{"id":164608,"date":"2025-09-27T21:34:16","date_gmt":"2025-09-27T21:34:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/164608\/"},"modified":"2025-09-27T21:34:16","modified_gmt":"2025-09-27T21:34:16","slug":"george-clarke-influencer-swapping-youtube-for-the-dancefloor-on-strictly","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/164608\/","title":{"rendered":"George Clarke: Influencer swapping YouTube for the dancefloor on Strictly"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"IndependentCulture\"<\/p>\n

Get the latest entertainment news, reviews and star-studded interviews with our Independent Culture emailGet the latest entertainment news with our free Culture newsletter Get the latest entertainment news with our free Culture newsletter <\/p>\n

\"IndependentCulture\"<\/p>\n

British YouTube<\/a> star and podcaster George \u201cClarkey\u201d Clarke<\/a> was the sixth contestant announced for this year\u2019s Strictly Come Dancing<\/a> competition. <\/p>\n

Clarke, 25, said he was preparing to \u201cfall over a fair bit\u201d, adding: \u201cNever thought I\u2019d say this\u2026 but I\u2019m doing Strictly! Honestly, I\u2019ve got no idea what I\u2019m doing but I\u2019m excited to get stuck in.\u201d<\/p>\n

Born in 1999 and raised in Bristol, Clarke has emerged as one of the UK\u2019s most prominent young online influencers, building a following of more than 3 million fans across numerous platforms.<\/p>\n

After graduating from Exeter University, Clarke launched his TikTok account. His content typically sees him doing commentary and comedy sketches on topics such as entertainment, gaming and trends.<\/p>\n

In November 2022, Clarke launched The Useless Hotline Podcast alongside fellow TikTok star Max Balegde. The podcast follows a \u201cphone-in\/advice\u201d format, where listeners send in questions, dilemmas or stories, which Clarke and Balegde attempt to answer with humour and honesty.<\/p>\n

He has also collaborated with the YouTube superstars the Sidemen<\/a>, which includes Britain\u2019s Got Talent judge KSI<\/a>, on several projects such as their Netflix reality competition series Inside.<\/p>\n

\"ClarkeClarke joked \u2018I\u2019ve got no idea what I\u2019m doing\u2019 when he was confirmed for \u2018Strictly\u2019 (BBC)<\/p>\n

In addition to his video work, Clarke is an ambassador for the non-profit organisation Encephalitis International, which supports those who suffer from brain inflammation, which his mother has been diagnosed with. <\/p>\n

In his personal life, Clarke is dating model Yasmin Bennett. Earlier this year, he told fans on a livestream: \u201cI’ve been seeing someone for a little while, it’s been official for about a month and a half.<\/p>\n

\u201cI’ve always said I don’t want it to be, if I did have a relationship, I wouldn’t want it to be a public thing,\u201d he added. “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,\u201d he admitted.<\/p>\n

\"Apple<\/p>\n

Watch Apple TV+ free for 7 day<\/p>\n

New subscribers only. \u00a39.99\/mo. after free trial. Plan auto-renews until cancelled.<\/p>\n

Try for free<\/a><\/p>\n

ADVERTISEMENT. If you sign up to this service we will earn commission. This revenue helps to fund journalism across The Independent.<\/p>\n

\"Apple<\/p>\n

Watch Apple TV+ free for 7 day<\/p>\n

New subscribers only. \u00a39.99\/mo. after free trial. Plan auto-renews until cancelled.<\/p>\n

Try for free<\/a><\/p>\n

ADVERTISEMENT. If you sign up to this service we will earn commission. This revenue helps to fund journalism across The Independent.<\/p>\n

Clarke is the third YouTuber to compete on Strictly, following in the footsteps of Joe Sugg and Saffron Barker. <\/p>\n

Sugg competed on the 2018 edition of the show and finished as a runner-up with his dance partner Dianne Buswell. <\/p>\n

Barker joined the following year and was paired with AJ Pritchard. She was the ninth celebrity to be eliminated. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Get the latest entertainment news, reviews and star-studded interviews with our Independent Culture emailGet the latest entertainment news…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":164609,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[29],"tags":[96,391,56,54,55],"class_list":["post-164608","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-tv","tag-entertainment","tag-tv","tag-uk","tag-united-kingdom","tag-unitedkingdom"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/164608","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=164608"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/164608\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/164609"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=164608"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=164608"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=164608"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}