Who is Ninja, the gaming streamer cleared of cancer aged 32?

'Ninja', one of the world's most popular video game streamers, has revealed he is cancer-free after previously describing how he had found a mole that turned out to be a melanoma.

The Twitch streamer, whose real name is Tyler Blevins, previously revealed to fans on X (formerly Twitter) that he had skin cancer after a mole found during a routine appointment tested positive for skin cancer.

Now the 32-year-old has revealed he is officially cancer-free, nearly a week after announcing his diagnosis.

He wrote on X: "Just got the news from my dermatologist," wrote Ninja on Thursday, April 4. "Great news x 2! Excision was successful with clear margins. Lesion biopsied nearby showed only mild atypia and was entirely removed with the biopsy. As of right now, I am officially cancer free ^_^ thank you all for the prayers and kind words this last week."

Ninja had previously described how he had a dark spot appear, prompting his wife, Jessica Blevins, to book an annual mole check with their dermatologist. She said the 'silver lining' to her husband's diagnosis was that it would raise awareness.

In a previous post on X, Ninja said he was grateful his melanoma was found early and urged people to see their doctors for a checkup.

Fans and other streamers sent their well wishes to Ninja. Streamer SypherPK wrote, "Hoping for the best. Lots of love to Jess for being proactive as well." CouRage also replied to his tweet and said, "Love you brother. Praying for you."

Another fan said they booked an appointment and replied to his tweet with, "just booked mine". Another fan said: "Glad it was caught early. Wishing you all the best and come back healthy!"

Who is Ninja?

Ninja has 19 million followers on Twitch, making him the most followed streamer on the platform. His streaming career started in 2011 when he played Halo competitively.

He revealed in a Reddit AMA that he started streaming to support himself financially, and began playing more popular games like Fortnite because his brother suggested he would get more viewers from doing so.

Now he plays Fortnite in most of his streams, but he has also played other popular games such as Among Us and Minecraft. His most viewed stream on Twitch – with 7 million views – is from five months ago.

Ninja launched a podcast in September 2023 called "AFK w/ Ninja," which airs two episodes a week. For one episode a week, he interviews people from across the entertainment industry, including fellow streamers like Basicallyidowrk and sometimes musicians like Steve Aoki.

The last episode of AFK w/ Ninja was published yesterday, and it is a rerun of an episode first published last year September titled 'The true meaning behind AFK and why I started this podcast'.

Blevins is based in Chicago, Illinois, where he lives with his wife, Jessica. They met at a Halo tournament in 2010 and tied the knot in 2017. Jessica was Ninja's manager and oversaw his team until 2022. She was also a streamer in her own right, though her last video on social media was either months ago. Jessica told CNBC she was making $250,000 (£198,000) a year from not only streaming but also as Ninja's manager.

In a 2021 interview with the New York Times, Ninja said he makes $500,000 a month from streaming. He told CNN that, in 2018, he had made close to $10m. He temporarily stepped away from Twitch in 2019 when he signed exclusively with Mixer, Microsoft's competitor. But he later returned to Twitch in 2020 when Mixer closed down to partner with Meta's Facebook Gaming.