Who is Shauna Rae? Meet the 23-year-old who looks 8 years old

She’s the biggest little star on TV.

Pint-sized Shauna Rae is quickly becoming a household name thanks to her hit reality TV series airing on TLC.

“I Am Shauna Rae” revolves around the exploits of the Long Island local who insists she’s just like any other young millennial — except she looks like an 8-year-old.

Rae weighs only 50 pounds and is 3ft 10in tall due to treatment she received for childhood brain cancer.

But what the blonde lacks in size, she makes up for in personality – happy to show off in front of the cameras as she tackles everyday activities such as driving and dating.

Rae told the Post that she’s constantly underestimated and left out because of her looks, but that hasn’t stopped her from pursuing what she wants.

“If you look at me, you see an 8-year-old child,” she said. “But I think if you take the time to look at the details in my face, in my hands, the maturity of my body – and I think if you take the time to actually talk to me – you really understand that I’m a 23 years.

Why does Shauna Rae look so young?

Rae has a rare condition resulting from chemotherapy treatment for brain cancer when she was 6 months old.

The treatment impacted his pituitary gland, causing his growth to stop dramatically and causing pituitary dwarfism. She has been in complete remission from cancer for years.

She started taking growth hormones at age 8; however, the on/off treatment was permanently stopped when she reached puberty.

“I’ve reached the finish line, you might say,” Rae told the Post.

Who is Shauna Rae’s boyfriend?

Rae recently made headlines after her budding romance with travel blogger Dan Swygart, 26, raised viewers’ eyebrows.

Rae and Swygart were seen dating during the second season of the TLC series, prompting some critics to call the suitor “creepy” for lusting after a woman who looks like a young girl.

However, Rae told the Post that she had the ability to shake off the goosebumps after years of being single, meaning she gave Swygart the green light.

“I just developed the ability to spot someone who might not have the best intentions because they’re betraying themselves,” she said. “Their questions are very focused on my physique… They’re learning about me like I’m a specimen in a lab.”

She also said that potential partners often spoke to her as if she were a third-grader.

“I think of myself as smart, and I think when people first see me, they don’t see me as smart,” the star said. “They still don’t understand that I have that intelligence there.”

“I tend to find guys who are just one-dimensional and don’t really have depth in conversation. [A deeper connection] is what I’m looking for. I feel like, ‘If I can teach you something, you can teach me something’ – that’s what I look for in relationships.

In season two of ‘I Am Shauna Rae’, soon-to-be boyfriend Swygart – from the UK – even won praise from Rae’s parents when he met them.

The chivalrous man also took to social media to defend their date together earlier this week.

“It’s very important to remember that Shauna is an incredible 23-year-old woman with a disability,” he said. “As you build a connection with her, it’s important to acknowledge her disability and look beyond that and build it with who she is as an individual.”

He continued: “As soon as you say she can’t have a real connection with someone else, you dehumanize her. She’s a human being. She deserves to have relationships and connections with whoever she wanna.

Over the weekend, he also berated haters for their “absolutely disgusting” remarks about the couple’s friendship.

“How to dare are you taking away his right, his human right, to have a connection, a friendship, a relationship with someone else? he cursed on Instagram. “Who are you to say she can’t have that?” I am absolutely disgusted by some people’s attitude towards her and my friendship with her. I can’t believe some people who deny him the right to have a friendship or a connection with someone else.

“How dare you? How to dare you?” he implored.

Amid all the public backlash, Swygart has returned to the UK, while Rae remains on Long Island and the status of their romance remains up in the air.

What does Shauna Rae do for a job?

Rae hopes to conquer the world of showbiz.

The former cafe worker – who shares details of her life on social media, via TikTok and Instagram – is an aspiring actress and said she hopes her reality series can help her become a celebrity.

But the New Yorker – who lives at home with her mother and stepfather – is also aiming to achieve other less ambitious goals in the near future, such as getting her driver’s license.

Rae was seen driving a Chevy during this season of her show, where she used manual controls because she is too small to use pedal extensions.

Perhaps more importantly, however, the star simply fights to be seen and taken seriously.

His small stature means many question his real age and identity, making it nearly impossible to buy booze and even schedule his own appointments with doctors.

“I had several problems with people not believing me when I told them my age. One thing that happened recently was that I went to a [lab] to get my blood drawn,” she told the Post. “I was trying to leave, but an employee wouldn’t allow me because they thought I was a child leaving without a parent.”

Rae offered to show them her ID, and she also pointed out that she had tattoos and piercings. But the employee got their supervisor.

“They all denied that I was an adult and they wouldn’t let me leave the property without an adult taking me home,” she said. “It got to the point where I had to leave when they weren’t watching. It was so extreme.

The experience left her quite distraught.

“It’s painful when society doesn’t accept you for who you are,” she said. “I don’t want people to ask me questions when I say who I am. I’m okay with showing proof, if needed. But if you’re your typical regular street Joe, then you have to believe me on word.