Hey, all you cool cats and kittens!
It’s been approximately two months since we last spoke to each other. How have you been? How are you coping with all that’s happening in the world? We hope you’re doing well and managing to keep yourself occupied. During our break, we did quite a few things: we caught up on sleep, spring cleaned our office, determined how much chocolate is too much chocolate – you know, the essential things. But now we’re back and ready to jump back into action. We’ve missed our little corner of the internet, and we hope bet you did too.
Just because we were on a little break doesn’t mean we weren’t keeping tabs on what was happening across YouTube and social media. We were still watching videos and following what our faves were up to on Twitter and Instagram. We decided to share a few of our highlights, in case you happened to miss them. From pregnancy announcements, to amazing videos and everything in-between, it was a pretty busy two months. You best buckle up for one heck of a recap!
There’s a baby incoming!
Melanie Murphy shared some pretty big news while we were away. Not only did her and her partner, Thomas, get married, but the pair are expecting! Yep, that’s right, the cutest couple in all of Ireland are preparing to welcome a little bundle of joy into their family – and we couldn’t be more happy for them.
As Melanie shares in her Instagram post, “amid all the doom and gloom” the world is experiencing in regards to the COVID-19 pandemic, this sort of news is a ray of sunshine! We can’t wait to meet the baby, and we hope Melanie enjoys her pregnancy. We know it’ll be rough at times, but it’ll be worth it.
(If you’re in need of any baby name suggestions, Melanie, you know where to find us.)
New music! New music! New music!
Everyone knows we’re big fans of Emma Blackery‘s music. We’ve said time and time again that her single, Dirt, is one of our all-time favourite bops, so you can bet we were over the moon with the release of this new track.
If you’re wondering how much Emma’s music has matured over the past two or so years, wonder no more, for Wolves definitely takes things to the next level. As for the music video, we honestly don’t know what we love more. The aesthetic? The look Emma’s rocking? The editing? Maybe all three.
TikTok dances are a craze
@navneetaulakh_my dad n grandpa did it better than my sister ##fyp♬ Something New feat. Ty Dolla $ign – Wiz Khalifa
With everyone stuck in self-isolation and quarantine during the pandemic, things are bound to get a little crazy. We mean, what else do you expect when people are bored out of their minds and stuck staring at the same four walls day in and day out? That’s why it’s come as no surprise that TikTok dance crazes have become a thing. (Which we are totally living for!)
Now, you might be thinking, what makes these dance videos so different from the ones we regularly see on Twitter and YouTube? Well… 1) There are SO many different types. 2) They involve the whole family! Yep, that’s right, even mom and dad, grandpa and grandma are getting involved in this trend.
Have you tried your hand at any of these dances? If so, be sure to send us a link to @TenEightyUK!
Tiger King took over social media
Unless you’ve been living under a rock, odds are you’ve watched Tiger King, Netflix’s latest documentary series. A look at the world of American big cat zoos, with a specific focus on the now-imprisoned Joe Exotic and his vendetta against “big cat rights advocate” Carol Baskin, this series can only be described as WILD – and that’s putting it lightly.
We don’t want to spoil anything, in case you have yet to watch it or are in the middle of doing so, so we’ll say this: this series is the best thing to help us ride out our days during self-isolation. From the memes it’s spawned to the hilarious tweets and reviews, it’s definitely a highlight of 2020 thus far!
So. Many. Self-Isolation. Series.
With so many creators stuck at home, either on quarantine or self-isolation, it’s no surprise that many are filming to pass the time. It’s an unexpected perk of these trying times, and we’ve been loving the increase in content we’ve seen fill our sub boxes over the past few weeks.
One such genre of video that’s popped up and spread like wild fire is the self-isolation vlog series. Many of our faves are doing daily vlogs in order to keep themselves busy, including Hazel Hayes, Daniel J. Layton, Carrie Hope Fletcher and Oliver Ormson. We’re getting major VEDIJ and Vlogmas vibes, and it’s really made us realise how much we miss daily vlogs. We wish creators would make them more often.
Jeffree Star is helping out financially-strapped viewers
If anyone is mad that I’m giving away MY money, you have a lot of soul-searching to do… My family and I have donated millions of dollars privately, and I’ve helped every single person in my life. I love giving back, if that offends anyone, can’t relate 💖
— Jeffree Star (@JeffreeStar) April 1, 2020
An unfortunate side effect of the COVID-19 pandemic is that many people across the world have been laid off from their jobs, as many businesses have temporarily shut down in order to halt the spread of the virus. This means that many have been forced to live on only a fraction of their monthly salary. Times like these can be tough and no one should have to worry about whether they’re able to afford food from one week to the next. That’s why we wanted to give a shoutout to Jeffree Star, who’s been very generous as of late.
Over the past few weeks, Jeffree has been helping fans out by donating money to those in need of some spare cash. We honestly don’t even know how much he’s given away, but it’s well within the thousands. During a time when many of the world’s wealthiest are hiding away, it’s refreshing to see people like Jeffree stepping up to help those in need.
Linda Blacker is making magic
"But you know, happiness can be found even in the darkest of times, if one only remembers to turn on the light." Albus Dumbledore
It's @CherryWallis flying away on her Nimbus 3000!
We shot this over Skype then I headed into Photoshop to bring this to life!Before & After below; pic.twitter.com/Q36pHiUV0y
— Linda Blacker (@lindablacker) April 5, 2020
Linda Blacker hasn’t allowed self-isolation to keep her from working! While most photographers might think they need to be in the room with the person their photographing, Linda is thinking outside of the box. Through the magic of Skype and a little work on Photoshop, she’s been able to make some pretty incredible pieces, featuring the likes of Cherry Wallis, Carrie and Oliver, and Ling K. Tang.
We’ve always known Linda is uber talented, but this is just next-level stuff! You honestly can’t tell she wasn’t in the room with the creators, and we are forever blown away by how real she’s able to make her mystical scenes appear. We need to schedule a photoshoot with her ASAP!
Animal Crossing was released
Everyone with a Nintendo Switch has been spending all their time playing Animal Crossing: New Horizons. The game was recently released and has seemingly been all everyone on social media has been able to talk about. We’ve been eagerly awaiting its release for a while and now that it’s out, we simply can’t get enough! If only we had some friends to invite to our island…
To those of you who don’t own a Switch: we are so, so sorry you’re missing out on all this wholesome fun.
Disney+ launched in the UK
What we feel is the BEST streaming service has finally launched in the UK: Disney+. While everyone in North America and the Netherlands were getting to enjoy such gems as Hannah Montana, Recess, That’s So Raven and Boy Meets World over the past few months, we were stuck feeling some major FOMO. Now who’s feeling left out? Not us!
To help promote the launch, Disney+ released an image featuring quite a few of our favourite online influencers drawn as Simpsons characters! We don’t want to give away whose who, in case you’re trying to figure it out for yourself, but we will say we spy Joe Sugg, LDShadowLady and Alfie Deyes.
There’s a lot to catch up on!
Wow, we didn’t realize how much we missed during our hibernation. Sure, we thought we’d miss a few fads and trends, but we didn’t realize how much could happen in two months! We really underestimated things… Looks like we won’t be taking another break anytime soon; we feel so out of the loop!
Want more YouTuber fun? Don’t worry, we’ve got you covered:
- If YouTube Held Its Own Grammy Awards
- YouTubers Do the #DollyPartonChallenge
- Seven Times Alex Elmslie Told It Like It Is
- TenEighty’s YouTube Predictions 2020
- YouTubers Do #2009vs2019
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