Ben Kelly-McLellan or 'Fudgy' has 1.5 million subscribers on YouTube
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When Ben Kelly-McLellan started creating YouTube gaming videos aged 11, he didn’t realise he was training for his future career. Now, ten years and 1.5 million subscribers later, under the YouTube name ‘Fudgy’, he’s just bought his first house and car from his YouTube earnings.
It all just started “for fun” according to the gaming whizz: “when I first started, I don’t think videos were even being monetised”. He was on and off YouTube from a young age, being busy playing sports and doing a lot of other things, but it was the one thing he always found himself coming back to.
As the years went on, he realised other creators were making a living from it – so why couldn’t he?
“I remember I was working my weekend job and I was earning more from YouTube than my weekend job. So, I was like get rid of the weekend job and I’ll have more time for YouTube”.
Ben started making YouTube videos aged 11.
Leaving his weekend job was not the only risk he had to take to follow the YouTube dream. He even quit college to devote more time to content creation.
“That was kinda like it’s either going to take off and I’m going to do this for a living or it’s going to go downhill and not go anywhere. So that was really risky but fortunately it didn’t go downhill. The risk paid off and it was at that point that I realised this is it now”.
Ben says it was hard for other people to understand his decision at that point in time.
“I would tell them about it – ‘Look I can do this for a living, I’m already doing it, things are going well’ – and they’d be like ‘Yeah but university, you know…education?’. It was a little bit hard for people to understand. Especially with YouTube being quite new, there’s not that many people that are doing it for a living so it is quite a rare thing, so I can understand people’s doubts”.
There are no doubts now, however, that Ben is good at what he does. He’s amassed 1.5 million subscribers on YouTube.
Asked if there’s one thing he would do differently if he could go back in time, he says he would take better care of himself: “With YouTube I was so focussed on creating content and trying to reach these the goals I’d set myself, I stopped going to the gym as much, I stopped looking after myself. That’s one of the biggest things I’d probably change, I’d sort my health out”.
“Luckily now, I’m going back to the gym and everything. I’ve got myself back to nearly where I was before because I put on quite a bit of weight doing YouTube. I was literally sat in my office all day pretty much, which didn’t help a lot”.
Ben points out that there are sacrifices aspiring YouTubers should know about. With thousands of hours of content being uploaded to YouTube every second, he says the job requires dedication to keep on top of the number of people doing the same thing. It’s also clear from Ben that it’s a gamble as to whether you’ll really ‘make it’ in the YouTube world.
“There were points when I was like there is a chance that this isn’t going to work and I’m not going to get anywhere with it and I’m going to waste my time”.
Despite this, Ben would not discourage others from pursuing a YouTube career. “At the end of the day, they should do what makes them happy and if YouTube is what makes them happy, they should do it”.
He’s also learnt a lot from the job. “When I first picked up the microphone, I was so underconfident, I barely knew how to talk to the camera or into a mic so building my confidence was very difficult for me and was something that was quite difficult to overcome”.
“I would watch other people’s content and they’d be younger than me and they’d be so natural and I’m looking at it like: how are they doing that? That’s not something that came naturally to me at all”.
When asked if he has plans for the future, Ben reflects: “I think about this quite a lot and it’s not a nice thought because I like where I am at the moment. Things are going well, I’m enjoying making content, I’m enjoying uploading to YouTube but unfortunately there’s going to be a time when all this stops”.
He’s aware of the short life span of internet platforms like YouTube. “YouTube could stop at any moment. The website could shut down for whatever reason, but my plan is to make videos for as long as I can”.
“We’ll see how long it lasts, hopefully I’ll be doing YouTube for a long time, but not until I’m 40″.
The thought of stopping makes him change his tune: “I don’t know maybe I’ll change my videos, maybe I’ll do fishing or something I don’t know. We’ll see. You never know.”
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HeadlineFudgy on becoming a YouTuber: ‘I stopped looking after myself’
Short HeadlineYouTuber Fudgy: 'I stopped looking after myself'
StandfirstYouTuber Fudgy speaks to Alex Hardie about quitting college, prioritising his health and the future of the video app
When Ben Kelly-McLellan started creating YouTube gaming videos aged 11, he didn’t realise he was training for his future career. Now, ten years and 1.5 million subscribers later, under the YouTube name ‘Fudgy’, he’s just bought his first house and car from his YouTube earnings.
It all just started “for fun” according to the gaming whizz: “when I first started, I don’t think videos were even being monetised”. He was on and off YouTube from a young age, being busy playing sports and doing a lot of other things, but it was the one thing he always found himself coming back to.
As the years went on, he realised other creators were making a living from it – so why couldn’t he?
“I remember I was working my weekend job and I was earning more from YouTube than my weekend job. So, I was like get rid of the weekend job and I’ll have more time for YouTube”.
Ben started making YouTube videos aged 11.
Leaving his weekend job was not the only risk he had to take to follow the YouTube dream. He even quit college to devote more time to content creation.
“That was kinda like it’s either going to take off and I’m going to do this for a living or it’s going to go downhill and not go anywhere. So that was really risky but fortunately it didn’t go downhill. The risk paid off and it was at that point that I realised this is it now”.
Ben says it was hard for other people to understand his decision at that point in time.
“I would tell them about it – ‘Look I can do this for a living, I’m already doing it, things are going well’ – and they’d be like ‘Yeah but university, you know…education?’. It was a little bit hard for people to understand. Especially with YouTube being quite new, there’s not that many people that are doing it for a living so it is quite a rare thing, so I can understand people’s doubts”.
There are no doubts now, however, that Ben is good at what he does. He’s amassed 1.5 million subscribers on YouTube.
Asked if there’s one thing he would do differently if he could go back in time, he says he would take better care of himself: “With YouTube I was so focussed on creating content and trying to reach these the goals I’d set myself, I stopped going to the gym as much, I stopped looking after myself. That’s one of the biggest things I’d probably change, I’d sort my health out”.
“Luckily now, I’m going back to the gym and everything. I’ve got myself back to nearly where I was before because I put on quite a bit of weight doing YouTube. I was literally sat in my office all day pretty much, which didn’t help a lot”.
Ben points out that there are sacrifices aspiring YouTubers should know about. With thousands of hours of content being uploaded to YouTube every second, he says the job requires dedication to keep on top of the number of people doing the same thing. It’s also clear from Ben that it’s a gamble as to whether you’ll really ‘make it’ in the YouTube world.
“There were points when I was like there is a chance that this isn’t going to work and I’m not going to get anywhere with it and I’m going to waste my time”.
Despite this, Ben would not discourage others from pursuing a YouTube career. “At the end of the day, they should do what makes them happy and if YouTube is what makes them happy, they should do it”.
He’s also learnt a lot from the job. “When I first picked up the microphone, I was so underconfident, I barely knew how to talk to the camera or into a mic so building my confidence was very difficult for me and was something that was quite difficult to overcome”.
“I would watch other people’s content and they’d be younger than me and they’d be so natural and I’m looking at it like: how are they doing that? That’s not something that came naturally to me at all”.
When asked if he has plans for the future, Ben reflects: “I think about this quite a lot and it’s not a nice thought because I like where I am at the moment. Things are going well, I’m enjoying making content, I’m enjoying uploading to YouTube but unfortunately there’s going to be a time when all this stops”.
He’s aware of the short life span of internet platforms like YouTube. “YouTube could stop at any moment. The website could shut down for whatever reason, but my plan is to make videos for as long as I can”.
“We’ll see how long it lasts, hopefully I’ll be doing YouTube for a long time, but not until I’m 40″.
The thought of stopping makes him change his tune: “I don’t know maybe I’ll change my videos, maybe I’ll do fishing or something I don’t know. We’ll see. You never know.”
