William Jonathan Lenney (born 11 March 1996), better known as WillNE, is an English

YouTuber A YouTuber is an online personality and/or influencer who produces videos on the video-sharing platform YouTube, typically posting to their personal YouTube channel. The term was first used in the English language in 2006. Influence Influent ...

and

internet personality An Internet celebrity (also known as a social media influencer, social media personality, internet personality, or simply influencer) is a celebrity who has acquired or developed their fame and notability through the Internet. The rise of social m ...

based in

Newcastle Newcastle usually refers to: *Newcastle upon Tyne, a city and metropolitan borough in Tyne and Wear, England *Newcastle-under-Lyme, a town in Staffordshire, England *Newcastle, New South Wales, a metropolitan area in Australia, named after Newcastle ...

. Lenney's content is noted for both his videos focusing around

internet culture Internet culture is a culture based on the many way people have used computer networks and their use for communication, entertainment, business, and recreation. Some features of Internet culture include online communities, gaming, and social media ...

and his

practical jokes A practical joke, or prank, is a mischievous trick played on someone, generally causing the victim to experience embarrassment, perplexity, confusion, or discomfort.Marsh, Moira. 2015. ''Practically Joking''. Logan: Utah State University Press. ...

, 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!''. Lenney's style of content was described by

Vice Media Vice Media Group LLC is an American-Canadian digital media and broadcasting company. , the Vice Media Group included five main business areas: VICE.com (digital content); VICE STUDIOS (film and TV production) VICE TV (also known as VICELAND); V ...

in 2018 as designed for "teenagers hyper-literate on internet culture." In January 2024, Lenney became a co-owner of Quadrant Esports, a content creation and apparel brand founded by

Lando Norris Lando Norris (born 13 November 1999) is a Belgian-British racing driver currently competing in Formula One with McLaren, racing under the British flag. He won the MSA Formula championship in 2015, and the Toyota Racing Series, Eurocup Formul ...

Career

Lenney had his first wave of popularity in 2016, when he produced a video on

grime music Grime is a genre of electronic music that emerged in London in the early 2000s. It developed out of the earlier UK dance style UK garage, and draws influences from jungle, dancehall, and hip hop. The style is typified by rapid, syncopated brea ...

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. 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

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. 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 ''OK!'' is a British weekly magazine that primarily specialises in royal and celebrity news. Originally launched as a monthly magazine, its first issue was published in April 1997. In September 2004, ''OK''! launched in Australia as a monthly ...

'' and ''

Metro Metro, short for metropolitan, may refer to: Geography * Metro (city), a city in Indonesia * A metropolitan area, the populated region including and surrounding an urban center Public transport * Rapid transit, a passenger railway in an urba ...

'', printing stories on the rumors before the full cast of the series was revealed. In 2019, Lenney went on a tour with fellow YouTuber Stephen Tries, titled ''This Week On The Internet Live''. which in February 2023 he turned into a Weekly pop culture news show. Lenney launched a campaign to stop Jill Hudson, an English YouTuber and his main goal was to overtake her in subscribers. He paid for advertisements across YouTube and Twitter to spread his message. He overtook her channel in subscribers in April 2020. In January 2020, Lenney made a video in which he pretended to be muscular in photos he posted on

Instagram Instagram is a photo and video sharing social networking service owned by American company Meta Platforms. The app allows users to upload media that can be edited with filters and organized by hashtags and geographical tagging. Posts can ...

. While producing the video, he received a brand deal offer from a fitness company. In April, Lenney co-launched a collaboration channel with contemporaries ImAllexx, James Marriott and Memeulous, called the "Eboys". The group disbanded in April 2021. In July 2023, Lenney invested in The Fellas Studios, a production company owned by popular YouTubers Callum Airey and Joshua Larkin. In January 2024, Lenney became a co-owner and investor in the

esports Esports, short for electronic sports, is a form of competition using video games. Esports often takes the form of organized, multiplayer video game competitions, particularly between professional players, individually or as teams. Although orga ...

, content creation and apparel brand Quadrant Esports, working with

Formula One Formula One (also known as Formula 1 or F1) is the highest class of international racing for open-wheel single-seater formula racing cars sanctioned by the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA). The World Drivers' Championship, ...

driver and founder

as a business partner.

Personal life and education

Lenney lives in

London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

. Lenney was born and grew up in

Whitley Bay Whitley Bay is a seaside town in the North Tyneside borough in Tyne and Wear, England. It formerly governed as part of Northumberland and has been part of Tyne and Wear since 1974. It is part of the wider Tyneside built-up area, being around eas ...

, England. He attended

Loughborough University Loughborough University (abbreviated as ''Lough'' or ''Lboro'' for post-nominals) is a public research university in the market town of Loughborough, Leicestershire, England. It has been a university since 1966, but it dates back to 1909, when L ...

, where he studied automotive engineering. 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 Cody Michael Kolodziejzyk ( , Polish: ; born November 22, 1990), better known online as Cody Ko, is a Canadian YouTuber, comedian, podcaster and rapper. Kolodziejzyk first became popular on Vine in 2014, before becoming a commentary YouTuber on i ...

's live show in early 2020.

Notes

References

External links

* * {{Twitter, id=WillNE 1996 births Alumni of Loughborough University Comedy YouTubers Commentary YouTubers English YouTubers Living people People from Whitley Bay Sidemen Charity Match players YouTubers from Tyne and Wear