WillNE
WillNE | ||||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Personal information | ||||||||||
Born | William Jonathan Lenney 11 March 1996[1] Whitley Bay, England[1] | |||||||||
Nationality | British | |||||||||
Education | Loughborough University | |||||||||
Occupation | YouTuber | |||||||||
YouTube information | ||||||||||
Channels | ||||||||||
Years active | 2012–present | |||||||||
Genre |
| |||||||||
Subscribers | 6.6 million (combined) | |||||||||
Total views | 1 billion (combined) | |||||||||
| ||||||||||
Updated: 20 July 2021 |
William Jonathan Lenney[2] (born 11 March 1996), better known by his online alias WillNE, is a British YouTuber and internet personality based in London. Lenney's content is noted for both his videos focusing around internet culture and his practical jokes, such as getting a variety of YouTubers to collaboratively sing the song "All Star" without their knowledge, and pretending to be a contestant on I'm a Celebrity...Get Me Out of Here!.[3][4] Lenney's style of content was described by Vice Media in 2018 as designed for "teenagers hyper-literate on internet culture."[1]
Early life and education
Lenney was born and grew up in Whitley Bay, England. He attended Loughborough University, where he studied automotive engineering. In 2016, Lenney quit his job as an attendant at a dinosaur-themed mini golf course.[1]
Career
Lenney had his first wave of popularity in 2016, when he produced a video on grime music channel "", and what he considered the poor quality of the child rappers hosted on their channel. The video went viral and increased the size of Lenney's channel.[1] By September 2016, Lenney's channel had amassed roughly 250,000 subscribers. Around that same time, he left university in order to become a full-time YouTuber on advice from his mother. On 22 December 2017 Lenney's channel reached 1 million subscribers, making him among the 25 most-subscribed British YouTubers.[1]
In November 2018 Lenney attempted to fool various UK-based tabloid media companies into believing that he would be a contestant on I'm a Celebrity...Get Me Out of Here!. The campaign was partially successful, with several organisations, including OK! Magazine and Metro, printing stories on the rumors before the full cast of the series was revealed.[5] In 2019, Lenney went on a tour with fellow YouTuber Stephen Tries, titled This Week On The Internet Live.[6] In January 2020, Lenney made a video in which he pretended to be muscular in photos he posted on Instagram, while producing the video he received a brand deal offer from a fitness company.[7] In April 2020, Lenney co-launched a collaboration channel with fellow YouTubers ImAllexx, James Marriott and Memeulous, called the "Eboys".[8] The group disbanded in April 2021.[9]
Personal life
Lenney suffers from a medical condition that causes him to have seizures and faint at the sight of blood.[10] Lenney currently resides in London,[4] and he has a girlfriend named Mia.[11] Lenney is a supporter of Newcastle United F.C.[12]
References
- ^ a b c d e f Zadeh, Joe; Bethell, Chris (22 February 2018). "The Lonely Life of a Professional YouTuber". Vice. Archived from the original on 8 October 2020. Retrieved 6 October 2020.
- ^ F., Claudia (17 August 2020). "Rezo lässt 29 YouTuber Song rappen – ohne dass sie es wissen" [Rezo lets 29 YouTubers rap songs - without them knowing]. (in German). Archived from the original on 6 March 2021. Retrieved 26 February 2021.
- ^ Hall, Pagen (14 April 2020). "Video Spotlight: Making YouTubers Sing Smash Mouth - All Star Without Them Noticing". Ten Eighty Magazine. Archived from the original on 17 June 2020. Retrieved 7 October 2020.
- ^ a b Wolfson, Sam (19 October 2019). "'All the hood rats would jam with us': Grandmaster Flash, AJ Tracey and other artists on the generation gap". The Guardian. Archived from the original on 10 October 2020. Retrieved 7 October 2020.
- ^ *Osborne, Emma (13 November 2018). "I'm A Celebrity: YouTuber WillNE tipped as latest signing for ITV show as shot of him in jungle attire circles internet". OK! Magazine. Archived from the original on 14 October 2020. Retrieved 12 October 2020.
- Evans, Mel; Griffin, Louise (13 November 2018). "Is YouTuber WillNE heading into I'm A Celeb jungle?". Metro. Archived from the original on 17 November 2018. Retrieved 12 October 2020.
- Porter, Matt (19 November 2018). "YouTuber WillNE reveals how he tricked the press into thinking he was entering 'I'm a Celebrity'". Dexerto. Archived from the original on 21 October 2020. Retrieved 12 October 2020.
- ^ Woods, Jamie (21 April 2019). "Gig Review: This Week On The Internet Live". Insanity Radio 103.2FM. Archived from the original on 22 April 2019. Retrieved 12 October 2020.
- ^ Ellis, Phillip (22 January 2020). "This Guy Pretended to Be Swole on Social Media for a Week". Men's Health. Archived from the original on 12 October 2020. Retrieved 7 October 2020.
- ^ Jennings, Maddy (16 April 2020). "Eboys Collaboration Channel Announced". Ten Eighty Magazine. Archived from the original on 20 April 2020. Retrieved 12 October 2020.
- ^ "We'd Like to thank you for your support over the year". Twitter. Eboys. 30 April 2021. Retrieved 19 July 2021.
- ^ Lenney, Will (25 February 2020). I Went To Cody Ko's Show (TWOTI). YouTube (Video). 10:12: WillNE. Retrieved 14 February 2021.CS1 maint: location (link)
- ^ Rogers, Jonna (3 July 2019). "Weekly Round-Up: 24 – 30 June 2019". Ten Eighty Magazine. Archived from the original on 23 October 2020. Retrieved 12 October 2020.
- ^ Craven, Joe (17 July 2020). "YouTuber WillNE takes cheeky swipe at EA over FIFA 20 Pro Clubs". Dexerto. Archived from the original on 24 October 2020. Retrieved 13 February 2021.
External links
- WillNE's channel on YouTube
- WillNE on Twitter
- 1996 births
- Alumni of Loughborough University
- Comedy YouTubers
- Commentary YouTubers
- English YouTubers
- Living people
- Male YouTubers
- People from Whitley Bay
- Twitch (service) streamers