The ‘Strictly Come Dancing’ announcements are coming in thick and fast as the contestants are unveiled in the lead up to the new series.
But cries of “who?!” could be heard up and down the country on Tuesday morning, as the fourth star to be announced was YouTuber Joe Sugg.
The 26-year-old has become the first ever vlogger to be signed up for the BBC ballroom show, and given most people over the age of 21 don’t have a Scooby who he is, his inclusion on the line-up has been met with a mixed reaction from viewers.
But whatever your opinion on bosses casting YouTubers on ‘Strictly’ is, Joe will be getting his dancing shoes on come September regardless.
With that in mind, here’s everything you need to know about ThatcherJoe…
Vital Statistics
Joe was born Joesph Graham Sugg on 8 September 1991, making him 26 years old.
He was born and raised in Wiltshire, but currently resides in London, where he once shared an apartment with fellow vlogger Caspar Lee.
A Massive Following
Joe is probably one of the most famous people you’ve never heard of.
After joining the YouTube world in August 2012, he now boasts a whopping 8 million subscribers on his main YouTube channel – to put that in perspective, that is more people than watch ‘The X Factor’ or ‘EastEnders’.
Each of his videos regularly get over a million views each too.
He also has more 3.5m subs on his vlogs channel and nearly 2m on his gaming channel. Over on Twitter, he has over 5.5m followers, with similar numbers on Instagram.
Family Ties
If you weren’t aware of Joe’s work before, chances are you’ve come across his sister Zoe.
She is better known as beauty vlogger Zoella, who has broken through into the mainstream with her beauty ranges for Boots. She’s also in a relationship with fellow YouTuber Alfie Deyes.
He credits Zoe for getting him into YouTube, catching the bug after making an appearance in one of her videos.
Zoella has also made national headlines on a number of occasions. Last year, she was accused of exploiting young fans for profit with an extortionately-priced advent calendar, while she was also forced to apologise when historic homophobic tweets were unearthed on her Twitter account.
He is also close pals with other YouTubers, including Jim Chapman, Marcus Butler, Tanya Burr, Oli White, Tyler Oakley and Jack Maynard.
Mainstream Appearances
‘Strictly’ is arguably Joe’s first big TV gig, but it’s certainly not the first time he has appeared on more traditional media.
He and best pal Caspar Lee released a straight-to-DVD film called ‘Joe And Caspar Hit The Road’ in 2015, which was later shown on E4.
In 2014, he also was part of the Band Aid 30 charity supergroup who recorded a new version of ‘Do They Know It’s Christmas?’ to raise money for the Ebola epidemic in West Africa. His sister Zoella and her boyfriend Alfie also took part.
Last year, he and Alfie teamed up with fellow YouTuber Marcus Butler to appear on ITV2 series ‘Release The Hounds’ as contestants.
He has also been a friend of the Scott Mills Show on Radio 1, appearing on the show, and taking part in their infamous ‘Innuendo Bingo’ segment.
Getting Graphic
There are many strings to Joe’s bow as he is also the author of a graphic novel called ‘Username: Evie’, which was published in 2015. He has since released two sequels, ‘Username: Regenerated’ and ‘Username: Uprising’.
However, he has been honest and upfront about not doing all of the work himself, working with a colourist and illustrator.
Hidden Talents
Joe’s YouTube channel is called ‘ThatcherJoe’, which actually derives from the fact he was a roof thatcher prior to becoming an internet star.
If you don’t believe us, check out Joe demonstrating his skills below…
Making An Impression
As Joe’s followers will already know, he’s a dab hand at celebrity impressions and regularly posts videos of him taking on the impressions challenge.
Among those who he has taken off in the past include Harry Styles, Boris Johnson and characters from ‘The Simpsons’ and ‘Harry Potter’, although his fans reckon his best one is Niall from One Direction.
However, one person who he admits he hasn’t been able to nail is President Donald Trump.
We wonder if he’s brushed up on his Craig Revel-Horwood ahead of ‘Strictly’?
A Non-Celebrity
Despite his big following, Joe doesn’t class himself as a celebrity, which will probably enrage those criticising his casting on the new series of ‘Strictly’.
Speaking to the BBC last year, he said: “You could probably ask any YouTuber in the UK if they’d class themselves as a celebrity, and I guarantee they’d all say no, and I think that’s because we never knew it would get this big, we never knew it would become this scale, at all.
“If you’ve got someone who wants to be a singer and actor, they already know the pros and cons of that job, whereas we never knew we were getting into something this big, so it’s been harder for us to sort of deal with and go along with it.”
