Fame has made life easier, says Charlie Bit Me star
What do Baby Shark, the Harlem Shake and Gangnam Style have in common? Overplayed? Annoying? You're entitled to your opinion.But what's not in doubt is that they all went viral on YouTube, which is now 20 years old.
It's become the place where 2.5 billion people log on monthly to kill time, be entertained and, sometimes at least, learn something.But it's also been life-changing for some of its breakout stars, like Charlie.
You wouldn't recognise him now but millions around the world have watched him, as a baby, chomping on his big brother's digits.That's because he's the star of Charlie Bit My Finger.It was never not a part of my life, it's always been there," Charlie, who's now 18,The 55-second clip has had almost 900 million views since it was uploaded in 2007, Charlie says he can't remember the moment, filmed when he was "about one" and sitting on Harry's lap.
He says the clip's success has made life "easier" and helped him get to university where he now studies law.His dad Howard Davies-Carr previously told Newsbeat the family had made an estimated £1,000,000 off the video over the years.The video was sold as a non-fungible token, or NFT, for £500,000 in 2021.But Mr Davies-Carr said he wanted to keep the boys "very grounded" in how they live their lives.
Charlie shares that view and says he doesn't play the "don't you know who I am?" card.It's not like I use it as an icebreaker or anything," he says."I was never going to use this as a fun fact."Charlie says he doesn't want to be seen as a show-off, so when asked about himself volunteers "something else a bit more boring".
