just coast through some random high school experience. While she hasn't publicly name-dropped her specific private or public high school to keep some level of privacy, we know she grew up in Missouri. She spent a lot of her childhood on her grandfather's farm. It’s a weird contrast—one day you’re dealing with cattle and "small-town America" vibes, and the next you’re signed to Creative Artists Agency (CAA) and appearing on global broadcasts.
University of Alabama: Doing it in Three
While the internet was busy obsessing over her outfit at the AT&T Stadium, Sydney was actually grinding through a degree in Management with a focus in Entrepreneurship.
- She graduated in May 2025.
- She finished her four-year degree in only three years.
- She maintained her status as an MLB cheerleader for the St. Louis Cardinals throughout.
It's kinda wild when you think about it. Most college students are struggling to show up to an 8:00 AM Lit class. She was balancing sorority life (which she actually got kicked out of—more on that in a second), a professional cheerleading career, and a modeling gig that turned her into a household name.
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Why She Was Kicked Out of Her Sorority
This is the part that most "official" biographies skip over because it's a bit messy. Shortly after she started at Alabama, she was actually dropped from her sorority.
The reason? Apparently, her modeling and social media presence didn't "align" with the sorority’s traditional image. It’s a classic case of old-school institutions clashing with the new-school creator economy. Honestly, looking at her career now, getting kicked out was probably the best thing that could have happened. It gave her the freedom to build a brand that eventually caught the eye of Most Valuable Promotions.
Life After the Ring: 2026 and Beyond
We are now into 2026, and the "viral ring girl" tag is starting to fade, replaced by a legitimate business career. Sydney isn't just taking selfies. She has leaned hard into her Social Media Marketing Specialist role. She’s literally using her own platforms as a case study for the entrepreneurship degree she just earned.
She’s also had to navigate some pretty heavy stuff behind the scenes. She lost her mother during her college years, which is something she’s cited as a major motivator for her work ethic. It’s easy to look at a 15-second clip of someone holding a round card and think their life is easy. It rarely is.
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What Most People Get Wrong About Her Fame
The biggest misconception is that the Netflix fight was her "big break" out of nowhere.
In reality, she was already working. She was interviewing players on the big screen at Busch Stadium for the Cardinals long before the Tyson fight. She was already building a portfolio. The Netflix event was just the match that lit the fuse on a pile of gunpowder she’d been stacking for years.
Actionable Insights for the "Next" Viral Star
If you're looking at Sydney Thomas as a blueprint for how to handle sudden fame, there are a few things you can actually learn from her trajectory:
- Get the Paperwork Done: She didn't drop out when she got famous. She accelerated. Having a degree in entrepreneurship gives her leverage when she’s negotiating brand deals with huge companies.
- Control the Narrative: Instead of letting haters call her "just a model," she lead with her ACT scores and her academic stats. It changes the conversation immediately.
- Diversify Your Income: She didn't just stay a ring girl. She’s an MLB cheerleader, a marketing specialist, and a high-end model. If one industry tanks, she has three others.
- Stay Grounded in Your Roots: She still talks about the farm and her family. In a world of fake influencers, that "Midwest girl" persona is actually a huge asset for brand loyalty.
Sydney Thomas is basically the poster child for the modern influencer—someone who is academically overqualified for the job people think they have, but smart enough to use that job to build a literal empire.
Check out her latest updates on TikTok or Instagram to see how she’s transitioning her management degree into a full-scale media brand this year. If you're following her journey, keep an eye on her LinkedIn; that's where the real business moves are happening behind the scenes.