As a pre-teen, there was no greater joy than watching YouTube. Whether it was the vlogs of British 20-year-olds, odd challenges between Americans, or just a classic Q&A sesh, YouTubers had a chokehold on millions of kids around the world.
Today, we look back at five of the biggest e-celebs from the 2010s and find out what tf they are up to now.
What your favourite YouTubers from the 2010s are doing now
Zoella
In 2014, Zoella, real name Zoe Sugg, reached the pinnacle of British Youtuber-ship when she was crowned UK’s Favourite vlogger at the Nickelodeon Kids’ Choice Awards.
And despite not reaching that height again, Zoe Sugg seems to be living her best life. She and Alfie Deyes have one daughter together, Ottilie Rue Deyes (born 2021), and are expecting another one before the new year.
In 2017 she came under scrutiny for old tweets that played into gay stereotypes and engaged in slut-shaming, but she has since apologised and continues to make YouTube videos for a sizeable following. On her second channel (her main channel hasn’t been active in five years) she posts daily family vlogs and receives hundreds of thousands of views on each video.
She is also the co-author of the young adult murder mystery novel series ‘The Magpie Society’, as well as founding two separate apps - video editor ‘Filmmapp’ and IG story designer ‘Template’.
Jenna Marbles
After old videos surfaced of Jenna Marbles in blackface and rapping anti-Asian slander during 2020, she pretty much became invisible. She posted an apology video and announced she was leaving YouTube and has stood true to her word, as her channel is dead and her Instagram account is completely empty.
We do know she got married though. In December of 2022, her long-term partner Julien Solomita posted photos from their wedding to his Instagram account.
In January of 2023, there was a new story about a stalker breaking into the couple’s house (pretty crazy tbh), other than that (and what we get through Julain's YouTube videos) we don’t know much else about Jenna or her beautiful dogs
Tyler Oakley
Tyler Oakley now makes a living as a video game streamer on Twitch. He also co-hosts a pop-culture podcast called ‘Psychobabble’ and shares Spotify playlists he updates every month with his Instagram followers.
Last month, he posted a YouTube video all about what it's like being an online personality that has aged beyond their audience. He discusses how his following on the website perceives him differently than how he sees himself now and therefore is not really prioritising his YouTube channel.
In a recent interview with Advocate, Tyler shared that he is battling with depression and has been for a long time, dating back to middle school, but is somewhat comfortable with it now as he knows he is “doing the work and taking care of myself”.
Grace Helbig
One month ago, Grace Helbig announced she had been diagnosed with breast cancer. She assured fans that it is “super treatable and highly beatable” and has just begun documenting her chemo journey on her Instagram.
Until that point, Grace had been posting cooking videos on her main YouTube channel. On top of that, she co-owns a house you can rent at Coachella, is a voice actor on the HBO animated show 'Jellystone!’, and co-hosts the ‘This Might Get Weird’ podcast with Mamrie Hart.
A year ago today she married Elliot Morgan, a comedian and fellow YouTube personality, after three years together. She’s also got brains, having received a Master’s degree in ‘Depth Psychology and Creativity’ earlier this year.
Bethany Mota
Bethany Mota hasn’t posted on her 9.5 million subscriber-strong YouTube channel in eight months.
She recently hosted the first season of ‘Follow Me’, a reality show where “eight inspiring influencers compete and work with world-class brands to become the next big social media star”. In a 'Survivor'-esque twist, every week the contestant with the fewest followers is eliminated. Honestly not surprised a show like this exists.
In 2019 she started ‘Atom&Matter’, a “sustainably-made demi-fine” jewellery line. However, it seems it is no longer active as the brand’s official Instagram account hasn’t posted in nearly two years.
She has not been very active on social media, though judging from a couple of posts in the past year she is still with choreographer/dancer/YouTuber boyfriend Dominic Sandoval AKA D-Trix.
Just like we remembered to like, favourite and subscribe, we will always remember the YouTubers who had our undivided attention as we were growing up.
