ThuJan 30

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YouTube Star

Phil Lester

January 30, 2025

Fast Facts
Background
Career Timeline
Why We Love
Surprising Facts
FAQs

From being a car washer to one of the U.K.’s most influential internet stars, Phil Lester, born on January 30, 1987, found his refuge on the internet. The awkward, internet-savvy teenager could only have success in his turf: social media, and in 2006 he uploaded his first vlog ever to YouTube on his “AmazingPhil” channel. Fast-forward 12 years, his audience grew to 4.2 million people. After meeting Dan Howell, a fundamental part of his career, the duo did collaborations that would entertain millions of subscribers. We know exactly why he is so appealing, so let’s celebrate his birthday.

Fast Facts

Full Name:

Phil Michael Lester

Nickname:

AmazingPhil, Philip, Philly, Mr Phillip, Phiru Senpai,

Birth date:

January 30, 1987

Age:

Zodiac Sign:

Aquarius

Height:

6' 2"

Net Worth:

$2 million

Background

The best thing that could have ever happened to his fans was Phil Lester getting bored on an afternoon in March 2006. Lester, born January 30, 1987, in England, decided one day that he was not going to write blogs this time but rather videotape them for a change, and so he did it, and thus began “AmazingPhil.” Like many in that first legion of YouTubers who uploaded videos out of fun, Phil Lester gives the impression of being a simple guy who is just being himself and doing what he does because he loves it and not for the money. That amounts to hours and hours of relatable content for teens and young adults alike. That’s what his first subscribers saw in his first vlog ever, published in 2006. Back then, as a YouTube pioneer, he had a few hundred subscribers and his videos were filmed with a cereal box toy camera. But maybe this was its attractiveness: our computer screen was turned into an honest and raw window into someone else’s life.

This vlogging seed was planted in the meantime, he attended Bacup and Rawtenstall Grammar School in Lancashire with his older brother Martyn. He then went to the University of York to study English and linguistics. In 2008, his love for all things film and a casual audition through MySpace landed him a role in the “Faintheart” comedy. After graduating with a master’s in video production in 2009, he moved to London and began working in different jobs including dog walker, car washer, and assistant at a veterinary clinic to sustain himself.

In 2009, 27,000 people had already subscribed to his channel, which enabled him to be featured many times on YouTube’s front page, and he was already positioning himself as one of the U.K’s prominent internet stars. He was loved due to his unconventional, weird-in-a-good-way, likable nerd persona and in 2010, hundreds of thousands of people were relating to his content and his character. After meeting Dan Howell, his career soared. The newly-formed duo created the “Super Amazing Project” collaborative channel in 2011 in which they talked about ghost stories and paranormal activity. In 2014, they created “DanAndPhilGames,” which became tremendously popular as they achieved one million subscribers in six months. Although he has been taking breaks from his internet activity in the past few years, Lester remains one of the most-loved English personalities. After millions and millions of views, we think it is well deserved.

Career timeline

2006

Lester Posts His First-ever Video

Although he makes it private, in February, he posts his first-ever video, “Awaiting The Tide.”

2007

Lester Lands a Movie Role

After auditioning through MySpace, the production team of “Faintheart” cast him to play a character named Tim.

2011

A Collaborative YouTube Channel

After meeting Dan Howell in 2009, they start a collaborative channel named “The Super Amazing Project” in which they talk about real-life horror stories.

2012

Radio Killed the Video Star

B.B.C. selects Lester and Howell to present Sunday night’s broadcast programming, which involves music videos, performing challenges live, and having song requests from the audience.

2014

His Gaming YouTube Channel Debuts

It is the fastest-growing channel at the time; it reaches one million subscribers in less than one year.

2015

Lester Features in a Disney Film

He has a voice cameo in Disney’s “Big Hero 6.”

2019

Among the 100 Top Influencers

“The Sunday Times” publishes a list of the U.K.’s top 100 influencers of 2019 and he is ranked 47th.

Why We Love Phil Lester

He is open to talking about sexuality
He came out to his friends and family. However, he came out to his YouTube audience in 2019, which was very brave.
He was part of fundraising campaigns
He participated in a 24-hour broadcast to support UNICEF. He also released the charity single ‘The Internet Is Here’ for Stand Up To Cancer.
He’s an introvert's activist
Self-described as “insecure nerds,” Lester and Howell went on a world tour. The aim was to show that anyone, including introverts, can achieve what they set out to do.

5 Surprising Facts

A combined viewership of over 1.3 billion
Combining all the views from “AmazingPhil,” “LessAmazingPhil,” and “DanAndPhilGAMES” totals over 1.3 billion reproductions and over eight million subscribers.
He majored in English and linguistics
Surely you weren’t expecting that your favorite YouTuber could give a class on William Shakespeare's ‘Hamlet’.
He worked at a vet clinic
He fainted the first time he saw dog’s blood, though, so a career as a veterinarian wouldn’t have lasted very long.
He created a table game
He designed “Dan and Phil’s Truth Bombs”, a game in which players must write something about the other players, and then they have to guess who said what.
He has written two books
He co-wrote “The Amazing Book Is Not on Fire,” which was released in 2015 and was on the “New York Times” young adult bestsellers list.

Phil Lester FAQs

Are Dan Howell and Phil Lester still together?

In June 202,1 they bought a home together. Lester has admitted that they had been romantically engaged in the past, but they haven’t disclosed their current status.

When were Dan Howell and Phil Lester popular?

They reached peak popularity in 2015 after they created two new channels and they reached the million-hit mark in less than a year.

How did Dan Howell and Phil Lester meet?

They first met on the internet after Howell discovered Lester’s solo channel in 2009 while Howell hadn’t yet started his channel. Howell constantly messaged Lester through Twitter and then they chatted on Skype.