Gaming Superstar & ‘Masked Singer’ Competitor Tyler Blevins Reveals Melanoma Diagnosis
Tyler Blevins, the 32-year-old video gaming superstar and the “Ice Cream”-costumed competitor on The Masked Singer, has revealed a diagnosis of melanoma after a mole removed from his foot proved to be skin cancer.
Blevins, who competes under the name Ninja and has been described by The New York Times as the “multimillionaire face of the popular battle royale video game Fortnite,” posted a message on X/Twitter yesterday disclosing the diagnosis.
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“Alright I’m still in a bit of shock but want to keep you all updated,” wrote Blevins on his Ninja X/Twitter account. “A few weeks ago I went in to a dermatologist for an annual skin/mole check that [wife] Jess proactively scheduled for me. There was a mole on the bottom of my foot that they wanted to remove just to be careful.”
Blevins continued, “It came back as melanoma, but they are optimistic that we caught it in the early stages. I had another dark spot appear near it, so today they biopsied that and removed a larger area around the melanoma with the hopes that under the microscope they will see clear non-melanoma edges and we will know we got it.”
The gamer said he was “grateful to have hope in finding this early,” and encouraged his followers to “please take this as a PSA to get skin checkups.”
With 19 million Twitch followers, 12.4 million Instagram followers and 6.6 million on X, Blevins is one of the most famous competitors in video gaming. In 2019, he appeared as the character “Ice Cream” on Fox’s The Masked Singer. (See his reveal below.)
According to The Cleveland Clinic, melanoma accounts for only about 1% of all skin cancers (as opposed to the more common basal and squamous cell carcinomas), but causes the majority of skin cancer-related deaths. It’s one of the most common cancers in young people under 30, especially in young women. The Clinic says most skin cancers can be cured if caught early and treated before they have a chance to spread.
Alright I’m still in a bit of shock but want to keep you all updated. A few weeks ago I went in to a dermatologist for an annual skin/mole check that Jess proactively scheduled for me. There was a mole on the bottom of my foot that they wanted to remove just to be careful. It…
— Ninja (@Ninja) March 26, 2024
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