Meet the 23-year-old Welsh lad with 8.4 million Facebook followers – more than the Prime Minister, Ant and Dec and Robbie Williams
Ben has become a viral sensation thanks to what he calls "mucking about" on video
HE may look like a typical young bloke - but this cheeky chap has the sort of following most celebrities can only dream of.
Ben Phillips, a 23-year-old bloke from Bridgend, has become a viral sensation thanks to what he calls "mucking about" on video.
The Welsh lad is hugely popular on social media, with a Facebook following of 8.4 million - a figure far greater than that of Theresa May, Ant and Dec, Simon Cowell, Cheryl Fernandez Versini and Robbie Williams.
What's more, he has amassed 1.4 million YouTube subscribers and 1.3 million Instagram followers, estimating that his videos have been viewed three billion times in the last month.
Not bad for someone who only started filming videos two years ago.
When Ben started out on Vine, he had no idea that his videos would go down so well, but today his jokey clips have amassed an incredible 350 million loops.
He has attracted the attention of huge brands thanks to the popularity of his six-second videos, and reportedly earned £12,000 for one video as part of a sponsorship deal with Ford Europe.
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He told : "I never thought that a group of Welsh guys mucking about with a camera would attract millions of people.
"Two years ago I was working in my mum’s shoe shop in Bridgend and was just making videos for a laugh."
And it only took a year for Ben to hit one million followers, thanks to the massive popularity of his prank videos, which feature him playing jokes on his best friend, Elliot Giles, 19.
Ben joked: "We are like Laurel and Hardy - if they had an iPhone.
“The best prank I ever did on him was when I put super glue in his hair gel before he went out on a date.
“The hairbrush got stuck to his hair and his hand and we had to take him to A&E in Bridgend. They didn’t know what to make of us.
“I couldn’t believe his reaction, he went absolutely nuts.”
Despite his viral fame, Ben has kept his feet firmly on the ground, saying: "What people don’t realise is I talk to people online just as much now as I did when I only had a couple of thousand followers.
"I’m no millionaire, by any standard. I still have a little panic when I have to pay to put more data on my iPhone.”
With a world tour in the pipeline, Ben highlights the new opportunities the internet has made available to everyone.
“To be a success online you’ve got to show people a way of life they’ve never seen before,” he said.
“When I started social media, I didn’t even know how to share a Facebook post. Anyone with a clear vision can do it.”