Ms. Rachel Almost Didn’t See a DM From Her Fan Rihanna: ‘Do You Know Who This Is?’

Ms. Rachel has a lot of celebrity admirers, apparently, but she almost missed a personal message from one of her biggest A-list fans: Rihanna.

Ms. Rachel (real name Rachel Accurso), 42, stopped by Kylie Kelce’s “Not Gonna Lie” podcast for the Thursday, August 7, episode — and she revealed Rihanna, 37, slid into her DMs.

“I am elderly, or elder millennial it’s called, so I’m not amazing with Instagram,” Ms. Rachel explained to Kelce, 33, who is also a fan of the educator’s “Songs for Littles” page. “So I didn’t know about the requests and top requests, so I ghosted some people for, like, months.”

Ms. Rachel went on to admit that she’s not “a cool person who knows a lot about celebrities,” hence why she was completely out of the loop when it came to Rihanna’s social media profile.

“When I saw a ‘badgirlriri,’ I was like, ‘Wow, this person has so many followers.’ And then I was like, ‘This is such a cute little profile picture,’ because it’s a drawing. No idea,” she explained. “I asked people who were around … I was like, ‘Do you know who this is?’ And then, yeah, I realized it was Rihanna,” she admitted, laughing. “I [gasped]. I was like, ‘Wow.’ Yeah, that was crazy.”

Rihanna, who is currently pregnant with her third baby, shares children RZA, 3, and Riot, 2, with her partner A$AP Rocky.

The singer is one of 3.5 million people who follow Ms. Rachel on Instagram. The children’s media mogul is also beloved by celebrities like Robert De Niro, who admitted earlier this year that he watches her show with his 2-year-old daughter, Gia.

“So sweet,” Ms. Rachel said of the Oscar winner’s “surprising” interest in her programming.

She added, “I am grateful that so many families enjoy it and find those moments of joy, singing together and bonding, and I just feel like the luckiest person ever or the best job in the world.”

Ms. Rachel also explained that she had the privilege of meeting and performing with John Legend, whom she is a big fan of. The pair released a video, in which they performed his single “L-O-V-E,” in October. It has over 14 million views on YouTube.

“I did get to sing with John Legend. That was so cool. I was a fan of his way back in high school,” Ms. Rachel told Kelce. “I loved piano pop and I love all the pianists like Sara Bareilles and throwback to, like, Billy Joel, Stevie Wonder. And I knew an album that he was like, ‘Nobody knows that album and it’s not even available anymore.’ And I was like, ‘I can sing every song on that album.’”

Ms. Rachel, donning her trademark pink shirt, overalls and headband, captivates children as she sings, talks, whispers and laughs on screen in videos that have amassed over 11 billion views since 2020.

She creates content with her husband, Broadway music director Aron Accurso, with whom she shares two children, son Thomas, 7, and daughter Susannah, who was born earlier this year.

“Sometimes timing isn’t what you plan and the road to get there is bumpier than you expect, but when you hold your little ones you know … I’m meant to be your mama,” she wrote via Instagram in April. “I was unable to carry this pregnancy for medical reasons and we were blessed to have a surrogate who gave us the most precious gift possible. We are now all family forever. We have immense gratitude and a deep bond. It’s been a truly beautiful experience. I’m in awe of her.”