YouTube UK Shines a Spotlight on Some of the Platform’s Most Successful Pioneers and Rising Stars on Their Way to the Top

YouTube UK announced ‘The Rise’, a celebration of British creative talent featuring some of the platform’s pioneers like Robbie Lyle of AFTV, Colin Furze, Daniel Howell, Yasmin Uddin of Yammy, Dina Tokio and Jay Flynn MBE in tandem with some of the UK’s most exciting rising talents making waves on the platform.

According to ComScore, YouTube is used by over 96% of online adults in the UK each month, with the average online adult watching 46 minutes of YouTube per day. This unprecedented increase in viewership firmly puts YouTube creators in the driving seat of today’s creative industry. Today, ‘The Rise’ sees 10 of YouTube’s most successful pioneers of the platform name 10 of the UK’s most promising rising star talents. A true celebration and launch of creative Britain, this collection of diverse voices represent the sheer breadth of British talent on YouTube across cultural touch points like music, science, sport, parenting, fitness and more.

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See below for a snapshot of the lineup for ‘The Rise’, heralding the 10 YouTube talents tipped to be ‘the next big thing’ as chosen by some of YouTube’s current top stars. Full quotes from each of the pioneers and their rising stars:

• HEALTH, FITNESS & FAMILY: The nation’s PE teacher Joe Wicks MBE, whose lockdown daily family fitness routines have made him a national treasure while also earning him an MBE, has named Gabriel Sey, aka “The Active Black Dad”, as a rising star. He believes that Gabriel’s commitment to health, fitness and sharing real insights on raising kids is an inspiring look at British family life.
• COMEDY AND MUSIC: KSI, British cultural icon and true YouTube pioneer with astounding 22M subscribers on the platform, has chosen to spotlight emerging viral comedian and entertainer Yung Filly. Both endemic creators to YouTube, their work shows the crossover potential between areas of creative passion, moving seamlessly between entertainment, comedy and music.
• LGBTQA+ PRIDE & AUTHENTICITY: Over the last decade, Daniel Howell has earned over 1B views with his genius comedic and deeply authentic videos. Fearlessly sharing his experiences with depression and coming out, Dan has named Jessica Kellgren-Fozard of Jessica Out Of The Closet as a rising star. Rapidly making a name for herself as one of the UK’s most honest and fresh entertainers, Jessica brings a love of vintage fashion, an honest take on life as a lesbian, and a commitment to raising awareness for disabilities to the world.
• DANCE: Globally-renowned dancer Sherrie Silver was discovered on YouTube, going on to create the groundbreaking Afrobeats choreography in Childish Gambino’s ‘This Is America’. Proof of the platform’s potential to serve as a launchpad for new stars, Sherrie is naming Afro-dance King A-Star, whose song ‘Kupe Dance’ sparked a global viral challenge, as a must-watch.
• SCIENCE & LEARNING: Colin Furze, YouTube’s resident mad scientist from Lincolnshire, has long been at the forefront of some of Britain’s most exciting inventions. He believes Ruth Amos and Shawn Brown, the creators behind Kids Invent Stuff, are going to transform the science and learning world for British scientists by helping bring kids’ imaginations to life through feats of wild engineering.
• MUSLIM LIFE & STYLE: Famed pioneer of ‘modest fashion’, Dina Tokio has always embraced her Muslim heritage and been honest about challenges of prejudice she’s faced. An inspiring example of being true to yourself, Dina has named Dr Amina Yonis, who gained her PhD at just 25, as a rising star and someone she sees as a future icon for Muslim women in the UK.
• BLACK BRITISH MUSIC: Posty, the hugely influential Black British entrepreneur and founder of the star-making channel GRM Daily, has said emerging British rapper Meekz Manny is a rising star on the path to change the music scene for future generations of artists.
• FOOTBALL FANDOM: A true pioneer of the football fan channel movement in the UK, Robbie Lyle founded AFTV with the ultimate goal of giving fans a voice. Now, with nearly 1B views, Robbie has named Tottenham superfan Expressions Oozing as a rising star whose infectious comedy and insightful antics make him a game changer for the football fanworld.
• BRITISH COMMUNITY: When Jay Flynn MBE closed his pub during early lockdown this year, he turned to YouTube and accidently created the world’s largest virtual pub quiz, raising nearly £800k for charity and earning himself an MBE in the process. To celebrate a shared spirit of community and charity, Jay has named Jack Edwards, the founder of The StudyTube Project, an educational YouTube collective of creators who came together to keep learning alive in lockdown, as a model for giving back.
• MUM POWER: Yasmin Uddin, a young mum from Leeds who turned her gaming channel Yammy into a full-time career, has named mum life and family vlogger SJ Strum as a rising star. Yammy believes SJ is an inspiration for other mums who are looking to express themselves and share their family lives safely and joyfully on the platform.

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As an open platform with more than 500 hours of content uploaded every minute, YouTube’s accessibility has provided a level playing field for creatives looking to share their passions with the world. As demonstrated by ‘The Rise’ collective of creators, YouTube ensures that British creative talent of all backgrounds from right across the country can find a stage, connect with fans, gain recognition and build a business on the platform. In fact, according to 2020 research by Oxford Economics, last year, YouTube’s creative ecosystem supported 30K Full Time Equivalent (FTE) jobs in the UK, and the total contribution of YouTube’s creative ecosystem to the UK’s GDP was £1.4bn.

Ben McOwen Wilson, Managing Director of YouTube UK said: “Looking at the lineup of creative entrepreneurs for The Rise takes my breath away. Their voices — so bold and so brilliantly British — are shining examples of what’s possible on the platform. I’m incredibly proud that YouTube continues to be a platform for such wonderfully creative talent from across the UK, and is a great reflection of diverse, modern Britain.”

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