Sidemen: Internet sensation Vikkstar reveals how Sheffield schooldays set him on the road to fame

He’s gone from being a Sheffield schoolboy to one of the biggest celebrities on the internet.

Now Vikram Singh Barn - better know among followers of the internet sensation The Sidemen as Vikkstar - has told how he took his first steps into stardom while at school in the city.

The 28-year-old told BBC broadcaster Toby Foster how he had started making videos while he was a pupil at Silverdale School.

He said he never imagined doing what he does for a job today at that time.

He has 3.2 million followers on Twitter, now called X.

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He said: “I remember it being a big culture shock, moving from Guildford to Sheffield, but I quickly grew to become used to it.

“It was actually at Silverdale, in Sheffield, where my friends from school were sharing clips of themselves gaming onto YouTube. I thought ‘hey, that’s pretty cool’.”

He told how he got involved too, and started sharing his own clips, before realising people other than his friends were watching the videos. He tried to get more people watching his videos.

“That’s where this whole career blossomed from,” he said. “We just try and do fun unique stuff every year, improve the quality of the content that we’re making and that all started back at home in Sheffield.”

The former Silverdale School pupil, who moved to Sheffield from Guildford, Kent, when he was eight years old, is part of the popular Sidemen group, with members having amassed fortunes through YouTube videos of their gaming, lives and exploits.

Celebrity KSI is another of the successful Sidemen.

The group produce videos of various challenges, sketches, and video game commentaries across their YouTube channels, which have tens of millions of followers.

When he finished sixth form at Silverdale in Bents Green, Vikram received an offer to study Natural Sciences at University College London but deferred it for 12 months to concentrate on his gaming business. He has never looked back.

He previously told The Star: “I think me and all my friends have been successful because we started so early. We started when there weren't many people creating content.”

Vikram gained 12A* in his GCSEs at Silverdale before taking his A-levels.