Kevni Woodside has a personality big enough for two.

In high school, his alter ego “Believah Dah Diva,” gave him the confidence to be himself.

Without the benefit of a huge following or a huge budget, freshman Kevni Woodside is nonetheless persistent in the production of his YouTube-set series. HILARY HOGG/Staff

As a college freshman, Woodside’s alter ego is gaining YouTube popularity for the low-fi, high-wattage closet-confessional-style narratives that surround his character.

But before propping up his video camera to film himself alongside his brother and friends, Woodside was a disheartened teenager in McDonough.

“I was sitting around one day, saying how I could never get a man and how no one likes me,” he said, “and my friends said, ‘Why don’t you make videos and show people how funny and gorgeous you are?’ So I did.”

The “Believah Dah Diva” web series shows another side of who Woodside is — a second self he was nervous to show off.

“Starting college, I didn’t want anyone to see [the videos] for a while,” he said. “I wanted people to get to know me. But somehow, it got out. Everybody knew my name and when they saw me in my wig they would turn around and scream. My mom still doesn’t watch the show, but my dad does — he buys my wigs and stuff. When most people see [the videos], they just die laughing, because they could see me doing something like this.”

Woodside’s roommate, freshman Sebastian Luciano Moreno-Rodrigo, didn’t know what it would be like living with a stranger — much less one with a web show and wig.

“I was sort of wondering what living with someone that had so much of a personality would be like,” he said. “I was just kind of ready for the unexpected. [Woodside] makes life interesting. It’s pretty cool because a lot of people know Kevni. I’ll mention his name and people know who he is. [Living together] is definitely fun; he always makes the day entertaining.”

The love of entertaining is celebrity-inspired.

“I don’t really have any male influences except for Mario Lopez,” he said. “I aspire to have his body. I love that [Kathy Griffin and Joan Rivers] don’t care about what the media says and they don’t apologize for anything. They say what’s on everybody’s mind. I like the fact that Tyra [Banks] didn’t rely on her beauty and that Beyoncé is a hard worker. It takes a whole bunch of effort to dance in five-inch heels. They’re passionate about what they do and that’s how I am.”

Jeremy Wheeler, a junior serving as Woodside’s resident assistant, believes that Woodside’s confidence and videos are empowering to the success of his wing in Hill Hall.

“[His hallmates] have received it very well,” Wheeler said. “They love it, they watch the videos, they comment on them. Even some have become part of them playing whatever roles Kevni needs. They’ve been really supportive and it’s something that has drawn in a lot of friends for him and I’m proud of him for it.”

But Woodside’s passion for entertainment started with oppression. Before college, he was bullied — by peers and ROTC officers — for being gay; and by a chorus teacher who told him he was talentless.

Shawn McKenzie, freshman outreach co-director of UGA College Republicans, attended high school with Woodside and shared his ROTC classes.

“He wasn’t in favor with some of the instructors,” McKenzie said, “so some opportunities weren’t given to him.”

Of those opportunities, which include missing out on scholarships, Woodside attributes negativity as his reason for inventing “Believah Dah Diva.”

“I wanted to make a talk show that stops bullying,” he said. “I use to get bullied so much for being fat and gay and I had no friends. I use to pretend to be in a gang back in middle school to fit in, then I moved to Georgia and I made straight A’s and figured why not change it up? So I decided to dress-up and make people laugh to address bullying.”

And even though Woodside’s “Diva” videos average only a few hundred hits each, and he has between 150-200 subscribers, his fan base is passionate: in fact, Woodside said, fans have cried after watching his series.

On any one video, the ratio of “likes” to “dislikes” is extremely lopsided: the latter is much smaller than the former — not that it would matter.

“Use the haters to fuel you,” Woodside said.

But there is one “Believah Dah Diva” video that’s gone a little bigger than the rest, breaking 1,300 views. In it, Woodside dances, with his brother, to Beyoncé’s “Run the World (Girls).”

In the last few seconds of the video, Woodside’s wig slips off, hanging from his body.

But he never stops moving.

“I will make it my effort to make everyone laugh … I don’t want to die one day and know someone’s not talking about me,” Woodside said. “I have to be in the spotlight.”