Moment YouTuber with two million subscribers is punched in the face on livestream while 'disguised as a woman' in Dublin

By JOSHUA HAINING, NEWS REPORTER Published: 22:00, 15 June 2026 | Updated: 22:09, 15 June 2026 A YouTuber with two million subscribers livestreamed being punched in the face by a stranger while 'disguised as a woman.' Cypriot-Russian YouTuber Vladimiros Nicola, known online as Vlad Ncl, was catcalled by a man on Trinity Street, Dublin, before he revealed his true identity and was hit in the jaw. Footage showed the streamer dressed as his female alter-ego 'Natalie' walking past a young man, at about 11.30pm on June 12, who shouted over and said 'are you on TikTok?' Mr Nicola approached the Irishman and in a feminine voice explained that he was livestreaming to YouTube. As the man looked her up and down, he said 'where are you from?' and was surprised to hear the cross-dresser was from Russia. The man then asked where Mr Nicola was going before he said 'do you want to come home with me tonight?' as the pair laughed together. But just as Mr Nicola declined to join, the man, now with a worried look on his face, asked whether he was a boy or a girl, to which the streamer said 'I'll let you guess' in a deep voice. He was then pushed and kicked before the man took aim and punched the YouTuber in the face. YouTuber Vladimiros Nicola posing with a man who punched him in the face in Dublin on June 12 When the man discovered the YouTuber was a man cross-dressing as a woman, he pushed and kicked him away before punching him in the face The altercation was livestreamed by Mr Nicola who is pictured holding his jaw after being punched Mr Nicola stumbled away while holding his jaw and groaning in pain as the livestream continued. When the YouTuber was further down the street, he said: 'that was strong, right in the jaw dude, right in the jaw. Probably not the greatest thing.' After the attack, the YouTuber searched for police before being directed to a station and reporting the incident. Speaking to the Mail about the alleged assault, Mr Nicola said: This was the first time I did this sort of livestream. 'I decided to check the city out and then it happened 40 minutes into the stream. 'The man saw that the stream had about 1000 viewers before which he suspected something was not right.' Mr Nicola decided to reveal his true identity but admitted it he misjudged the situation. Despite the altercation, Mr Nicola said he does not plan to stop making content dressed as a woman.  'Honestly, this was a first for me which I want to believe it is not that common, so that doesn't change the direction of content I will make,' he said. Vladimiros Nicola is best known for dressing up as a woman and videoing content in public or on video chat sites to record peoples' reactions when they discover he is a man. The content creator has garnered more than 6million followers across his social media channels through posting comedy and prank-related content. He first started posting videos to his YouTube channel which has amassed more than 2.1million subscribers in December 2017. And in 2021, the YouTuber began sharing vlogs of himself dressed as a woman in full makeup and pranking people. One of the content creator's most popular videos which received 14million views is called 'I Investigated NEW YORK as a "Woman"'.   A Garda spokesperson said: 'Gardaí are investigating an alleged assault that occurred on Trinity Street, Dublin 2 on Friday 12th June 2026 at approximately 11:30pm.  'Investigations are ongoing. No arrests have been made at this time.' The comments below have not been moderated. The views expressed in the contents above are those of our users and do not necessarily reflect the views of MailOnline. By posting your comment you agree to our house rules. Do you want to automatically post your MailOnline comments to your Facebook Timeline? Your comment will be posted to MailOnline as usual. Do you want to automatically post your MailOnline comments to your Facebook Timeline? Your comment will be posted to MailOnline as usual We will automatically post your comment and a link to the news story to your Facebook timeline at the same time it is posted on MailOnline. To do this we will link your MailOnline account with your Facebook account. We’ll ask you to confirm this for your first post to Facebook. You can choose on each post whether you would like it to be posted to Facebook. Your details from Facebook will be used to provide you with tailored content, marketing and ads in line with our Privacy Policy.