The business of being Alfie Deyes: ‘I’ll still be a YouTuber when I’m 40’

He started posting YouTube videos when he was 15. Ten years and 11 million subscribers later, the vlogging superstar and his girlfriend Zoella are looking to diversify

Who is Alfie Deyes? "That's a tricky one," he - Deyes - says. Not because he doesn't know who he is, but because I've told him I'm asking on behalf of my mum, who's never heard of him: how would he explain his job to her? "I think I'll just say: 'I'm a 25-year-old content creator who loves making things happen, whether that's things that people expect, or things people don't expect.'"

I say I'm asking for my mum, but if I'm honest I wasn't 100% sure who he was myself; and if you're over 35, chances are you don't know, either. It's not hard to get up to speed with his work, though, and by the time we meet I feel I know Deyes pretty well. I've shared some of the lovely life he has with his lovely girlfriend Zoe, also a content creator. I've met some of their lovely friends, their dog Nala, a black pug (no lovely for you, Nala, I'm afraid), and the lovely orange Aga in the kitchen of their lovely home. I know that Alfie won't be working out until the summer this year, just doing a bit of bouldering at the local climbing centre. I know he used to have a special place under the mattress where he stuffed his bogeys, and that he wees sitting down.