Dan Howell

Background

Daniel James Howell was born in Wokingham, Berkshire, England. His father worked at a departmental store, and his mother owns a beauty parlor. He has a brother named Adrian, who works as a lifestyle coach and has his own YouTube channel. When he was 16, Howell began working at Focus D.I.Y. and later at Asda to get some money for his hobbies. During his time working as a retail worker, Howell realized that he wanted to make videos and commercials of his own. So, after graduating from The Forest School in 2009, Howell began posting YouTube videos.

Even though his first video, “Hello Internet,” wasn’t popular, hundreds of people saw it, which prompted Howell to make more videos. While working on his YouTube channel, Howell got into the University of Manchester as a law student. A year later, he dropped out because he realized he was more interested in making and publishing videos. However, it took Howell until 2012, when he won a YouTube competition and was voted ‘Sugarcape’s Hottest Lad,’ to rise to fame. A year later, Howell had hit over 100,000 subscribers.

In 2014, Howell collaborated with Phil Lester, another YouTuber, and created a gaming YouTube channel, “DanandPhilGAMES,” which was a hit. The channel’s videos caught the eyes of Disney executives, who offered Howell a voice-acting role in “Big Hero 6.” In 2015, Howell released his first book, “The Amazing Book Is Not on Fire,” with rave reviews. Four years later, he came out as queer and gay on his YouTube channel and explained that he had been in a relationship with Lester, his partner, for over eight years. He further stated that he didn’t want to disclose any private details of his relationship with Lester.