Submission 19,771

About

Dan Howell is a British YouTuber who maintains the vlog channel formerly known as danisnotonfire. Howell is known for cohosting the BBC radio shows Dan and Phil and The Internet Takeover along with fellow vlogger Phil Lester.

Online History

On October 16th, 2009, Howell uploaded his first YouTube video titled "Hello Internet," in which he announces plans to upload vlogs and comedy skits to the channel (shown below). In the first six years, the video gained over 1.8 million views and 12,900 comments.

On May 27th, 2010, Howell uploaded a video titled "AmazingDan," in which his friend and fellow YouTuber Phil Lester answer questions from viewers (shown below, left). In the next five years, the video received more than 3.1 million views and 14,200 comments. On March 8th, 2011, Howell uploaded another collaborative video with Lester, in which the pair demonstrate how to make British pancakes (shown below, right). Within four years, the video garnered upwards of 3.5 million views and 28,500 comments.

On October 19th, 2012, Howell uploaded a video titled "How to Speak Internet", in which he presents various Internet slang terms along with YouTubers Jack and Finn Harries (shown below, left). Within three years, the video gained over 10 million views and 78,000 comments. On November 10th, 2013, Howell uploaded a "Photo Booth challenge" video guest starring Phil Lester, garnering more than 8.7 million views and 28,00 comments in two years (shown below, right). Howell and Lester also wrote a book compiling their time together on the internet and the things they created, titled The Amazing Book Is Not on Fire.^[5]

Dan and Phil Show

In January 2013, Howell and Lester began hosting the BBC Radio 1 Request Show, which featured Internet news segments, interviews and music videos. The show was later renamed Dan and Phil and was broadcast until August 2014.

The Internet Takeover Show

In September 2014, Howell began appearing as a presenter on the BBC radio show The Internet Takeover, in which a rotating cast of vloggers discuss Internet news and pop culture. The show ended in April of 2016.^[7]

As of June 2019, Howell has over 1.4 million Instagram^[3] followers. His personal YouTube channel has over 6.5 million subscribers.^[1] He also has over 8.3 million Twitter followers.^[2] His Facebook page has over 1.1 million likes.^[4] The subreddit /r/danandphil has over 4,300 subscribers.

Personal Life

Howell was born on June 11th, 1991 in Wokingham, Berkshire. In 2010, he attended The Forest School at the University of Manchester before dropping out to pursue his career in vlogging. Howell lives in London, England with fellow vlogger Phil Lester.

Coming Out

On June 13th, 2019, Howell released a 45 minute video in which he came out as gay, gaining over 7.5 million views (shown below). In the video, he addressed his relationship with Lester, saying he thought of Lester as a soulmate, but did not clarify the romantic extent of their relationship. “This is someone who genuinely liked me," he said. "I trusted them. And for the first time since I was a tiny child I actually felt safe… we are real best friends. Companions through life. Like actual soul mates.” He also said he had wanted to release the video the previous June, but was unready to go public with his sexuality.^[6]