George Clarke profile: How the influencer's army of fans could help him win Strictly Come Dancing
Katherine Sidnell | 10:02am Sat 20 SepGeorge Clarke has a huge online fanbase and, for those who don’t know who he is, he’s hoping Strictly Come Dancing will also make him household name.
The Strictly contestant is taking to the BBC ballroom alongside 14 other celebrities this autumn in the hope of bagging the coveted Glitterball Trophy.
Given the millions of fans who already support him, albeit the younger generation, he is even being tipped as the favourite to win. But who is George Clarke? Here’s everything you need to know about the Strictly Come Dancing contestant.
What is George Clarke famous for?
George Clarke was born on December 3rd 1999, which makes him 25. He is one of the youngest contestants on Strictly this year. George is just two years older than fellow Strictly star and activist, Ellie Goldstein, who is the youngest.
Growing up in Bristol with his parents and older sister Emily, George studied Exercise and Sports Science at the University of Exeter. But his career now is far away from that.
George’s life changed forever when he began posting gaming and reaction videos on TikTok and YouTube. His hobby has now become a full-time career, with George working with YouTube mega-stars, including KSI and the Sidemen.
How many followers does George Clarke have?
George’s big break came in 2019 when he began posting on TikTok with the user name @georgeclarkeey. As he shared his love of gaming and hilarious reaction videos, he quickly gained an impressive following. The content creator now has more than 2.3 million followers on the app.
This isn’t the only place where George has found a following, though. His YouTube channel has a staggering 48 million views to date. Posting under the name @georgeclarkey, the influencer has over 614,000 subscribers who regularly watch his reaction videos. This includes a recent clip of himself laughing at old Strictly Come Dancing fails. (Hopefully, that doesn’t come back to haunt him!)
George is also co-host of The Useless Hotline Podcast, which began in 2022. The tongue-in-cheek pod sees George and fellow influencer Max Balegde answer listeners’ dilemmas, no matter how small or weird.
With guest stars including Canadian comedian Katherine Ryan and US pop star Jojo Siwa, the podcast is hilarious. It’s definitely one to binge if you find yourself rooting for him on Strictly.
How did George Clarke meet the Sidemen?
With millions watching his videos, it is no surprise that George caught the eye of other influencers as well.
Surprisingly, though, it was a face-to-face meeting that finally brought George and the Sidemen together. The 25-year-old was selected to play in Sidemen’s 2025 charity football alongside founder members KSI and Miniminter.
Playing in front of 90,000 fans at the iconic Wembley Stadium, it seems the YouTuber was just as impressive in person. Playing for Sideman FC, the team lost by a single penalty to the YouTube All Stars team.
It is clear that the influencer has a sporty side, and this should be an advantage on the dance floor.
Betting site Oddschecker is already anticipating that George will do well on Strictly – with 9/1 odds that he will win the series. This might have something to do with his enormous army of social media fans!
Is George Clarke related to architect George Clarke?
Having spotted a George Clarke among this year’s Strictly line-up, fans would be forgiven for wondering if he is related to the TV presenter, George Clarke. Many even questioned whether the duo were father and son.
In fact, the influencer George Clarke only shares his name with The Restoration Man and George Clarke Amazing Spaces presenter. But Strictly’s George Clarke does have a showbiz connection.
George’s dad is Sean Clarke, the current managing director of Aardman Animations. This is the studio house behind Wallace and Gromit. The influencer’s dad has been with the firm since 1998 and oversees Aardman’s most iconic characters, including Shaun the Sheep. George, who even named his pet mouse Gromit, after the studio’s debut character.
Who is George Clarke dating?
It was widely wondered for a while whether George was dating anyone. Then, in a recent episode of The Useless Podcast, he went public with his girlfriend, Yasmin Amelia.
It seems Yasmin has also built a name for herself in the entertainment industry. She has over 35,000 followers on Instagram. In addition to this, the influencer is also represented by model agents, J’adore Models.
But despite their online fame, they keep very tight-lipped about their relationship. George previously dodged questions about his love life, telling fans: “That’s part of the reason why we wanted to say something. Because the two options were to say something. You have full control over how it comes out.
“Whatever you say is basically how people find out, or it stays private. [It] just sort of takes all the control out of your hands. But then, I [will] just go on stream after that and be like, that’s not true, by the way. But, yeah, she’s my girlfriend.”
The YouTuber went on to confirm they had only been dating for month. Don’t expect videos of the loved-up couple on social media either.
George added: “I’ve always said, if I did have a relationship, I wouldn’t want it to be a public thing. But I feel like it’s just a nicer feeling to have it be known and be private. As opposed to it being a complete secret.”
Strictly fans are no doubt waiting to see if Yasmin will be in the live studio audience each week.
