Cristiano Ronaldo’s official YouTube channel has almost 67 million followers and is about to get a whole load more
Cristiano Ronaldo launched his official YouTube channel in August and it reached an astounding 20 million subscribers inside 24 hours. There are now more than 66 million and it looks as if Ronaldo has managed to pull the only trick likely to take that count and make it look insignificant.
The Portuguese superstar has teased a new guest who’s set to appear on his channel, telling former Manchester United teammate Rio Ferdinand that the secret star is more famous even than Ronaldo himself. That narrows down the possibilities. This being YouTube, one potential candidate in particular stands out.
“We are going to break the internet,” claims the teaser video. Elon Musk has only broken one social media platform so far and Kim Kardashian’s internet-breaking photographs are now ten years old. There’s only one way to break the internet via YouTube in 2024 and that’s to draft in the biggest YouTuber of all.
A very subtly redacted leaked photograph appears to show that Ronaldo has achieved exactly that. Ronaldo’s next guest will be MrBeast, whose colossal fame has been generated by an obsessive approach to YouTube video optimisation, a desire to flash the cash in the name of performative philanthropy and no branding stone left unturned.
MrBeast, whose real name is Jimmy Donaldson, has repeatedly revealed his wish to decouple his fame from YouTube but boasts a thriving channel with more than 330 million subscribers, by far the biggest on the platform. His most recent video attracted no fewer than 97 million views and a collaboration with Ronaldo makes so much business sense that it’s almost surprising it hasn’t already happened in the few months since Ronaldo joined YouTube.
Ronaldo has embraced YouTube as he approaches the end of an incredibly successful career at the age of 39. After more than 200 international caps and 135 Portugal goals and counting, and five Champions League wins, the chances of one of the world’s most famous football players not winning at YouTube in retirement are slim to nil.
