Alfie Deyes
Deyes in 2014
Born
Alfred Sidney Deyes

(1993-09-17) 17 September 1993[1]
Enfield, London, England
Occupations
  • YouTuber
  • vlogger
  • businessman
Partner(s)Zoe Sugg (2012–present; engaged)
Children2
YouTube information
Years active2009–present
Subscribers4.68 million (main)
3.64 million (vlogs)
1.56 million (games)
Total views510 million (main)
1.07 billion (vlogs)
216 million (games)
100,000 subscribers2011
1,000,000 subscribers2013
Last updated: 14 November 2022

Alfred Sidney Deyes (born 17 September 1993)[1] is an English YouTuber, vlogger and businessman. On 4 September 2014, he released his first book, The Pointless Book. Since 2014, he has released three books in the Pointless Book series and one autobiography.

Early life

Deyes was born in the London Borough of Enfield. His family relocated to Brighton, East Sussex when he was four years old.[2] Deyes was educated at Varndean School in Brighton and then attended Varndean College,[3] achieving the grades he needed to go to university.[2] Despite being offered a place, Deyes chose to defer university and take a gap year in order to spend time travelling. Subsequently, at the end of his gap year, he chose not to attend university and continue pursuing his successful YouTube career. From age 11 to 14, Deyes participated in competitive gymnastics.[2]

Career

YouTube

Deyes started his PointlessBlog YouTube channel in 2009. As of November 2022, the channel has over 4.6 million subscribers and over 510 million views on YouTube.[4][5] His vlogging channel has 3.6 million subscribers and over 1 billion views, while his gaming channel has over 1.5 million subscribers and over 216 million views.[6] He also has a following of 4.8 million followers on Twitter and 3.7 million followers on Instagram.[5] He was named by Yahoo! News as one of "12 Web-savvy entrepreneurs to watch" in December 2013,[7] and was featured on the cover of the January 2014 edition of Company magazine for the "Generation YouTube" feature.[8][9]

Deyes has collaborated with a number of other YouTubers, including Tanya Burr, Louis Cole, Louise Pentland, Grace Helbig, Tyler Oakley, Troye Sivan, Miranda Sings, Joe Sugg, Zoe Sugg and Jim Chapman. He also created a couple of videos with Ariana Grande for the You Generation network on YouTube.[10] He currently stars, along with a number of other YouTubers, in the Style Haul series The Crew, described by teen website Sugarscape.com as "the male version of Loose Women, but a bit less pervy".[11][12]

In 2013, Deyes was a member of the "Guinness World Records OMG!" channel (GWRomg) and held a number of world records, including "Most bangles put on in 30 seconds by a team of two", along with YouTubers Marcus Butler and 'Laurbubble' (which they still hold); and "Most party poppers popped in 30 seconds" with a count of 29, beating the previously set record by 1 (he subsequently lost this to Ashrita Furman in October 2013), and filling the most pancakes in one minute, with chocolate sauce and bananas, which was 7.[13][14][15]

Deyes was included in the 2015 Debrett's 500, listing the most influential people in Britain, under the New Media category.[16] In 2018, Deyes uploaded a video to his YouTube channel called "Living on £1 for 24 hours" in which his aim was to spend only £1 for a full day. He received criticism from viewers and the media[17] who claimed that Deyes was making a mockery of poverty, both in his language used and the fact he did things such as going shopping for clothes during the video, continuing to use luxury items such as his car and was given free food after being recognised. On 18 June 2018, Deyes uploaded a video to his vlogging channel titled "Lets talk about the £1 video", in which he apologised for his actions and claimed he did not mean to mock poverty.[18][19] He subsequently removed the original video from YouTube and donated all revenue from that video to charity.[20]

Published works

Deyes signed a book deal with Blink Publishing in 2014, with his debut book The Pointless Book due for release in September of the same year.[21][22][23] The book is part journal, part activity book and includes a free downloadable app and social media integration.[21][22][23] It has been unfavourably compared to Keri Smith's 2007 book Wreck This Journal,[24] which contained some similar ideas.[25][26][27] Rhik Samadder, for The Guardian, stated "It's a bit like the activity sheets given to children in museums and on planes to keep them quiet. Most of the pages are largely blank, containing instructions to "Draw a selfie" or "Fill this page in with whatever you want!", and found that while "It may not be Moby Dick", he stated that "the Pointless Book is a canny piece of merchandising."[28]

A sequel to The Pointless Book, The Pointless Book 2, was released on 26 March 2015 and features similar content.[29] It became the second best selling non-fiction book in its first week of release.[30]

Deyes released a standalone autobiography, The Scrapbook Of My Life, on 24 March 2016. In 2017, Deyes announced a third and final book in the Pointless Book series titled The Pointless Book 3. It was released on 13 July 2017.[31]

Music

Deyes appeared on the 2014 single "Do They Know It's Christmas?" as part of the Band Aid 30 charity supergroup, raising money for the Ebola virus epidemic in West Africa.[32][33]

Deyes was part of the 'YouTube Boyband' that raised money for Comic Relief.[34][35][36]

Business interests

Deyes is the director of PointlessBlog Ltd[37] and Pointless Holdings Ltd,[38] alongside Dominic Smales (CEO of Gleam Futures, a digital talent management company).[39] In October 2020, Deyes and Sugg were announced as "ambassadors" promoting A Good Company, a maker of sustainable products.[40]

Personal life

He has been in a relationship with fellow YouTube star Zoe Sugg, known publicly as Zoella, since October 2012.[41][42] In early 2013, Deyes moved into a flat in London, with YouTuber Caspar Lee. Deyes moved back to Brighton in autumn 2013, eventually moving into a house with Sugg in October 2014. Shortly after moving in together, Deyes and Sugg bought a black pug named Nala.[43] In June 2017, the couple upgraded to a larger five-bedroom house,[44] which had been purchased in July 2015 and renovated over several months.[45] Sugg and Deyes have a daughter born in August 2021,[46] and a second daughter born in December 2023.[47]

Awards and nominations

Year Nominated Award Result Ref.
2014 "Ariana Does My Makeup" with Ariana Grande Teen Choice Award for Choice Web Collaboration Nominated
2015 Nickelodeon Kid's Choice Awards UK Favourite Vlogger Nominated [48][49]
2015 BBC Radio 1 Teen Awards Best British Vlogger Nominated

References

  1. 1 2 Berry, Jo (2015). The Alfie & Zoella A-Z: The Unofficial Ultimate Guide to the Vlogging Super-Couple. Orion. p. 12. ISBN 978-1-4091-6101-1.
  2. 1 2 3 Deyes, Alfie (21 April 2013). "Draw My Life | PointlessBlog". YouTube. Archived from the original on 25 February 2020. Retrieved 10 May 2020.
  3. ↑ "Varndean College on Twitter". Twitter. Retrieved 16 May 2018.
  4. ↑ "PointlessBlog YouTube Channel Stats, Subscriber Statistics, Ranking". Vidstatsx.com. Archived from the original on 22 October 2016. Retrieved 22 April 2015.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: unfit URL (link)
  5. 1 2 Cullen, Clare (18 February 2014). "What's trending on Twitter today – and why". Irish Independent. Dublin. Archived from the original on 13 March 2014. Retrieved 13 March 2014.
  6. ↑ "PointlessBlogTv YouTube Channel Stats, Subscriber Statistics, Ranking". Vidstatsx.com. Archived from the original on 22 October 2016. Retrieved 22 April 2015.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: unfit URL (link)
  7. ↑ "Alfie Deyes | 12 Web-savvy entrepreneurs to watch". Yahoo! News. 24 December 2013. Archived from the original on 3 July 2015. Retrieved 13 March 2014.
  8. ↑ "January Issue Of Company – Out Now!". Company. Archived from the original on 13 March 2014. Retrieved 13 March 2014.
  9. ↑ Cox, Lizzie (11 December 2013). "YouTubers Zoella, Alfie Deyes, Tanya Burr and more star in shoot for Company Magazine – pics and behind the scenes videos". Sugarscape.com. Archived from the original on 11 March 2014. Retrieved 13 March 2014.
  10. ↑ Wood, Lucy (31 October 2013). "Ariana Grande does YouTuber Alfie Deyes' makeup, and it ain't pretty (but it is funny)". Sugarscape.com. Archived from the original on 11 March 2014. Retrieved 13 March 2014.
  11. ↑ Weinger, Erin (3 December 2013). "FremantleMedia North America Partners With StyleHaul on Multi-Series, Multi-Year Deal". The Hollywood Reporter. Archived from the original on 20 February 2014. Retrieved 13 March 2014.
  12. ↑ Fole, Linds (12 January 2014). "YouTubers Alfie Deyes, Caspar Lee, Jim Chapman and Marcus Butler talk relationships on new blokey chat show The Crew". Sugarscape.com. Archived from the original on 13 March 2014. Retrieved 13 March 2014.
  13. ↑ Molloy, Mark (29 December 2012). "Party popping Guinness World Record broken | Metro News". Metro. Archived from the original on 13 March 2014. Retrieved 13 March 2014.
  14. ↑ "Revealed – The YouTube personalities joining our new channel Guinness World Records: OMG!". Guinness World Records. 11 October 2012. Archived from the original on 13 March 2014. Retrieved 13 March 2014.
  15. ↑ "Most party poppers popped in 30 seconds". Guinnessworldrecords.com. 2 October 2013. Archived from the original on 13 March 2014. Retrieved 13 March 2014.
  16. ↑ Watson, Leon (25 January 2015). "Zoella and Alfie feature in Debrett's 500 most influential people in Britain". The Daily Telegraph. London. Archived from the original on 28 January 2015. Retrieved 29 January 2015.
  17. ↑ Reid, Rebecca (18 June 2018). "Alfie Deyes '£1 challenge' accidentally makes a good point about food & poverty". Metro. Archived from the original on 17 August 2019. Retrieved 10 May 2020.
  18. ↑ Alfie Deyes Vlogs (18 June 2018). "Lets talk about the £1 video". YouTube. Archived from the original on 17 August 2019. Retrieved 10 May 2020.
  19. ↑ "Alfie Deyes is mocked for saying he's 'not a Tory' in apology video". BBC News. 19 June 2018. Archived from the original on 23 November 2019. Retrieved 10 May 2020.
  20. ↑ Pearce, Tilly (18 June 2018). "Alfie Deyes brands controversial £1 challenge video 'f***ing stupid' as he apologises and vows to donate proceeds to charity". Metro. Retrieved 3 July 2023.
  21. 1 2 Carpenter, Caroline (20 July 2010). "Blink signs YouTube star". The Bookseller. Retrieved 18 August 2014.
  22. 1 2 DeSimone, Evan (15 August 2014). "PointlessBlog Brings You The Pointless Book". NewMediaRockstars. Archived from the original on 19 August 2014. Retrieved 18 August 2014.
  23. 1 2 Whalen, Andrew (15 August 2014). "The Pointless Book Announced: PointlessBlog YouTuber Alfie Deyes To Release Book". IBT Media. Archived from the original on 19 August 2014. Retrieved 18 August 2014.
  24. ↑ Keri Smith (2007). Wreck this Journal: To Create is to Destroy. Perigee Book. ISBN 978-0-399-53346-4.
  25. ↑ "Oh my Deyes". Private Eye. No. 1377. London. 17 October 2014. p. 27.
  26. ↑ Nurjehan Mohamed (23 September 2014). "The point of pointlessness". The Rakyat Post. Kuala Lumpur. Archived from the original on 5 May 2016. Retrieved 4 December 2014.
  27. ↑ Morgan, Tom (20 October 2014). "Pointless Book reviews: The good, the bad and the ugly". Tube Chum. Archived from the original on 12 December 2014. Retrieved 4 December 2014.
  28. ↑ Samadder, Rhik (28 September 2014). "Alfie Deyes, the 21-year-old king of YouTube: 'He's normal, not like celebrities'". The Guardian. London. Archived from the original on 24 December 2014. Retrieved 4 December 2014.
  29. ↑ "Second Alfie Deyes book released early". The Bookseller. 24 March 2015. Archived from the original on 13 April 2015. Retrieved 13 April 2015.
  30. ↑ "Between the covers: What's really going on in the world of books". The Independent. London. 4 April 2015. Archived from the original on 5 July 2015. Retrieved 13 April 2015.
  31. ↑ Shafi, Sarah (18 November 2014). "Blink signs two more from YouTube star Alfie Deyes". The Bookseller. Archived from the original on 29 November 2014. Retrieved 24 November 2014.
  32. ↑ Petridis, Alexis (16 November 2014). "Do They Know It's Christmas review – in tune with non-musical times". The Guardian. London. Archived from the original on 29 November 2014. Retrieved 1 December 2014.
  33. ↑ Butterly, Amelia (16 November 2014). "Zoella talks 'surreal' experience of singing with Band Aid 30". BBC Newsbeat. Archived from the original on 21 November 2014. Retrieved 1 December 2014.
  34. ↑ Dobbins, Amanda (21 April 2014). "Meet the YouTube Boy Band". Vulture. Archived from the original on 6 October 2014. Retrieved 4 December 2014.
  35. ↑ Dredge, Stuart (21 March 2014). "YouTube Boy Band's cover version of It's All About You becomes viral hit". The Guardian. Archived from the original on 20 April 2014. Retrieved 3 December 2014.
  36. ↑ "Marcus Butler, Alfie Deyes, Joe Sugg, Jim Chapman and Caspar Lee are The YouTube Boyband for Sport Relief". Sugarscape.com. 10 March 2014. Archived from the original on 7 April 2014. Retrieved 3 December 2014.
  37. ↑ "POINTLESSBLOG LIMITED - Overview". Companies House. Archived from the original on 10 February 2019. Retrieved 9 February 2019.
  38. ↑ "POINTLESS HOLDINGS LTD - Overview". Companies House. Archived from the original on 10 February 2019. Retrieved 9 February 2019.
  39. ↑ "Gleam Futures". Archived from the original on 10 February 2019. Retrieved 9 February 2019.
  40. ↑ "Become an ambassador". A Good Company. Retrieved 12 October 2020.
  41. ↑ "Alfie Deyes on Twitter". Twitter. Retrieved 16 May 2018.
  42. ↑ "Zalfie". Blog at zoella.co.uk. 11 August 2013. Archived from the original on 13 August 2013.
  43. ↑ "Nala Arrives Home". Youtube. 30 November 2014. Archived from the original on 30 December 2017. Retrieved 15 May 2018.
  44. ↑ "You NEED To See Inside Zoella's Fabulous New House..." InStyle. 12 August 2017. Archived from the original on 19 February 2015. Retrieved 15 May 2018.
  45. ↑ MoreZoella (5 December 2017), WE BOUGHT TWO CHRISTMAS TREES! | VLOGMAS Timestamp: 27:00, archived from the original on 5 December 2017, retrieved 16 May 2018
  46. ↑ Seddon, Dan (31 August 2021). "Zoe Sugg and Alfie Deyes welcome their first child". Digital Spy. (Hearst Magazines UK). Retrieved 8 September 2021.
  47. ↑ Pankhurst, Isobel (11 December 2023). "Zoe Sugg gives birth and unveils unique baby name". Ok!. Retrieved 11 December 2023.
  48. ↑ "One Direction, Zoella & Ed Sheeran Nominated For Kids' Choice Awards! | MTV UK". Archived from the original on 22 February 2015. Retrieved 10 September 2017.
  49. ↑ "Kids' Choice Awards nominees announced". Digital Spy. 20 February 2015. Archived from the original on 31 August 2017. Retrieved 10 September 2017.
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