WillNE

WillNE

WillNE

British internet personality

William Jonathan Lenney[3] (born 11 March 1996),[1] better known as WillNE, is an English YouTuber and internet personality based in Newcastle. 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 fooling several media organisations into thinking he was a contestant on I'm a Celebrity...Get Me Out of Here!.[4] Lenney's style of content was described by Vice Media in 2018 as designed for "teenagers hyper-literate on internet culture."[1] In January 2024, Lenney became a co-owner of Quadrant Esports, a content creation and apparel brand founded by Lando Norris.[5]

Quick Facts Personal information, Born ...

Career

Lenney had his first wave of popularity in 2016, when he produced a video on grime music channel BGMedia, 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.[6]

In 2019, Lenney went on a tour with fellow YouTuber Stephen Tries, titled This Week On The Internet Live.[7] Which, in February 2023, he turned into a Weekly pop culture news show.[8]

In January 2019, Lenney launched a campaign to Stop Jill Hudson, aka Morgz Mum. Lenney's main goal was to overtake her in subscribers. He paid for advertisements across YouTube and Twitter to spread his message.[9] He overtook her channel in subscribers in April 2020.[10]

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.[11]

In April 2020, Lenney co-launched a collaboration channel[12] with fellow YouTubers ImAllexx, James Marriott and Memeulous, called the "Eboys". The group disbanded in April 2021.[13]

In January 2024, Lenney became a co-owner and investor in the esports, content creation and apparel brand Quadrant Esports, working with Formula One driver and founder Lando Norris as a business partner.[5]

Personal life and education

Lenney lives in London.[4] Lenney was born and grew up in Whitley Bay, England. He attended Loughborough University, where he studied automotive engineering.[1] Lenney has reflex anoxic seizures and has a seizure at the sight or discussion of gore. He said that he does not have seizures in places where he is comfortable, but does in places where he cannot easily leave, like movie theatres or classrooms. He had a seizure at Cody Ko's live show in early 2020.[14]

Notes

  1. Subscribers, broken down by channel:
    5.01 million (WillNE)
    2.21 million (a bit more willne)
    62.5 thousand (WillNE Shorts)
  2. Views, broken down by channel:
    710.29 million (WillNE)
    540.24 million (a bit more willne)
    3.18 million (WillNE Shorts)

References

  1. [1]
    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.
  2. [2]
    "About WillNE". YouTube.
  3. [3]
    "William Jonathan LENNEY personal appointments - Find and update company information - GOV.UK". find-and-update.company-information.service.gov.uk. Retrieved 26 February 2024.
  4. [4]
    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.
  5. [5]
    Cooper, Adam (22 January 2024). "McLaren F1 driver Norris partners with YouTube star Lenney". Motorsport.com. Archived from the original on 22 January 2024. Retrieved 28 January 2024.
  6. [6]
  7. [7]
    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.
  8. [8]
    "This Week On The Internet". Spotify. Retrieved 5 July 2023.
  9. [9]
    I Bought Ads For My YouTube Channel, retrieved 27 December 2023
  10. [10]
    morgz mum in the mud we move, retrieved 27 December 2023
  11. [11]
    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.
  12. [12]
    O’Driscoll, Aoife (21 April 2023). "YouTuber Memeulous: 'I'm better off not showing my face'". Varsity.
  13. [13]
    "We'd Like to thank you for your support over the year". Twitter. Eboys. 30 April 2021. Retrieved 19 July 2021.
  14. [14]
    Why WillNE Was REMOVED From A CodyKo Live Show, retrieved 27 December 2023
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