TikTok sensation Linda Andrade, aka the “Original Dubai Housewife,” flaunts her life of luxury to more than 554,000 followers.
Funded by her multi-millionaire husband, the 23-year-old influencer is all about living large in Dubai. In her videos, Andrade calmly brags about spending $16,000 in one day, her Chanel bag habit and sampling over-the-top food trends like a 24K gold cup of coffee.
It’s indulgent, shallow and well, kinda fun.
Her TikToks can rack up to 17 million views, including for one detailing her Dubai housewife lifestyle with stops at YSL, Valentino, Balenciaga and a high-end jewelry store.
The clincher? When the Arabic fashionista says: “My husband is kissing my hand because I’m mad at him; he only bought me two diamond necklaces instead of four.”
Needless to say, the lavish content is resonating with fans and haters alike.
Another post, listing the worst things about being married to a millionaire, has more than 13 million viewers.
Linda’s gripes? “Always having to look 10/10 all the time,” “He buys me too much stuff,” “We’re always traveling, I’m tired,” “I’m scared of getting robbed,” “Food is always a show” and “He never lets me drive.”
For a recent birthday, her husband, Ricky Andrade, gifted her $50,000 and lit up the Burj Khalifa with a “Happy Birthday” message.
The jet-setting couple has three homes — in Dubai, Las Vegas and Orange County, California — flies first class and boasts multiple high-performance cars.
“I don’t have any shame in flaunting a gold-digger aesthetic,” Linda, a transplanted Californian, told The Post.
But that’s not really who she is: Linda met her husband before he was rich. In fact, as she points out in one of her videos, Ricky was working as a dishwasher technician when they started dating.
“It’s been such a long journey, and Ricky knows the truth,” she said. “I can post things lightheartedly.”
Linda herself comes from humble beginnings, having relocated from Amman, Jordan, to Anaheim, California, when she was 2. Her family of six lived in a one-bedroom apartment until her father, Fouad, opened an electronic repair shop specializing in repairing cell phones and computers.
She attributes her father’s strong work ethic to helping her know what she wanted in a husband. Linda and Ricky met at a gym when she was 16 — she gave him her number because his cell phone was broken and suggested that her father could fix it.
“When I met Ricky, I saw all those similar traits [to my father] in him,” Linda said. “I wasn’t looking for a wealthy guy, but I was looking for ambition. And, above all, a good man. Money’s not the end-all, be-all — because you could be with someone who’s rich and treats you like crap, you know?”
They married three years later, then moved to Dubai where Ricky made his millions as a Forex (or FX) and crypto trader.
Like crypto, Forex trading — which is based on a global decentralized market where traders speculate on international interest rates and geopolitical events — is volatile.
Ricky has since branched out into AI software, web hosting and real estate.
In Dubai, Linda started her TikTok account two years ago out of boredom. While her husband was busy working and making millions, he encouraged her to go shopping.
She took to it like a champ and is now on her third engagement ring, a stunning 3.54-carat diamond.
It was during these retail excursions that Linda began chronicling her new hometown’s remarkable extravagance.
“There’s so much luxury in Dubai,” she said, “Americans have never seen anything like it before. The norm is Birkin bags, huge diamonds and driving a Rolls-Royce.”
Since many women in Dubai are notoriously private, Linda’s videos offer a rare look into the city’s immense wealth and hedonism.
She also loves to post about her fights with her husband and all the designer bags, shoes and jewelry he buys her in the aftermath.
“When I pretend to use him for his money, that’s the stuff that’s like a joke,” the self-proclaimed housewife said. “And when I say that I fight with him all the time, that’s a joke too. Our relationship is great.”
Ricky’s in on the joke, too. The 27-year-old entrepreneur is becoming a bit of a social media star himself, with 328,000 Instagram followers at @therealriskyricky.
Scrolling through the couple’s self-promotional posts, one gets the sense that some of this is hype and great marketing. By boasting how rich they are, it creates a self-perpetuating engine to make them even more money and connections.
“It does feel more like a second job — but in a good way, because it’s rewarding,” Linda said. “I get a lot from my TikTok.”
Followers also grill her about how to land a rich guy.
“Find someone you can grow with versus the man who’s already rich,” Linda advised. “The rich guy will be cheap with you. But someone with hustle and ambition will treat you well, and if he ever does get into a tight place, he can get it all back because it’s within him and not just handed to him.”
And, she said, women from all over the world are sliding into Ricky’s DMs offering to be his mistress. While Linda doesn’t worry he will cheat on her; she finds it disrespectful.
“He’s married,” she said. “What are you doing?”
Being TikTok-famous has its dark side, too.
The couple’s Orange County home was robbed by a social media-savvy thief who had seen Linda’s closet on TikTok and therefore knew where all her designer bags were.
Then there are the haters. Linda said she can handle negative comments except when they get personal about her appearance.
“When somebody says, ‘Oh, you’re a horrible person,’ I’m like, okay, that’s what you think. I ignore it,” ehs said. “But when it’s about my physical appearance, sometimes that gets to me. It’s hard when people are saying you need a nose job or you need to lose weight.”
Especially since she’s a self-professed beauty junkie obsessed with spa treatments. In 2019, buoyed by her frequent spa days, she launched her own weight-loss clinic in Irvine, California, called Flip Your Look.
The med-spa specializes in non-invasive procedures like fat freezing, laser lipo, laser hair removal and skin tightening. Linda plans on opening a location in Dubai soon.
When asked about her business acumen, Linda demurred, giving credit to her husband for financing the project.
“There were no risks for me, you know?”
Having children is next for the traditionally minded couple. Linda has already told her husband she wants a themed push present: A blue diamond if it’s a boy, and a pink diamond if it’s a girl.
Until then, they plan on traveling to Europe this summer to cater to their every indulgence.
“My husband wants to go watch shopping in Switzerland,” she said. “I want Belgian chocolate
from Belgium. And then pasta from Italy.”
Also on Linda’s wish list? A Hermès Birkin bag, one of the few designer possessions she doesn’t own. Yet.
It’s not all about materialism, though. As Muslims, they participate in Zakat, giving a percentage of income to charity every year. Ricky also founded a non-profit called MotivPack, which donates backpacks filled with supplies and motivational resources to children in Los Angeles-area schools.
“Money can’t buy a good relationship,” Linda acknowledged. “Our relationship is the most valuable thing to me.
“You need financial stability. And when you have somebody that takes stress away from you, you can be the best version of yourself.”
