Charlotte McDonnell (formerly Charlie McDonnell; born 1 October 1990) is a British filmmaker, screenwriter, musician, former

vlog A vlog (), also known as a video blog or video log, is a form of blog for which the medium is video. Vlog entries often combine embedded video (or a video link) with supporting text, images, and other metadata. Entries can be recorded in one ta ...

ger, author and

Twitch Twitch may refer to: Biology * Muscle contraction ** Convulsion, rapid and repeated muscle contraction and relaxation ** Fasciculation, a small, local, involuntary muscle contraction ** Myoclonic twitch, a jerk usually caused by sudden muscle c ...

streamer from

Bath, Somerset Bath (Received Pronunciation, RP: , ) is a city in Somerset, England, known for and named after its Roman Baths (Bath), Roman-built baths. At the 2021 census, the population was 94,092. Bath is in the valley of the River Avon, Bristol, River A ...

. On 15 June 2011, her

YouTube YouTube is an American social media and online video sharing platform owned by Google. YouTube was founded on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim who were three former employees of PayPal. Headquartered in ...

channel charlieissocoollike became the first in the United Kingdom to reach one million subscribers. As a musician, McDonnell was a member of ''

Doctor Who ''Doctor Who'' is a British science fiction television series broadcast by the BBC since 1963. The series, created by Sydney Newman, C. E. Webber and Donald Wilson (writer and producer), Donald Wilson, depicts the adventures of an extraterre ...

''–themed rock band

Chameleon Circuit The TARDIS (; acronym for "Time And Relative Dimension(s) In Space") is a fictional hybrid of a time machine and spacecraft that appears in the British science fiction television series ''Doctor Who'' and its various spin-offs. While a TARDI ...

and the short-lived musical project

Sons of Admirals Charlotte McDonnell (formerly Charlie McDonnell; born 1 October 1990) is a British filmmaker, screenwriter, musician, former vlogger, author and Twitch streamer from Bath, Somerset. On 15 June 2011, her YouTube channel charlieissocoollike bec ...

until it disbanded in May 2011. In 2010, McDonnell released a solo album titled ''This Is Me''. She also directed a series of short films from 2013 to 2014, and co-hosted the weekday morning

breakfast show Breakfast television (Europe and Australia) or morning show (Canada and the United States) is a type of news or infotainment television programme that broadcasts live in the morning (typically scheduled between 5:00 and 10:00a.m., or if it i ...

'' Cereal Time'' with Capital FM presenter and fellow YouTube vlogger

Jimmy Hill James William Thomas Hill, Order of the British Empire, OBE (22 July 1928 – 19 December 2015) was an English football in England, footballer and later a television personality. His career included almost every role in the sport, including pla ...

from 2015 to 2016. After over a decade of regular uploads, McDonnell ended her YouTube career in December 2018 and moved on to screenwriting and television production. Her first series, the science fiction drama '' Don't Look Deeper'', was released on the streaming platform

Quibi Quibi ( ) was an American short-form streaming platform that generated content for viewing on mobile devices. It was founded in Los Angeles in August 2018 as NewTV by Jeffrey Katzenberg and was led by Meg Whitman as CEO. The service raised $ ...

in July 2020. McDonnell creates content on

, where she plays different video games.

Early life and education

McDonnell was born on 1 October 1990 and raised in

to parents Lindsey and Mark. She has two younger siblings: her brother, William, and her sister, Bridie. She was educated at

Beechen Cliff School Beechen Cliff School is a boys' secondary school in Bath, Somerset, England, with about 1,150 pupils. Its earliest predecessor school was founded in 1896. There are around 930 boys in years 7 to 11 and a co-educational sixth form of 402 pupil ...

, a local state comprehensive

foundation school In England and Wales, a foundation school is a state-funded school in which the school governor, governing body has greater freedom in the running of the school than in Community school (England and Wales), community schools. Foundation schools ...

YouTube career

After setting up the YouTube channel, ''charlieissocoollike'' on 3 April 2007, McDonnell started posting

video blog A vlog (), also known as a video blog or video log, is a form of blog for which the medium is video. Vlog entries often combine embedded video (or a video link) with supporting text, images, and other metadata. Entries can be recorded in one ta ...

s (or ''vlogs'') to a small audience. She first came to prominence when her video titled ''How To Get Featured on YouTube'' became popular after it was featured on YouTube's UK homepage. Her audience jumped from just under 150 subscribers to over 4,000 in two days. She created her YouTube channel as a form of procrastination while revising for her

GCSE The General Certificate of Secondary Education (GCSE) is an academic qualification in a range of subjects taken in England, Wales, and Northern Ireland, having been introduced in September 1986 and its first exams taken in 1988. State schools ...

. In January 2008, in celebration of gaining 25,000 subscribers, McDonnell asked for 25 challenge suggestions from subscribers, which sparked her series of ''Challenge Charlie'' videos. She completed all of these challenges by March 2013, one of which was suggested by TV presenter

Phillip Schofield Phillip Bryan Schofield ( ; born 1 April 1962) is an English television presenter. He began his career as a Children's BBC continuity announcer from 1985 to 1987, and went on to present a wide range of high-profile programmes for the BBC and ...

and his daughter Molly, challenging McDonnell to perform the dance that accompanies the song " Hoedown Throwdown" from '' Hannah Montana: The Movie''. McDonnell surpassed 100,000 subscribers in 2008, one million in June 2011—the first in the United Kingdom to do so—and two million subscribers in May 2013. Most of McDonnell's videos end with an outro by

Stephen Fry Sir Stephen John Fry (born 24 August 1957) is an English actor, broadcaster, comedian, director, narrator and writer. He came to prominence as a member of the comic act Fry and Laurie alongside Hugh Laurie, with the two starring in ''A Bit of ...

. By early 2013, McDonnell was earning more money from her job than her parents. In 2014, McDonnell's YouTube Channel was listed on

New Media Rockstars ''NewMediaRockstars'' ''(NMR)'' was an American online magazine which was launched in December 2011 and primarily covered YouTube performers, entrepreneurs, and artists with videos and interviews. In 2013, ''NewMediaRockstars'' closed due to lack ...

Top 100 Channels, ranked at #63. Around 2013, McDonnell began to feel "burned out" from content creation and realised she "felt much happier not being on camera". She moved to

Toronto Toronto ( , locally pronounced or ) is the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, most populous city in Canada. It is the capital city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Ontario. With a p ...

, Canada, in 2017, and began working with the production company New Form. In March 2019, McDonnell announced on Twitter that she had quit YouTube to focus on screenwriting. She currently streams on Twitch. In January 2023, McDonnell posted a YouTube video in which she discussed her life and for the first time publicly, announced "I'm a transgender woman, ndmy pronouns are she/they". Coinciding with this video's release, all of her pre-transition videos were privated.

Short films and screenwriting career

On 8 March 2013, McDonnell announced that she would be making five short films. In a video published on 27 October 2014, she announced her last two films would actually be one film, split into two parts. On 27 July 2020, ''Don't Look Deeper'', a 14-episode series co-created by McDonnell and

Jeffrey Lieber Jeffrey Michael Lieber is an American screenwriter for both television and film. He is credited as a co-creator of the television series '' Lost''. In addition to writing for television and film, Lieber blogged (through 2016) at the website dai ...

, premiered on

. McDonnell wrote several episodes of the series.

Music career

Chameleon Circuit

McDonnell was one of the founding members of Chameleon Circuit, a band known for creating music inspired by the British television series ''

''. Along with fellow vloggers

Alex Day Alex Richard George Day (born 8 April 1989) is an English musician, vlogger and writer. Day has released seven studio albums, two EPs, and had three UK Top 40 hits. Day amassed more than 1,000,000 subscribers and over 130 million views on his Y ...

(''Nerimon'' on YouTube), Liam Dryden (''Littleradge''), and former member Chris Beattie (''CowInParachute''), Chameleon Circuit released their self-titled debut album on 1 June 2009. In July 2010, their song ''Count the Shadows'' also appeared on ''DFTBA Records, Volume Two'', a compilation sampler that was given for free in the grab bags at

VidCon VidCon is an annual convention for influencers, fans, executives, and online brands. The event primarily features prominent video stars from across the internet. It was founded by veteran YouTube creators John and Hank Green ( Vlogbrothers), a ...

2010. At the beginning of 2011, Chameleon Circuit, in their new line-up following the departure of Beattie and the addition of Ed Blann and Michael Aranda, began work on their second album ''

Still Got Legs ''Still Got Legs'' is the second and final studio album by British rock band Chameleon Circuit (band), Chameleon Circuit. The album was released through DFTBA Records on 12 July 2011. It charted at No. 23 on the ''Billboard Heatseekers'' albu ...

''. It was released on 12 July 2011. In 2014, McDonnell and Dryden publicly denounced members Blann and Day, who both suspended their online presence following separate reported incidents of sexual abuse. McDonnell, Dryden and Aranda appeared together at VidCon 2014 for photo signings. In 2017, Aranda wrote in a Reddit AMA that "it's safe to say that Chameleon Circuit is dead for now. I know that the last time Charlie and I spoke about it, hedidn't feel interested in writing new music in general."

Sons of Admirals

In 2010, McDonnell, along with three other YouTubers, Alex Day, Ed Blann, and Tom Milsom ("Hexachordal") formed a new musical project titled "Sons of Admirals". The musical project was not a band in the traditional sense, but a collection of solo artists who played together as a group. The nominal inspiration for the band came from the

Admiral's Men The Admiral's Men (also called the Admiral's company, more strictly, the Earl of Nottingham's Men; after 1603, Prince Henry's Men; after 1612, the Elector Palatine's Men or the Palsgrave's Men) was a playing company or troupe of actors in the Eli ...

, a

Shakespeare William Shakespeare ( 23 April 1564 – 23 April 1616) was an English playwright, poet and actor. He is widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world's pre-eminent dramatist. He is often called England's natio ...

an group of actors that came together to perform, whilst still retaining their individual careers. Their first single was released via YouTube on 14 June 2010 on McDonnell's channel: the group covered

Cat Stevens Yusuf Islam (born Steven Demetre Georgiou; ), commonly known by his stage names Cat Stevens, Yusuf, and Yusuf / Cat Stevens, is a British singer-songwriter and musician. He has sold more than 100 million records and has more than two billion st ...

' song " Here Comes My Baby", featuring all four members on vocals. The track peaked at No. 61 in the UK. In October 2010 the band released an EP including "Here Comes My Baby"; an acoustic version of the same song; a cover of "Believe in Yourself", the theme of children's television show ''

Arthur Arthur is a masculine given name of uncertain etymology. Its popularity derives from it being the name of the legendary hero King Arthur. A common spelling variant used in many Slavic, Romance, and Germanic languages is Artur. In Spanish and Ital ...

''; the music video of "Here Comes My Baby"; and a behind-the-scenes video. Sons of Admirals disbanded in May 2011, publishing a statement on their website that "the core goal of the group – to get into the charts, and to increase exposure for the group members' individual talents proved to run against too many of our beliefs and approaches to music and promotion".

Solo career

A prominent feature of McDonnell's YouTube channel were the songs which she wrote and performed herself, most often on ukulele. The most popular being "Duet with Myself." On 1 December 2010, in response to demand, she released her debut album, entitled ''This Is Me,'' via

DFTBA Records DFTBA Records, commonly known as DFTBA.com, is an e-commerce merchandise company that was co-founded by Hank Green and Alan Lastufka in 2008. Originally a record label, the company focuses on selling merchandise for prominent YouTube content cre ...

. The album features several songs from her channel that were remixed for the album, as well as several previously unreleased songs. In December 2016, she teamed up with Project for Awesome to release ''A Very Gideon Christmas,'' an exclusive Christmas EP sung from the perspective of and with the imaginary inflections of her cat Gideon.

Music videos

* In The Absence Of Christmas (2008) * A Song About Acne (2009) * Duet with Myself (2009) * A Song About Love (2010) * Chemical Love (2010) * A Song About Monkeys (2010) * Time to Reply (2012)

Charity and media work

On 30 September 2008, to celebrate her 18th birthday, McDonnell and Alex Day dyed and then shaved their hair off whilst live on

BlogTV BlogTV was a live-streaming video blog service. It was first established in Ramat Gan, Israel in January 2004 by founders Ilan Ben-Dov, Dan Chen, Guy Eliav, Nir Ofir, and Oren Levy as a webcasting company. The service is operated under the Tapuz ...

for a period of seven and a half hours in aid of

Cancer Research UK Cancer Research UK (CRUK) is the world's largest independent cancer research organisation. It is registered as a charity in the United Kingdom and Isle of Man, and was formed on 4 February 2002 by the merger of The Cancer Research Campaign and t ...

. They managed to raise nearly £5000. The broadcast viewership peaked at 4,500. In October 2009, McDonnell was named as one of a number of prominent YouTube users who would be participating in a project called ''RNLI Shout''. The aim of the project is to raise money to purchase a lifeboat for the

Royal National Lifeboat Institution The Royal National Lifeboat Institution (RNLI) is the largest of the lifeboat (rescue), lifeboat services operating around the coasts of the United Kingdom, Republic of Ireland, Ireland, the Channel Islands, and the Isle of Man, as well as on s ...

. In the autumn of 2009, McDonnell featured with three other YouTube users on the

BBC Switch BBC Switch was the brand for BBC content aimed at UK teenagers. The brand was launched on Saturday 20 October 2007 on BBC Two and ceased broadcasting on 18 December 2010. It included a block of television programmes on BBC Two, an online portal ...

documentary series ''

Chartjackers ''Chartjackers'' is a British documentary series, produced by Hat Trick Productions and commissioned by BBC Switch. It documents the lives of four teenage Video blogging, video bloggers over the course of ten weeks, as they attempt to write, rec ...

''. The programme documented their attempt to achieve a number one single in the UK Singles Chart within 10 weeks, by

crowdsourcing Crowdsourcing involves a large group of dispersed participants contributing or producing goods or services—including ideas, votes, micro-tasks, and finances—for payment or as volunteers. Contemporary crowdsourcing often involves digit ...

resources provided by the

online community An online community, also called an internet community or web community, is a community whose members engage in computer-mediated communication primarily via the Internet. Members of the community usually share common interests. For many, on ...

. McDonnell was cast in the series for her familiarity to young British YouTube viewers. Over the course of ''Chartjackers'', McDonnell solicited lyrics, music, performers and stylists to record the final single and video via a YouTube channel named ''ChartJackersProject''. An unofficial

charity single A charity record, charity album, or charity single is a recording with most or all proceeds raised going to a dedicated foundation or charity. In 1956, The Lord's Taverners released a 78 rpm disc which contained six tracks donated by popular artis ...

for

Children in Need ''BBC Children in Need'' is the BBC's UK Charitable organization, charity dedicated to supporting disadvantaged children and young people across the country. Established in 1980, the organisation has raised over £1 billion by 2023 through its ...

, the completed song was titled " I've Got Nothing" and was sung by vocalists Miranda Chartrand and Adam Nichols. McDonnell edited the single's official music video, which was shown nationwide on British music channels such as

4Music 4Music was a British music television channel owned and operated by Channel Four Television Corporation. Launched on 15 August 2008, the original incarnation, replacing The Hits television channel, showed a mix of music and entertainment pr ...

and

Viva Viva may refer to: Companies and organisations * Viva (network operator), a Dominican mobile network operator * Viva Energy, an Australian petroleum company * Viva Entertainment, a Philippine media company * Viva Films, a Philippine film company ...

. "I've Got Nothing" was released exclusively through the iTunes Store at midnight on 9 November 2009 and reached No. 36 on the UK Singles Chart. Sales of the single raised a total of approximately £10,000 for Children in Need. McDonnell was purportedly approached to be a Housemate on the eighth series, and first revived series, of ''

Celebrity Big Brother ''Celebrity Big Brother'' or ''Big Brother VIP'' is an adaptation of the '' Big Brother'' reality television series. It is the celebrity version of its parent franchise ''Big Brother'', the celebrity version airs in several countries, however, t ...

'' but declined the offer. In October 2013, it was announced that McDonnell was to play the main voice role along with

Danny Wallace Daniel, Dan or Danny Wallace may refer to: * Daniel Wallace (politician) (1801–1859), U.S. Congressman from South Carolina * Daniel B. Wallace (born 1952), professor of New Testament Studies at Dallas Theological Seminary * Daniel Wallace (aut ...

Mike Bithell Michael Bithell is a British video game designer, developer, and podcaster best known for his work on '' Thomas Was Alone'' and ''Volume''. He is a regular host of the ''Play, Watch, Listen'' podcast, along with Alanah Pearce, Troy Baker, and ...

's indie video game ''

Volume Volume is a measure of regions in three-dimensional space. It is often quantified numerically using SI derived units (such as the cubic metre and litre) or by various imperial or US customary units (such as the gallon, quart, cubic inch) ...

''. The game was released in 2015 for PS4, PC and

Mac Mac or MAC may refer to: Common meanings * Mac (computer), a line of personal computers made by Apple Inc. * Mackintosh, a raincoat made of rubberized cloth * Mac, a prefix to surnames derived from Gaelic languages * McIntosh (apple), a Canadi ...

and in 2016 for

PlayStation Vita The PlayStation Vita (PS Vita) is a handheld game console developed and marketed by Sony Computer Entertainment. It was first released in Japan on December 17, 2011, then in other international territories on February 22, 2012, and was produced ...

. In 2014, McDonnell worked with the

Home Office The Home Office (HO), also known (especially in official papers and when referred to in Parliament) as the Home Department, is the United Kingdom's interior ministry. It is responsible for public safety and policing, border security, immigr ...

on their ''This Is Abuse'' Campaign, alongside other prominent YouTubers, in order to educate people about the importance of consensual sex. She also made a video regarding consent on her YouTube channel.

Presenting roles

On 6 June 2010, McDonnell presented the YouTube Audience Award to ''

The Inbetweeners ''The Inbetweeners'' is a British coming-of-age television sitcom, which originally aired on E4 from 2008 to 2010 and was created and written by Damon Beesley and Iain Morris. The series follows the misadventures of suburban teenager Willi ...

'' as part of the

British Academy of Film and Television Arts The British Academy of Film and Television Arts (BAFTA, ) is an independent trade association and charity that supports, develops, and promotes the arts of film, television and video games in the United Kingdom. In addition to its annual awa ...

Television Awards. In July 2010 McDonnell was signed up alongside '' KateModern'' star Emma Pollard and ''

X Factor ''The X Factor'' is a television music competition franchise created by British producer Simon Cowell and his company Syco Entertainment. It originated in the United Kingdom, where it was devised as a replacement for '' Pop Idol'' (2001–200 ...

'' contestants Nicola and Fran Gleadall to present a TV show run by

Piers Morgan Piers Stefan Pughe-Morgan (; O'Meara, born 30 March 1965) is an English journalist and media personality. He began his career in 1988 at the tabloid ''The Sun (United Kingdom), The Sun''. In 1994, at the age of 29, he was appointed editor of ...

called ''FirstTV'', an offshoot of '' First News'' newspaper. On ''FirstTV'' McDonnell did a few challenges like trying to break a

Guinness world record ''Guinness World Records'', known from its inception in 1955 until 1999 as ''The Guinness Book of Records'' and in previous United States editions as ''The Guinness Book of World Records'', is a British reference book published annually, listi ...

typing Typing is the process of writing or inputting text by pressing keys on a typewriter, computer keyboard, mobile phone, or calculator. It can be distinguished from other means of text input, such as handwriting recognition, handwriting and speech ...

the

alphabet An alphabet is a standard set of letter (alphabet), letters written to represent particular sounds in a spoken language. Specifically, letters largely correspond to phonemes as the smallest sound segments that can distinguish one word from a ...

on an

iPad The iPad is a brand of tablet computers developed and marketed by Apple Inc., Apple that run the company's mobile operating systems iOS and later iPadOS. The IPad (1st generation), first-generation iPad was introduced on January 27, 2010. ...

keyboard Keyboard may refer to: Text input * Keyboard, part of a typewriter * Computer keyboard ** Keyboard layout, the software control of computer keyboards and their mapping ** Keyboard technology, computer keyboard hardware and firmware Music * Mus ...

quickest and she got asked to tell a

joke A joke is a display of humour in which words are used within a specific and well-defined narrative structure to make people laugh and is usually not meant to be interpreted literally. It usually takes the form of a story, often with dialogue, ...

. However, after filming four episodes of ''FirstTV'', McDonnell decided to leave the show because she did not enjoy presenting pre-scripted work. On 4 September 2010, McDonnell and fellow YouTuber Myles Dyer co-presented Stickaid, a 24-hour live web show. Starting from 12:00 noon BST, the two hosted the fifth annual charity event from Middlesex University's Trent Park campus in London. Their goal was to raise £10,000 ($15,900), which they more than doubled. All the proceedings went to

UNICEF UNICEF ( ), originally the United Nations International Children's Emergency Fund, officially United Nations Children's Fund since 1953, is an agency of the United Nations responsible for providing Humanitarianism, humanitarian and Development a ...

. In November 2010, McDonnell was part of a group of YouTube videos called ''The Science of Attraction'' where she hosted a few experiments and had her body digitally swapped with somebody else's. She was a co-presenter with Kat Akingbade and Derren Brown. As part of the series, eight videos were produced. In December 2010, McDonnell filmed a series of behind-the-scenes videos for ''

Doctor Who Confidential ''Doctor Who Confidential'' is a documentary series created by the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) to complement the revival of the long-running British science fiction television series ''Doctor Who''. Each episode was broadcast on BBC ...

'' during the filming of the ''Doctor Who'' Christmas special "A Christmas Carol". They co-hosted the weekday morning

'' Cereal Time'' with Capital FM presenter and fellow YouTube vlogger

from 2015 to 2016.

Other activities

In 2016, McDonnell published a book, ''Fun Science''.

Personal life

McDonnell considers herself an

atheist Atheism, in the broadest sense, is an absence of belief in the existence of deities. Less broadly, atheism is a rejection of the belief that any deities exist. In an even narrower sense, atheism is specifically the position that there no ...

. In March 2014, McDonnell announced on her blog that she had terminated her friendship with frequent collaborator

, stating that "I just don’t feel able to call Alex a friend of mine anymore", following allegations that Day had sexually manipulated and emotionally abused women, and cheated on past girlfriends. In October 2022, McDonnell came out as

transgender A transgender (often shortened to trans) person has a gender identity different from that typically associated with the sex they were sex assignment, assigned at birth. The opposite of ''transgender'' is ''cisgender'', which describes perso ...

on Instagram, using the

trans flag The transgender flag, also called the transgender pride flag, is used by people, organizations and communities to represent pride, diversity, rights and/or remembrance within the transgender community. Its usage is similar to the original rai ...

in her post and announcing she would start going by she/they pronouns. In January 2023, McDonnell came out as a

trans woman A trans woman or transgender woman is a woman who was assigned male at birth. Trans women have a female gender identity and may experience gender dysphoria (distress brought upon by the discrepancy between a person's gender identity and their ...

on YouTube, and announced she began feminising hormone therapy in September 2022. She also stated in a Q&A that she considers herself bisexual. In June 2024, McDonnell revealed she was using the name Charlotte in addition to Charlie.

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:McDonnell, Charlotte 1990 births Living people 21st-century English women musicians 21st-century English women writers 21st-century English screenwriters 21st-century English comedians 21st-century English LGBTQ people Chartjackers DFTBA Records creators Chameleon Circuit (band) members English Twitch (service) streamers Comedians from Bath, Somerset English atheists English bisexual entertainers English bisexual women English bisexual writers English expatriates in Canada English video bloggers English YouTubers English women bloggers English women film directors English women comedians English LGBTQ comedians English LGBTQ screenwriters English transgender musicians English transgender writers English transgender women People educated at Beechen Cliff School Musicians from Bath, Somerset British YouTube vloggers Transgender women musicians Transgender women writers Transgender comedians Transgender screenwriters British LGBTQ film directors LGBTQ YouTubers LGBTQ bloggers YouTubers from Somerset LGBTQ streamers