Daniel Robert Middleton (born 8 November 1991), better known online as DanTDM (formerly TheDiamondMinecart), is a British

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 Influe ...

and gamer known for his video game commentaries. His online video channels have covered many video games including ''

Minecraft ''Minecraft'' is a sandbox game developed by Mojang Studios. The game was created by Markus "Notch" Persson in the Java (programming language), Java programming language. Following several early private testing versions, it was first made pub ...

'', ''

Roblox ''Roblox'' () is an online game platform and game creation system developed by Roblox Corporation that allows users to program games and play games created by other users. Created by David Baszucki and Erik Cassel in 2004 and released i ...

'', '' Pokémon'' and '' Sonic the Hedgehog''. His channel has been listed among the top YouTube channels in the United Kingdom. In July 2015, he was listed as one of the most popular YouTubers in the world by viewership. He has won several Kids' Choice Awards and set

Guinness World Records ''Guinness World Records'', known from its inception in 1955 until 1999 as ''The Guinness Book of Records'' and in previous United States editions as ''The Guinness Book of World Records'', is a reference book published annually, listing world ...

for his gaming and presenting. In 2017, Middleton topped the ''

Forbes ''Forbes'' () is an American business magazine owned by Integrated Whale Media Investments and the Forbes family. Published eight times a year, it features articles on finance, industry, investing, and marketing topics. ''Forbes'' also r ...

'' list of Highest-Paid YouTube Stars, earning $16.5 million (about ) in one year. As of January 2023, his YouTube channel has reached over 26.3 million subscribers, 18.9 billion video views, and has posted over 3,500 videos.

Early life

Daniel Robert Middleton was born on 8 November 1991 in

Aldershot Aldershot () is a town in Hampshire, England. It lies on heathland in the extreme northeast corner of the county, southwest of London. The area is administered by Rushmoor Borough Council. The town has a population of 37,131, while the Alder ...

, England, as the elder of two siblings. His parents

divorce Divorce (also known as dissolution of marriage) is the process of terminating a marriage or marital union. Divorce usually entails the canceling or reorganizing of the legal duties and responsibilities of marriage, thus dissolving the ...

d when he was a child. He attended the

University of Northampton The University of Northampton is a public university based in Northampton, Northamptonshire, England. It was formed in 1999 by the amalgamation of a number of training colleges, and gained full university status as the University of Northampton in ...

where he studied music production.

Career

In 2012, Middleton created ''TheDiamondMinecart'', a gaming channel. He changed his channel's name to ''TheDiamondMinecart // DanTDM'', and then, on 12 December 2016, to ''DanTDM''. He currently produces videos out of his home studio in

Wellingborough Wellingborough ( ) is a large market and commuter town in the unitary authority area of North Northamptonshire in the ceremonial county of Northamptonshire, England, 65 miles from London and from Northampton on the north side of the River Nen ...

. Middleton's content is largely targeted at children. He released a

graphic novel A graphic novel is a long-form, fictional work of sequential art. The term ''graphic novel'' is often applied broadly, including fiction, non-fiction, and anthologized work, though this practice is highly contested by comic scholars and industry ...

called '' Trayaurus and the Enchanted Crystal'' on 6 October 2016. The novel remained at the number one spot on ''The New York Times'' Best Seller list for hardcover graphic books for eleven weeks. He was a featured guest at the

Cheltenham Literature Festival ''The Times'' and ''The Sunday Times'' Cheltenham Literature Festival, a large-scale international festival of literature held every year in October in the English spa town of Cheltenham, and part of Cheltenham Festivals: also responsible for t ...

and went on a book tour that included parts of the UK and a visit to

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the most densely populated major city in the Un ...

. In 2017, he embarked on a tour through the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territori ...

and Australia. In 2017, he starred in a web series called ''DanTDM Creates a Big Scene'' starring himself and featuring other social media entertainers and actors. The series premiered on 7 April 2017 exclusively for YouTube Red (now called

YouTube Premium YouTube Premium (formerly Music Key and YouTube Red) is a subscription service offered by the video platform YouTube. The service provides ad-free access to content across the service, as well as access to premium YouTube Originals programming ...

), YouTube's subscription service. The show "follows DanTDM and his group of animated friends as they battle to keep their live show on the road". In 2019, Middleton ranked 41 in UK's Top 100 Influencer List by ''

The Sunday Times ''The Sunday Times'' is a British newspaper whose circulation makes it the largest in Britain's quality press market category. It was founded in 1821 as ''The New Observer''. It is published by Times Newspapers Ltd, a subsidiary of News UK, w ...

'', which also estimated Middleton's net worth to be £25 million.

MC Championship

Personal life

Middleton married his girlfriend, Jemma, in March 2013. Their first son, Asher, was born on 5 January 2020. Their second son, Miles, was born on 22 November 2022.

Filmography

Film

Television

Video games

Awards and nominations

* Guinness World Record for "Most goals scored in a game of ''

Rocket League ''Rocket League'' is a vehicular soccer video game developed and published by Psyonix. The game was first released for Windows and PlayStation 4 in July 2015, with ports for Xbox One and Nintendo Switch being released later on. In June ...

'' for a team of 2" (shared with Tom "Syndicate" Cassell) and "Most goals scored in a game of Rocket League (team of three)". * Guinness World Record for "Most views for a dedicated

video channel". * Nickelodeon Kids' Choice Awards in the category UK Favourite Tipster: 2015 and

2016 File:2016 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Bombed-out buildings in Ankara following the 2016 Turkish coup d'état attempt; the Impeachment of Dilma Rousseff, impeachment trial of Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff; Damaged houses duri ...

. * Nickelodeon Kids' Choice Awards in the category UK Favourite Gamer 2020.

Publications

* *

Notes

References

External links

* * * {{authority control 1991 births 21st-century English male writers 21st-century English novelists English male voice actors English male web series actors English YouTubers Let's Players Living people Mass media people from Aldershot Video game commentators Twitch (service) streamers YouTube channels launched in 2012 Gaming YouTubers Commentary YouTubers People from Wellingborough Minecraft YouTubers