Page 3 Profile: PewDiePie, YouTube sensation

PewDiePie, YouTube sensation

I’m thinking video games, madcap expressions and lots and lots of subscribers…but surely that can’t be his real name?

You’re right on all counts. This is YouTube extraordinaire PewDiePie, also known as Felix Arvid Ulf Kjellberg. The 24-year-old Swede has just clinched the number one spot for the world’s most popular YouTube channel, eclipsing attention-seeking ‘twerker’ Miley Cyrus. PewDiePie now has over 15 million subscribers and clocked up 192.6m views for his light-hearted gaming videos in October alone. That’s more than the BBC, NBC and National Geographic combined.

Are all those views really just for playing games?

Pretty much. PewDiePie’s speciality is Let’s Play videos, whereby he makes a recording of the video game he is playing – usually something in the horror or action genre – and then puts commentary over the top. But he also makes random Vlogs (video blogs), such as ‘How to Smile!’

Sounds a bit techie – what’s is his secret?

He’s just a little bit mad. Describing himself as ‘a guy from Sweden who likes to laugh and make other people laugh’, PewDiePie is an out-and-out joker. In ‘How To Smile’ he ties his hair in bunches, licks a door and fawns over Harry Styles.

And if his story was a Bildungsroman how would it go?

PewDiePie was born and raised in Gothenburg, Sweden before going on to study for a degree in Industrial Economics and Technology Management. In 2011, he chucked that in to focus on his YouTube channel, which he had set up in April 2009. It paid off: he hit one million subscribers in July 2012, two million in September 2012, six million in April 2013 and, well, I could go on… He’s now said to live in a flat in Brighton.

Who’s that girl in some of his videos?

That would be PewDiePie’s Italian girlfriend CutiePie, or Marzia Bisognin if you want to get technical. The pair started dating in October 2011 after Marzia got in touch to sing his praises. They now live in a flat in Brighton with their two pugs, Maya and Edgarin.

Oh and something about ‘bros’…

That’s what PewDiePie calls his fans. Subscribe to join the club.