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WillNE

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From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

WillNE
Lenney at the Web Summit 2025
Born
William Jonathan Lenney[1]

(1996-03-11) 11 March 1996 (age 30)
Newcastle-upon-Tyne, England
EducationLoughborough University
OccupationYouTuber
YouTube information
Channel
Years active2012–present
Genres
  • Comedy
  • Commentary
  • Entertainment
Subscribers
  • 5.32 million (main channel)
  • 7.91 million (combined)[a]
Views
  • 937 million (main channel)
  • 1.7 billion (combined)[b]
Last updated: 17 June 2026

William Jonathan Lenney (born 11 March 1996), known online as WillNE, is a British YouTuber and internet personality. He is known for commentary and reaction videos focused on internet culture, varied entertainment content, and for co-founding the iced coffee company Rodd's alongside close friend and frequent collaborator James Marriott.

Lenney began uploading videos to YouTube in the early 2010s, beginning with gaming-related content before moving to commentary videos. His work grew in popularity through commentary and comedic analysis of online trends, before later pivoting into more varied entertainment content including travel and challenge videos.


Early life

Lenney was born in Newcastle-upon-Tyne[citation needed] on 11 March 1996[2] and grew up in Monkseaton,[3] Whitley Bay, England.[4] At the age of 14, he began filming videos as a hobby.[4]

He graduated Whitley Bay High School[5], and began studying automotive engineering at Loughborough University.[4]

Career

Lenney uploaded his first video to YouTube in April 2012, at the age of 16.[6] He continued filming videos when starting in Loughborough University in the fall of 2015. He disliked his engineering coursework, and struggled through his first year at university.[4] After finishing his homework for the night, he would often film YouTube videos for hours on end. By the end of his first year in university, Lenney had amassed 15,000 subscribers on the platform.[4]

The summer after his first year, Lenney posted a video documenting Blackpool Grime Media, a grime music group for child rappers. His video on the poor skills of the child rappers went viral.[4] His channel exploded, and he made several follow-up videos, each gaining more and more traction.

By the end of that summer, Lenney's channel had grown to over 250,000 subscribers, and he was being recognized in public. Seeing his success, his parents encouraged him to take time off of university.[4] That September, Lenney dropped out of university to pursue content creation full-time.[4]

Lenney's channel continued to grow in popularity as he continued to produce commentary videos and expanded into broader entertainment-style videos. In November 2018, Lenney attempted to fool various UK-based tabloid media companies into believing that he would be a contestant on I'm a Celebrity...Get Me Out of Here!. The campaign was partially successful, with several organisations, including OK! Magazine and Metro, printing stories on the rumours before the full cast of the series was revealed.[7] In 2019, Lenney went on a This Week On The Internet Live tour with fellow YouTuber Stephen Tries.[8] In February 2023, Lenney revived This Week On The Internet before shutting it down in August 2023.[9] In April 2020, Lenney co-launched a joint channel Eboys [10] with ImAllexx, James Marriott, and Memeulous. The group disbanded in April 2021.[11]

Lenney frequently participates in various football-related endeavors. Since 2017, Lenney has participated in the Sidemen Charity Matches, hosted by the Sidemen. He plays for the Youtube Allstars and scored a goal in both the 2022 and 2026 matches.[12][13][14][15][16] In December 2021, Lenney participated in a five-a-side football tournament hosted by Twitch and fellow YouTuber TrueGeordie that raised money for the Alan Shearer Foundation.[17] The event raised more than £100,000.[18]

As his channel matured, Lenney moved reaction content to his second channel, "More WillNE", and focused his main channel on more complex projects. In a November 2023 video, Lenney conducted a social experiment comparing honesty across ten UK cities to examine stereotypes surrounding the North–South divide in England. Using bank details displayed on billboards, unattended bicycles, and lost wallets, his experiment ranked Cardiff as the most honest city and Glasgow second while London appeared to be the least honest.[19][20][21]

In January 2024, Lenney became a co-owner of Quadrant Esports, a content creation and apparel brand founded by Lando Norris.[22]

A Cold Brew Oat Latte bottle of Rodd's

In May 2025, Lenney co-founded iced coffee company Rodd's with close friend and frequent collaborator James Marriott.[23] Advertised as "iced coffee in a bottle that tastes like iced coffee not in a bottle",[24] the brand debuted exclusively in the United Kingdom at 300 Sainsbury's stores.[25] In its first year, the brand surpassed £3 million in retail sales and launched six SKUs.[25] [26] Rodd’s rapidly expanded from 300 Sainsbury’s stores to nationwide Sainsbury supermarket distribution within six months, while also launching in Sainsbury’s Meal Deals, convenience, and forecourts, as well as expanding distribution through Ocado and food-to-go operator Sandwich Sandwich.[25][27]

In a 2026 article with the Tea & Coffee Trade Journal, Lenney discussed next steps for the brand: "Now it’s about scaling Rodd’s properly. Heading into summer, we’re backing it with serious investment – sampling and out-of-home activity – getting it in front of people in the real world so visibility keeps pace with the demand we’re already seeing on the shelf."[25]

Personal life

Lenney has reflex anoxic seizures and has seizures at the sight or discussion of gore. He does not have seizures in places where he is comfortable but does in places where he cannot easily leave such as movie theatres and classrooms. He had a seizure at Cody Ko's live show in early 2020.[28]

He currently lives in London.[29]

Notes

  1. ↑ Subscribers, broken down by channel:
    5.32 million (WillNE)
    2.54 million (More WillNE)
    58.4 thousand (WillNE Shorts)
  2. ↑ Views, broken down by channel:
    937 million (WillNE)
    763 million (More WillNE)
    3.2 million (WillNE Shorts)

References

  1. ↑ Haliti, Lum (1 December 2025). "Man puts bank details on billboards across UK to discover where the money would be spent first". Joe. Retrieved 9 March 2026.
  2. ↑ Lenny, William Jonathon [@willne] (11 March 2017). "21, all a bit mad, here's me and my day in the garden this morning. ❤ (ty x nortfx)" (Tweet). Retrieved 10 March 2026 – via Twitter.
  3. ↑ "Famous People from Whitley Bay". whitleybay.live. 25 May 2026. Retrieved 14 June 2026.
  4. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 Zadeh, Joe; Bethell, Chris (22 February 2018). "The Lonely Life of a Professional YouTuber". Vice. Archived from the original on 8 October 2020. Retrieved 6 October 2020.
  5. ↑ WillNE | Cambridge Union, 9 April 2023, retrieved 25 June 2026
  6. ↑ "WillNE". YouTube. Retrieved 14 June 2026.
  7. ↑
  8. ↑ Woods, Jamie (21 April 2019). "Gig Review: This Week On The Internet Live". Insanity Radio 103.2FM. Archived from the original on 22 April 2019. Retrieved 12 October 2020.
  9. ↑ "This Week On The Internet". Spotify. Retrieved 5 July 2023.
  10. ↑ O’Driscoll, Aoife (21 April 2023). "YouTuber Memeulous: 'I'm better off not showing my face'". Varsity.
  11. ↑ "We'd Like to thank you for your support over the year". Twitter. Eboys. 30 April 2021. Retrieved 19 July 2021.
  12. ↑ Stolworthy, Jacob (9 September 2023). "Sidemen FC charity football match: Which YouTubers will be playing and how can I watch?". The Independent. Retrieved 23 May 2024.
  13. ↑ Polhamus, Blaine (24 September 2022). "Sidemen Charity Match 2022: Winners, highlights, and funds raised". Dot Esports. Retrieved 23 May 2024.
  14. ↑ O'DELL, LIAM (4 June 2018). "Sidemen FC Win 7-1 In Football Match Against YouTube Allstars". TenEightyMagazine. Retrieved 23 May 2024.
  15. ↑ GILLARD, SAM. "Creators to Participate in Sidemen Charity Football Match". TenEightyMagazine. Retrieved 23 May 2024.
  16. ↑ "Sidemen FC vs. YouTube All Stars Player Ratings: Miniminter Leads Epic Wembley Comeback". Sports Illustrated. 18 April 2026. Retrieved 24 June 2026.
  17. ↑ Brown, Andy (7 December 2021). "Twitch Rivals hosts charity football stream with some famous faces". NME. Retrieved 20 June 2024.
  18. ↑ thekickofftg (9 December 2021). "WOW! An incredible £100,000 raised today for the @AlanShearerFndn👏Thank you so much to everybody who watched + donated today, it's fantastic to raise such a big amount for such a great cause ..." Twitter. Retrieved 30 April 2024.
  19. ↑ "Man puts bank details on billboards in cities across UK to discover where the money would be spent first". JOE. 1 December 2025. Retrieved 25 June 2026.
  20. ↑ "YouTube star says Glasgow is one of the most honest cities after posting bank details on billboard". Glasgow Live. 6 December 2023. Retrieved 25 June 2026.
  21. ↑ "YouTuber put his bank details on billboards across the UK to see which city was the most honest". UNILAD Tech. 16 June 2024. Retrieved 25 June 2026.
  22. ↑ "Lando Norris' Quadrant adds YouTuber WillNE as co-owner in seven-figure investment round". BlackBook Motorsport. 23 January 2024. Retrieved 19 June 2026.
  23. ↑ Reporter, Niamh Curran (30 April 2025). "YouTube stars enter the cool world of coffee". The Times. Retrieved 4 May 2025.
  24. ↑ "Rodd's". Rodd's. Retrieved 21 July 2026.
  25. 1 2 3 4 "Rodd's surpasses £3m in sales in its first year & debuts its sixth SKU". Tea and Coffee Trade Journal. 18 May 2026. Retrieved 21 July 2026.
  26. ↑ "How two YouTube stars built a £3m coffee brand in a year". The Times. 3 July 2026. Retrieved 22 July 2026.
  27. ↑ "Rodd's Iced Coffee hits £3m sales milestone". The Grocer. Retrieved 28 July 2026.
  28. ↑ Why WillNE Was REMOVED From A CodyKo Live Show, 5 December 2020, retrieved 27 December 2023
  29. ↑ Wolfson, Sam (19 October 2019). "'All the hood rats would jam with us': Grandmaster Flash, AJ Tracey and other artists on the generation gap". The Guardian. Archived from the original on 10 October 2020. Retrieved 7 October 2020.
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