Tyler Oakley, the mascot of all new-age YouTubers out there, is turning 26 on Sunday, 22 March. At a young age, Oakley has accomplished more than waht many do in their lifetime. He is not only an icon for gay youths struggling with their sexuality, but also for every awkward young person trying to find where they fit in.
Starting with content-oriented and well-produced YouTube videos, Oakley went on to become a sensation and is now a regular at almost every pre-Award show red carpets. As his popularity rose, so did his multi-tasking skills; he is currently a YouTuber, an entrepreneur, a interviewer, a podcaster, philanthropist and a fashion icon.
From One Direction to the First Lady Michelle Obama, many celebrities have been featured in his videos. To celebrate his birthday, take a look at some of the best – not to mention popular – interviews uploaded to his channel:
Michelle Obama
In September 2014, Michelle Obama appeared in one of Oakley's videos and said that after her husband, the President of the United States Barack Obama "hung out" with Oakley at the White House, she got jealous and decided that she wanted to spend some time with the YouTube sensation as well. They were collaborating as part of the "Reach Higher" programme, which is the First Lady's effort to inspire every American student to take education past high school. After talking a little about each of their educational background, Oakley and Obama engaged in a game of rapid fire.
The video has more than 1,776,908 hits on YouTube.
One Direction
After "fan girling" over the British boy band "One Direction" for at least a year, Oakley got to interview them on 25 August 2013, "This is Us" press day. At the beginning of the interview, Harry Styles and Niall Horan admitted to knowing that Oakley is very famous. Styles also said that he re-tweeted Oakley once.
The YouTuber gifted all the boys with flower crowns and interviewed them in his fun and bubbly demeanour. The video, which was posted on 30 August, has over 4,399,284 views.
Jesse Tyler Ferguson
Oakley interviewed the "Modern Family" star Jesse Tyler Ferguson in February 2015. Both the celebrities first interacted at the Trevor Project events. The Trevor Project is an NGO that functions to help suicidal youth, focusing on the LGBTQ community. Ferguson revealed during the interview that when they went to Disneyland with group of other friends, Oakley was surrounded by more fans than he was. "I had no idea I was taking the most famous person in the world," said Ferguson.
Ferguson also spoke about how he started a bow-tie line with his husband Justin and use the profits for LGBT rights.
Jessie J
In November 2014, Oakley interviewed the British singer Jessie J. After engaging in an intense rapid fire session, the duo played "Just Dance 2015" to her song "Bang Bang".
Darren Criss
Oakley has admitted over and over again that the "Glee" star Darren Criss is his crush. After interviewing Criss at the red carpets and various events, he finally appeared in one of Oakley's videos in August 2014. Criss and Oakley said that they were star-crossed and that they were satellites for each other's lives.
Criss revealed contrary to what Oakley might think the first YouTube video the "Glee" star saw of Okaley was that of his "Into the Woods" witches rap. Criss also made fun of Oakley about the video in which the YouTuber reacted to Criss' semi-naked photo-shoot. However he did thank him for the flattery.
