These are the most viewed creators on CORQ.’s Enterprise platform over the past 12 months. Our takeaways? Brands wanted to work with people who stood for something, could tell stories across multiple platforms and had big ambitions. See how we compiled this list here.
Is it a surprise Yeboah is the number one most viewed creator on CORQ for 2022? In a word, no. This year she launched a podcast – Storytime With Stephanie – was never afraid to speak truth to power (most recently calling out the New York Post for heralding the return of “heroin chic”) and created a guide to travelling as a plus size person for Conde Nast Traveller. Notable campaigns include partnering with Expedia to celebrate Black History Month and writing about how to protect self-confidence while online dating for Bumble.
Newton is in the middle of a full-scale home renovation but it’s business as usual when it comes to smart styling, shopping and beauty content. Her followers trust her implicitly and brands value her consistency, gentle guidance and connection with her community. Brilliant campaigns of 2022 include introducing Mejuri’s virtual styling appointments and detailing her summer beauty favourites with Beauty Pie.
Holdbrook-Akposoe has had a whirlwind year. She announced her engagement and tied the knot, not to mention, her client Stormzy released a song called Mel Made Me Do It (named after her) and she made a cameo in the viral music video. It’s not all glamour though – her car tires were deflated by an environmental activist group in September. When it comes to interesting campaigns, she partnered with Vestiaire Collective on four YouTube videos, which included sharing how she sold pre-loved clothing on the platform.
It’s been a busy year for Victor Kunda. From hosting the MOBO Awards’ Snapchat as its social media correspondent to fronting his own Channel 4 show, Razor Sharp – not to mention being dubbed “fashion’s favourite TikTok star” by British Vogue – Kunda’s star is undeniably on the rise. Standout campaigns include his collaboration with TikTok to celebrate Black History Month, a partnership with Spotify and collaborating with Burberry to promote its Autumn/Winter outerwear.
Sugg’s warm and relatable storytelling has stood the test of time and she continues to thrive in the ever-changing digital landscape. This year she co-wrote YA novel Magpie Society Two For Joy – a sequel to the first Magpie Society book, One For Sorrow. She also celebrated three years of her app, Filmm, and ten years with her partner, fellow creator Alfie Deyes. Significant campaigns of 2022 include her collaboration with Carrie Elizabeth Jewellery to create a collection inspired by “beautiful moments” and becoming an ambassador for Marks & Spencer Food.
Let’s just say it: Pankhania is a force. She reached over one million TikTok followers in June and since launching her YouTube channel earlier this year, she now has more than 151,000 subscribers. Not to mention, she was one of CORQ’s top five most engaging influencers in October and her hack for plane food went viral in July. Brilliant brand partnerships include teaming up with Channel 4 to promote The Great British Bake Off by sharing a recipe for chai caramel buns during custard week.
In 2022, Pinero celebrated reaching one million followers on Instagram and its easy to see why his profile is continually growing. As well as his usual comedic skits, he promoted his debut film Gassed Up, launched a podcast (From Boys To Men) and proved his talent for football commentary again and again. Notable campaigns include his partnership with McDonald’s to review its new vegan burger and his collaboration with BMW to test out its new all-electric i4 vehicle.
Marcan spent the year capitalising on all of the audience building she has done since 2020, not to mention going to the MTV EMAs and the British Fashion Awards. Big brand campaigns include her work for Gucci, YSL and Dr. Jart+ but she was also a key reference for huge TikTok beauty trends such as glazed eyes and “I’m cold” makeup.
The Kabs Family continued to shine in 2022, creating wholesome content and bringing joy to their eight million followers across social platforms (their Facebook alone has 3.3 million fans). The family partnered with Colgate for its Happy Habits dance challenge, and worked with Mastercard to create a TikTok ad that has since been viewed over six million times, proving the incredible reach that is possible on the platform with compelling creators.
Since graduating from the University of Edinburgh and moving back to London this summer, Nayna Patel has continued to share a combination of sustainable fashion hauls, styling videos and lifestyle routines which have attracted an engaged following of Gen Z women. Interesting campaigns include her partnership with Noughty Hair and Body Care to promote its vegan and cruelty-free products for wavy hair.
Styles can do it all and 2022 proves it. From hosting Classic FM’s Revision Hour during May and June, to winning “Podcast of the Year” at the Blogosphere Magazine Awards – not to mention using her platform to inspire others to fight climate change – she has continuously used her platform to have honest conversations. Notable campaigns include her partnership with BMW to test its electric car and her collaboration with Zoe Sugg’s photo editing app Template to create her own filter and effect pack.
2022 has been another great year for Ama. As well as being a judge for Uber Eat’s first Restaurant of the Year Awards, she has maintained a consistent flow of plant-based recipes and beauty product recommendations. Significant campaigns include her partnership with Levi’s to host a cocktail workshop in celebration of its new collection and her collaboration with Tesco to create a creamy cauliflower no cheese dish.
In July, Nassima Iggoute made the decision to leave her teaching job and pursue new opportunities, build her online presence and focus on her family. Since then, her channels have become a source of inspiration for beauty fanatics in search of the best products. Also, her first article was published by PopSugar in April. Notable campaigns include a collaboration with Trinny London to share her “simple makeup look” routine, and her partnership with Dove to discuss her self-tanning rituals.
This year, Libbey continued to build his wellness brand Turtle Method while using his platform to share renovation updates on his London home, and discuss his own fitness goals. Notable campaigns include his partnership with Kia to discuss the standout features of its fully electric Niro family car and his collaboration with Whitworths to share how he creates nutritious breakfasts for his son.
Bright’s honest approach and relentless hustle never go unnoticed and 2022 was no different. After taking part in the Invest Fest at the Royal Albert Hall in October, she has featured on Irene Agbontaen’s podcast TTYA Talks, attended various film premieres and was invited to The Beauty Beat event in December. And that doesn’t even scratch the surface of her many projects. Notable campaigns include her partnership with Biossance to share her morning routine and her work with Birra Moretti to share highlights from her trip to Tuscany.
Farmer remains a big name thanks to her styling work, candid conversational posts and trusted reviews. After kickstarting the year by hosting the fashion slot of ITV’s This Morning, she kept her followers up-to-date with the latest beauty finds and published her book, Get Changed – Finding the New You Through Fashion. As if that wasn’t enough, she also released a podcast with journalist Marianne Jones (Been There, Done That, Got The Podcast). Significant campaigns include her partnership with Malin and Goetz on its #EveryBodyLanguage campaign and her collaboration with Amazon to share her top tips for shopping on Black Friday.
Dimoldenberg’s star has continued to rise in 2022. She turned Louis Theroux into a viral rap star via her show Chicken Shop Date, became the new face of Olay, introduced her new YouTube Reframe series, was profiled by The New York Times and is set to appear on Channel 4’s Taskmaster. Significant campaigns include her partnership with Amazon Music to interview nominees at the Mercury Prize and she was crowned Glamour’s Creator of The Year.
Millen remains a big name in the lifestyle vertical despite facing criticism for being insensitive to the cost of living crisis after checking into The Savoy Hotel when her heating broke. With many fans rushing to her defence, Millen’s content has been referred to as a source of escapism and inspiration for her followers and her luxury lifestyle is always a hot topic. Interesting campaigns include her own collection with Karen Millen and her partnership with St Tropez Tan to share her self-care routine.
Marr has always been transparent with her followers and since sharing the news of her miscarriage in 2021, the lifestyle blogger has built a loyal community seeking comfort in her candid and relatable content. 2022 has been a good year – she welcomed her second son and announced her engagement while continuing to use her platform to raise awareness of baby loss. Interesting campaigns include her partnership with Love Ocean to share her review on its plastic-free bath time products and her collaboration with Swan Brand to create an autumnal hot chocolate using its milk frother.
Colleen is fast becoming the queen of vegan, cruelty-free beauty. This year she discussed sustainability at Pinterest’s beauty school and used her platform to call out unethical practices, most prominently criticising Benefit Cosmetics for its press trip to Hawaii. She also shared how she re-styles her wardrobe staples. Significant campaigns include her partnership with eBay to promote small businesses and her collaboration with The Body Shop to discuss the beauty industry’s attitude towards ageing.
Caufour is gradually gaining traction online and it’s clear why. Her followers trust her beauty product reviews, celebrate her mission to promote body positivity and always tune in to her one minute podcast series. Significant campaigns include her partnership with WooWoo to share how she removes body hair.
In between her home and garden renovation projects, Liana has been busy maintaining a steady flow of luxury unboxing videos, travel inspiration and beauty product recommendations. Notable campaigns include her partnership with Lumene to share how she uses its Nordic Ageless Ajaton range in her morning skincare routine and her partnership with Essie to match her outfits with different shades of its nail polish.
After moving to London at the end of 2021, creating “living alone” vlogs and going to her first LFW fashion show, Mawhinney left the UK for life in Paris, Florence and Indonesia, bringing her followers along for the adventure. Her best campaigns of 2022 include teaming up with Lingoda to discuss taking its French lessons and partnering with Visit Scotland to share highlights from her trip to Edinburgh and Glasgow.
The TikToker was a new addition to CORQ this year but has since become one of the most-searched influencers on the platform thanks to his daily comedic videos and rants. Interestingly, he has stopped adding text and captions to his videos, making viewers more engaged as they have to listen to his content and hear his trademark saying, “There I’ve said it.” His content consistently delivers enviable engagement, with this video from May surpassing 14 million views.
The Love Islander turned sports presenter has spent 2022 broadcasting for BBC Sport and Sky Sports. He also joined BT Sport in September and launched The Social Stage, a course helping people improve their public speaking skills. When it comes to commercial work, he typically works with brands that have a sports angle, such as teaming up with Heineken for its 12th Woman campaign to watch the Lionesses play Norway in Brighton. He also partnered with Playstation to play FIFA against footballer Jack Grealish on an episode of its YouTube series #PSNextGenIcons.
The lifestyle creator has become a go-to for brands across the travel and wellness sectors, as she openly documents her health and showcases her adventures. This past year, she and Natalie Glaze’s swimwear brand launched a collection with dryrobe and she was also featured on British Vogue’s YouTube channel. As if that wasn’t enough, she also co-founded the personal finance platform, Thrive Money. Notable brand collaborations include teaming up with Skin + Me to share three ways she supports her skin and her ongoing partnership with Gym+Coffee.
This author, broadcaster and creator has been cooking and writing up a storm this past year, continually creating healthy and nutritious recipes. Outside of her Instagram content, she released her new cookbook, Feel Good, in May and launched her Substack newsletter in September. She also opened up about having two miscarriages. Her most exciting brand collaborations included teaming up with Bosh! to share meal prep tips and working with Bower Collective to devise sustainable swap ideas, both on-brand projects as she covers sustainability and food waste.
Randall hit the ground running in 2022 and started the year with her take on lemon cake followed by slow fashion-inspiration, which set the tone for the rest of the year. Her followers appreciate her gentle guidance and her candid discussions. Stand-out campaigns include her collaboration with Waitrose to share dark chocolate miso butter cookies and her partnership with Bloom & Wild to demonstrate how she arranges her flowers each week.
From cooking up zero-waste recipes – not to mention foraging and fermenting foods – to living in an old caravan in Cornwall for six months with no gas, plumbing or mains electricity, Hunt has been heavily focused on promoting sustainable living. He also opened up about weight loss, attended festivals and was a dynamic panel speaker. His notable campaigns? Presenting Waterford Whisky’s The Unearthed Series on Instagram and discussing living off-grid with E.ON.
The filmmaker and environmentalist completed his master’s degree in architecture from the University of Cambridge and is now turning his architectural thesis into a live project. Alongside studying, Harries featured on the cover of Mission Magazine’s sustainability issue with his twin brother Jack and worked on projects with Earthrise Studio, the production company he co-founded. He rarely fronts commercial campaigns but continued his partnership with MINI throughout 2022.
Like his twin brother Finn, Jack has had a busy year raising awareness of the climate crisis through Earthrise Studio projects and filming documentaries about the environment. He released a two-part documentary, Seat At The Table: Let’s Talk About Climate Anxiety, visited Antarctica to create the film We Are Antarctica – which was screened at COP27 – and was named climate creator to watch by Harvard C-CHANGE and Pique. A strong brand partnership included working with YouTube on its Non-Fungible Planet campaign for Earth Day to visit Kew Gardens.
The Dutch recipe creator is known for her easy to follow and nutritious dishes but her audience has also loved her content showing more of her personality this year (see this date night TikTok and her trying beauty trends all at once). Her cooking tutorial for pumpkin fries went viral and she proved to be skilled at hair content too. A creator who is very clearly going to have a big 2023.
2022 has been all about music for the singer and streamer, who released singles with both Sigala and Nathan Dawe – her song with the latter artist was Capital’s record of the week and reached number one on iTunes. She also got engaged to Sidemen’s Simon Minter in June. When it comes to brand partnerships, she became an ambassador for PrettyLittleThing and she worked with Samsung Odyssey to play PlateUp! on its Twitch channel.
A big year for Witton. The YouTuber and podcaster welcomed her son Rowan and although her content has shifted to document changes that have come with motherhood, in many ways it’s business as usual. Nothing is off the table when it comes to conversations about sex and she also shared her experience of being misdiagnosed with an STI after giving birth. Notable campaigns reflected Witton’s ability to connect honestly on the subject of sex, particularly a partnership with Elvie in which she busted three myths about postpartum sex.
Nicholas-Williams has had an eventful year. She was body-shamed by Laurence Fox and then the Spanish government used her image for a body positivity campaign without her permission. But the model and creator is not one to suffer fools and has been quick to speak truth to power. Most prominently, she criticised Alexa’s Black History Month campaign for leading with a white influencer and called out brands who invited her to castings without having clothing in her size. As a model, she walked in the Doddz augmented reality fashion show for London Fashion Week and collaborated with Absolut Vodka to star in its Born To Mix campaign with singer Olly Alexander.
Beverley has had an outstanding year thanks to her brands TALA and Shreddy growing from strength to strength. Firstly, TALA raised £4.2 million investment, launched a swim collection and collaborated with FILA. Meanwhile, Shreddy launched protein bars and sold 33,000 within five days of their release, outselling the nationwide bestseller in Superdrug. In the middle of this, Beverley moved house, began creating TikTok content and relaunched her Working Hard, Hardly Working podcast. When it comes to partnering with brands, the entrepreneur teamed up with Meta to speak at its Good Ideas Studio events.
After moving out of her previous flat and living out of a suitcase for a few months, Moon and her partner Jack bought a two-bedroom flat in November and she celebrated a year of sobriety. Throughout 2022 she continued to produce her regular lifestyle content and began regularly posting on TikTok – her video on Elf Bars went viral with over two million views. Her notable brand partnerships? She worked with Meta Portal Plus to share an organisation and productivity vlog.
The baker and beauty creator has been busy cooking up a storm for Jemma Wilson’s YouTube channel Cupcake Jemma and bakery Crumbs and Doilies. Pemberton continued his usual content, ranging from dance videos to beauty tutorials and cake inspiration. His best paid content of 2022 includes being part of Tony’s Chocolonely’s first social campaign to promote its conversation bars and working with Skingredients to host a “get ready with me” with its founder Jennifer Rock.
It’s been a good year for Bell, whose second scarf collaboration with The Tartan Blanket Co. sold out in less than 24 hours. But let’s rewind to the beginning of the year – she got engaged to her partner Rob in Paris, then relocated from Scotland to Manchester and rebranded her channels from “The Little Magpie” to her name. Besides an impressive collaboration with the Scottish lifestyle brand, Bell has a successful ongoing partnership with TK Maxx.
The beauty creator continued to dominate TikTok with her creative makeup transformations this year, continually captivating her nine million-strong audience. There is data to suggest her influence goes far beyond the platform though – Google searches for content about her spiked in February shortly after she attended the Brit Awards 2022. In the lead-up to Halloween, she showed off her artistry – her video of her transforming into Insidious has almost six million views. Her best campaign? Teaming up with NYX Professional Makeup to test its Bare With Me concealer, which featured a rare voiceover that her followers loved.
It’s been a big year for Crentsil and Black Girl Fest, which made the leap from being a single event to a fully operating business. She also launched Girlhood, an empowering summer programme for young Black girls, and moved to a new studio and community space which is available for hire. Crentsil was deservedly named a Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts for cultural curation, and found time to work with Speedo on its Swim United campaign to inspire Black women to swim, as well as launching eBay’s Seller Academy.
Midway through 2022, Rebuck left his position as head of social at BOSH! – and has gone from strength–to–strength since. He got married, hit 100,000 followers on Instagram, switched up his content style (he’s strictly a video man now), and launched a new weekly series, 3 And In, in which he cooks using three random ingredients from the comments. Standout campaigns scouting vegan options with Amazon Fresh, and styling Lucy and Yak for a wasabi pea toast tutorial.
La Manna continued to hold brands to account for their ethical and sustainable faults. She called out Pretty Little Thing, Boohoo, Shein, and Nike for greenwashing, overproduction, and exploitation – and even protested inside Adidas’ flagship store. The same values applied to her brand work, such as a partnership with Back Market to discuss electronic waste, and sharing secondhand shopping advice with eBay.
Four years after Simon bought her one-storey bungalow, she powered through with more renovations in 2022 – transforming the garden and adding a second floor just as hygge as the first. At the same time, she’s been brutally honest about her diagnosis with multiple sclerosis. Campaign highlights include curating a homewares edit for John Lewis and designing a cabinetry and kitchen collection with The Main Company.
This year brought a first for Esther Areola, who moved out of her family home into a new house with teenage son Koko. She was also one of several influencers chosen for Instagram’s Creator Quest, sharing skills with the next generation of Black content creators. Campaigns were plentiful, but two of the most exciting saw her hosting an Instagram talkshow for Disney+ and being named a Pandora ambassador.
A year of change for Taylor. As her youngest son started school, she announced she felt she and her content were transitioning from the “baby years” to the next stage of family life. Notable campaigns along the way: hosting a Q&A for first-time buyers with Nationwide, and sharing Halloween half-term inspo with Sky TV.
Amrani welcomed her daughter Layla Nadmi in the final days of 2021 – so unsurprisingly, 2022 means more baby content mixed with beauty, and trying to adjust to life as a new parent. That crossed over into brand work, too. A standout campaign saw her talk about the reality of finding a balance between work and a baby to promote Sky’s show Breeders.
Two years after her time on the show, Zapico moved in with her Love Island co-star Nas Majeed. On Instagram, 2022 was as style-focused as usual, with a string of glam fast fashion collaborations. Highlights include being named an ambassador for HYPE – while a non-fashion standout saw her speak on Skipton Building Society’s panel about finding and buying your first home.
For Brown, 2022 was all about scaling up her luxury swimwear brand Swim Society after securing investment in late 2021. Her experience earned her a slot as a business mentor for Virgin Start Up, while her Love Island past saw her cast in the 2023 series of Celebrity SAS: Who Dares Wins. She also moved in with her partner Mark. A big year – dotted with brilliant collaborations like speaking on Amazon’s Small Business, Big Dreams panel.
A victorious year for a victorious creator. Victory is now on maternity leave after welcoming her daughter, Kamiko. Earlier in 2022, she was made an ambassador for mental health charity Mind, hosted a talk for ICU trainees at the NHS drawing on her own experience as a patient, and used her platform to call out brands for whitewashing their events. Standout campaigns include her and her family being named H&M ambassadors, and talking about giving birth prematurely for Pampers on World Prematurity Day.
2022 has been a year of beautiful stories and progress from Williams. She married her partner in May before writing about it for British Vogue. Her newsletter Remotely launched, and she celebrated the eighth year of her partnership with Missoma. Notable campaigns from this year include styling Boden’s new season and showing how she takes care of her clothes for Secondhand September with Steamery.
Chunkz hit several milestones – co-hosting the MOBO Awards with Yung Filly, participating in Soccer Aid, and reaching three million followers on Instagram, all in one year. A lineup of impressive campaigns includes being named a JD Sports ambassador and appearing in its Christmas advert, and attending the Super Bowl with Primark.
Gill made her reality TV return in Channel 4’s Celebrity SAS: Who Dares Wins. She breached new territory with her literary debut – Until I Met You – and completed a 75km trek to Petra in Jordan to raise money for Jo’s Cervical Cancer Trust. Her most interesting commercial projects of 2022 include launching the podcast Amazing Starts Here with The National Lottery. Also worth noting: the ASA added her to its list of non-compliant influencers.
Ellaby went back to her blogging roots in 2022, upping the ante from the previous year to share more quirky, colourful fashion inspo and incorporate more parenting content after welcoming her first child in 2021. Creative campaigns include launching a phone case collection with CASETiFY through her brand Saturday by Megan Ellaby, and renewing her ongoing partnership with Maison Margiela Fragrances.
Whitehouse’s push for flexible working continues. This year, she appeared in Parliament to discuss her Flex Appeal campaign with MPs and attend the Working Dads Employer Awards, as well as hosting her podcast Dirty Mother Pukka (named the BBC’s podcast of the week). She also found time to learn how to DJ – and produce brilliant campaigns like hosting the UK launch of She-Hulk: Attorney at Law for Disney+, and joining LinkedIn’s #FlexibleIs project.
Another year, another cookbook for the Original Flava brothers – Craig and Shaun released Natural Flava in March. The rest of 2022 has been packed with pop-ups and restaurant takeovers at the likes of London’s Royal Court Bar & Kitchen, and Buster Mantis in honour of Jamaica’s 60th anniversary of independence. A campaign highlight? Hosting the Joy of Carnival pop-up with Guinness to celebrate the return of Notting Hill Carnival.
Sol’s financial prowess was fully powered up in 2022. She bought her first home in London, and the Evening Standard, The Independent, and Huffington Post all turned to her for tips to help others through the cost of living crisis. Educational campaigns include working with Plan V Care to discuss financial protection for women who’ve been diagnosed with cancer, and touring schools with HSBC to teach children the basics of personal finance.
Cali doubled down on the fashion content this year, becoming more Reels-focused than ever. However, 2022 wasn’t the easiest time – he opened up about therapy and struggling with his mental health in June. Campaign highlights include promoting Penhaligon’s latest fragrance and celebrating Royal Salute’s new scotch.
Does it get much bigger than your own self-titled show? Horne created, wrote, and starred in the sitcom The Horne Section Show in November – the cherry on top of a year where he also participated in The Great Celebrity Bake Off for SU2C, hosted the Rose d’Or Awards, and joined the board of directors for football team Chesham United.
Of course Hague is on the list – she has had quite the year. She released her memoir, Becoming Molly-Mae, moved into her dream house and in September, she and her boyfriend Tommy Fury announced they were expecting their first child, a baby girl. In terms of controversies, she received backlash after her comments that “everyone has the same 24 hours” were judged to be out of touch. She was also ruled against in two ASA verdicts – in November and July. Regardless of this, 2022 has been an incredible year for Hague. In terms of commercial work, she signed a seven-figure deal with Beauty Works and helped PrettyLittleThing, of which she is the UK creative director, launch its resale platform.
Tim and Darran Lincoln-Shaw became homeowners in May, and have documented their renovation journey alongside their usual parenting and lifestyle content. The couple also won “Best Instagram Page” at the first annual Fatherhood Awards and took part in Comic Relief. Notable brand partnerships include their campaign with Sky to promote the show Breeders, their promotional visit to Disneyland Paris and a self-care post for Father’s Day in collaboration with L’Oréal Men.
A Dyson hair styling video, a vlog of her Dominican Republic holiday and moments with her husband, food blogger Abz Walid, are some of Poonam Walid’s most popular posts of 2022. This year also marked more regular content on TikTok, where her most viewed video of her beauty travel essentials has been viewed over 1.3 million times. She also made a return to YouTube after a four-year hiatus. Brand partnerships of note include launching skincare brand WOAH at Next Beauty and collaborating with Amazon Fresh to create an affordable autumn dinner party.
The dancer’s most popular content this year were her interpretations of viral choreographies, such as the Soweto challenge, and clips from her dance at a wedding. Adebesin also collaborated with other dancers in her videos, including Gioaddo, Fay and Inès Kaney. She worked with Savage x Fenty as one of its ambassadors, but did surprisingly few brand collaborations – something to note for brands keen to find exceptional talent whose feed is not saturated with commercial content.
Kia Commodore’s financial education platform Pennies to Pounds continued to discuss financial issues and provide saving challenges throughout 2022. Additionally, she luanched a second YouTube channel for lifestyle content. Commodore’s profile as a financial expert has never been so high and mainstream appearances include featuring on BBC 5 Live to discuss credit and debt for young people. A standout brand partnership was her collaboration with The Royal Mint to discuss investing in precious metals as a safer option than investments in NFTs and cryptocurrency.
The vlogger and her partner-in-crime, Sophia Tuxford, released their book The Girls Bathroom, which featured on the Sunday Times bestseller list. The duo also hosted a live event for their podcast and announced tour set to start in February 2023. Notable brand collaborations include their Black Friday promotion for Missoma in a vlog and a partnership with Rimmel London for its Match Perfection Foundation.
Known for her natural light photographs of internet and media personalities, this year was busy for Cameron – she shot portraits of Fearne Cotton, Stephanie Yeboah and Gemma Styles. Alongside this, she helped stage an Instagram boycott to protest the app’s pivot to video, and went on BBC Breakfast with Nyome Nicholas-Williams to discuss body image. She also called out Variety, Sydney Morning Herald and Marie Claire Australia for using her images of writer Dolly Alderton without permission. A standout campaign from 2022 is her collaboration with Triumph Lingerie, where she discussed body confidence and its impact on images.
Martin moved to Melbourne this year but continues to engage her UK audience, especially via her activist work. She continuously make an impact – for example, this year she donated £1 to National Network of Abortion Funds and Abortion Support Network every time a man messaged her saying abortion is murder. She also featured in Glamour UK’s International Women’s Day campaign, Allyship in the Face of Misogyny. In terms of commercial work, she collaborated with The Body Shop and the UN Youth Envoy for its #BeSeenBeHeard campaign, which aimed to encourage more people under 30 to work in public office.
Mackintosh moved into a new home and launched her podcast Mumlemmas & More with Charlie Boud. However, the latter was not without complication – the duo had to change the series’ original name – Mama’s Milk – after being accused of copying an Instagram account about breastfeeding. Her content was largely focused on parenting this year, and she shared her experiences of mastitis, weaning and potty training her youngest daughter. She also produced standout campaigns, such as a five-minute makeup routine in partnership with Lancôme and recreating iconic Hollywood film scenes for Special K’s #MorningMoments initiative.
Omole – also known as Abi Marvel – opened a concept store for her lifestyle brand Arva this year. She created seasonal styling videos with brands such as River Island and Free People, and worked with The Outnet to share her thoughts on Black Joy for Black History Month. She also collaborated with American Express multiple times to promote its Amex Experiences and featured on Carolina Herrera’s podcast, Walk Tall.
Izzie Rodgers continued spreading skin positivity content and acne awareness, and criticised the clean makeup trend because the aesthetic is unattainable for those with acne. She also got a dedicated studio space to use for content creation. In terms of commercial work, her collaborations focused on inclusivity and self-love. She teamed up with Dove to discuss why she uses its Anti-Stress Body Wash, and pointed out the harmful subliminal messages in media which depict acne as dirty in a partnership with Dermalogica for Acne Awareness Month.
Lartey branched into beauty journalism this year, writing about the cultural appropriation brown lip liner and lipgloss aesthetic for Refinery29 and sharing her skincare routine with Cosmopolitan. In terms of campaigns, the esthetician primarily collaborated with beauty and skincare brands. She partnered with Simple to change her skincare routine for the colder autumn months and teamed up with Sanex to discuss how she keeps her skin nourished. Lartey also joined the No7 Beauty Company Creator Collective in collaboration with the British Beauty Council in a bid to tackle misinformation in the beauty industry.
Amy kept sharing the fashion, lifestyle and cottagecore content that has built her following. For brand campaigns, she featured gifted items, from Boden, Mejuri and LK Bennett among others, and partnered with Marks & Spencer to style summer staples. She also worked closely with fashion brand NA-KD, and Craft Gin Club (she even has a highlight dedicated to the brand).
A Gymshark ambassador, Olie featured the brand heavily in her content this year, from yoga tutorials on YouTube to organising her activewear on TikTok. Other brand collaborations includes a self-care partnership with mattress brand Emma and her contribution to Gillette Venus’ #MoveYourSkin campaign. The latter was especially impactful because Olie shared her father worked for Gillette for 25 years and was seriously ill. She also discussed the importance of girls getting into sport.
Thomas pivoted from being a YouTuber to more of a TikToker this year. She continued to create viral beauty and lifestyle content, with transformations like dying her hair copper or colouring her brows gaining the most attention. Her TikTok collaboration with MAC Cosmetics, where she used the brand’s lipsticks as blushers, has over four million views. Meanwhile her Maybelline partnership has over two million. She also continued to grow her Instagram, where she partnered with Byoma to share how the brand has helped her correct previous damage to her skin barrier.
Nià Pettitt, also known as Nià The Light, documented her renovation journey this year in addition to her usual hair, beauty and fashion content. She teamed up with MBK Medspa to document the process of getting a Bio-Peeling facial to treat her bacne (back acne) and discussed the stigma around body acne. She and her mother also worked with Pandora to promote its Mother’s Day collection.
This year Bullivant completed the renovation of her static caravan, which she documented on Instagram, Pinterest and YouTube. She also provided renter-friendly interior advice, decluttering tips and budget DIY hacks. In terms of brand collaborations, she partnered with Smart Energy to discuss how smart meters can help with the rising cost of living and worked with eBay to furnish her caravan.
The TikTok beauty guru moved to London this year and focused on her music career while continuing to create viral content. In January, she released her debut single Paramaniac, she went on a UK tour in the spring and also shared that she was supporting both Halsey and Pale Waves. She released a makeup collection with Morphe and featured in the campaign for Forever21’s collaboration with Hello Kitty.
Noble took her presenting career to new levels this year. She started co-hosting BBC 1Xtra and BBC Sounds’ new show, Throwback Party, which won the “best ensemble cast” award at the Audio Production Awards. She hosted GRM Daily’s Out Loud series, as well as MTV’s Are You The One?. Additionally, Noble fronted Lionesses Live on the England YouTube channel, and made her Match of the Day debut. She partnered with MLB Europe to host its #BattleOfTheBases, and worked with Ray-Ban to attend All Points East and capture the festival through the lens of the glasses.
The Scotland-based entrepreneur received high praise from her followers this year for being transparent about the process of having her lip filler dissolved and for sharing her insecurities about her natural look. Other than that it was business as usual for the makeup and skincare creator, posting try-on hauls, travel vlogs and affordable products featuring E.L.F. Cosmetics and Superdrug.
Plumstead had big changes in her personal life this year, sharing she split from her long-term partner in March. Following this, she documented renovating the house they bought together on her own and going on her first solo travel trip. Professional highlights included partnering with Everlane to style timeless pieces and All About Ipswich to share her favourite independent shops in her hometown.
Falconer welcomed her second daughter Aurora Bee in March and shared her positive drug-free birth experience on Instagram. In October, she and her family moved to Jaipur for a three month adventure and to escape their ongoing home renovations. During the summer, she hosted a midsummer tablescape workshop in partnership with Belgravia.
Magrath has enjoyed a busy year, featuring on the cover of Rollacoaster magazine, working with Armani Beauty, attending the BAFTAs with Bulgari and partnering with Dyson Hair. She also launched a third jewellery collection with Edge of Ember and became the face and voice of Viktor&Rolf’s Flowerbomb Christmas campaign. The only downside? In November the ASA upheld a complaint about partnership Magrath did with Jimmy Choo, ruling it was not easily identifiable as commercial content.
Deaf and disabled activist Kellgren-Fozard took a short break from creating content for her YouTube channel in the summer to focus on writing a children’s book. She has shared her experiences of teaching her baby son sign language and parenting via the Montessori method. Notable campaigns included partnering with NHS Professionals to discuss dysautonomia and long Covid and working with Pandora to share that no two mums or families look the same for Mother’s Day.
Interiors and lifestyle creator Paula Sutton (Hill House Vintage) is arguably the UK’s cottagecore queen and worked with brands that aligned with this aesthetic in 2022, such as Liberty London to promote its bedding and sleepwear collections. She also partnered with Estee Lauder in an Instagram Reel about skincare and took part in a livestream discussion about period-inspired interiors for a new Museum of the Home installation.
Norwich-based fashion creator Bathgate has spent much of her year documenting her travels across the UK and Europe in mid-length vlogs on her YouTube channel. She has also been active on Instagram, collaborating on a partnership with sustainable fashion brand ALIGNE to curate an autumn/winter 2022 edit.
Twelve months of change for Clark. At the beginning of this year, she moved into a flat in London with fellow influencer Olivia Grace Herring, while in October she shared that she and her partner had broken up after six years together. Work-wise, she partnered with Wagamama and VOXI, both on Instagram Reels.
This year Da Silva continued to grow her Instagram following, sharing fashion, beauty, travel and lifestyle content. Meanwhile, over on TikTok her content is going from strength to strength where her growing audience is highly engaged with her modest fashion guides and relatable videos. Strong campaigns included a collaboration with World Duty Free while preparing for Eid and styling neutrals in partnership with Primark.
The Glow-Up makeup artist’s career went from strength to strength this year as she continued to post her incredible beauty transformations but also shared more natural looks. Alongside creating content, her client work has been impressive too and seen her design looks for Maya Jama and Halima Aden. Key campaigns include gorgeous posts for YSL and Nyx.
While the world endlessly scrolls through TikTok, Purvis has kept the romance of blogging alive. The lifestyle creator spent 2022 publishing stories about travel, vintage fashion and motherhood, including her own postnatal experience. She also shared in a candid post that she and her husband had separated. That’s not to say there weren’t videos – they were just in her own unique style. Branded highlights include this gorgeous Reel with Sky to promote period drama The Gilded Age and a Christmas film in partnership with Barbour.
Babalola is, as ever, at the centre of culture and 2022 saw her star rise in America thanks to the success of her book, Honey & Spice. It was featured on TIME’s list of 100 best books of the year, an editor pick in the New York Times and selected for Reese Witherspoon’s book club. On top of this, she wrote about Beyonce’s latest album Renaissance for American Vogue and announced the sequel to Honey & Spice – Sun Under Skin – will be released in 2024. In short, good year.
Otedola continued to build her acting career in 2022 with the cinema release of The Man For The Job and her 2020 movie Citation streaming on Amazon Prime. She was also nominated at the National Film Awards for Outstanding Performance and Best Newcomer for her role in the latter. Campaigns included working with Maserati and APM Monaco and she announced her engagement to Mr Eazi via the sweetest video ever.
It’s been business as usual for Lynch who has consistently created comedy, music and football content. With over 21 million followers on TikTok, his videos frequently chart over one million views thanks to being fun, relatable and designed to entertain. A brilliant campaign was when he featured in the YouTube Originals series, The Mandela Project, for Mandela Day and also teamed up with Paramount+ to celebrate its UK launch.
Monica Wong stepped away from her blog this year, leaving it untouched since mid-2021. She has also given the lifestyle content a break on her Instagram, posting much less frequently than in previous years (she’s only posted 12 times in 2022). Instead, she’s busy travelling – she’s currently in South Korea, with plans to head to Dubai in early 2023. Standout campaigns in between include sharing fond memories of her culture with Yakult for Chinese New Year, and showcasing the benefits of WeWork.
Isted has proved she is the queen of two things this year: guidance on achievable styling and supporting emerging brands. Dubbed a British fashion icon, she won “Best Fashion Influencer 2022″ at the National Social Media Awards in October thanks to her consistent content and honest recommendations. Notable campaigns include her collaboration with AEG to reveal her renovated kitchen and detailing her morning rituals with Rescue Remedy. She was also appointed brand ambassador for Revision Skincare in February.
Liard proves that if you have a talent – no matter how niche – and charisma, there is an audience for you on TikTok. This year she continued to wrap even the most awkward presents and fold clothes in the most efficient and neat way. Also, her first book – The Folding Lady: Tools & Tricks To Make the Most of Your Space & Find After Value in Your Home – was published by Yellow Kite. Campaigns included a partnership with Shein and she flew to New York to be on the Kelly & Ryan Show. Her next big project? London Marathon 2023.
As a tech expert and presenter, Abedayo – AKA Gadgets Boy – continued to lend his knowledge to brands in 2022 and interrogate new innovations across the technology and automotive verticals. His most standout brand work? An ongoing partnership with Formula E (see him hosting a Tag Heuer Porsche event in London as part of his role) and a campaign on refurbished technology with eBay for Black Friday.
The lifestyle creator has been captivating audiences with her relatable content throughout the year – her video of her going to India for her yoga teacher training reached 1.7 million views, while her homemade hummus recipe had 1.4 million. She also revealed she went through a breakup and had two moles removed. Her podcast was also one of the top one percent of most-followed shows on Spotify. When it comes to brand partnerships, she worked with CASETiFY to showcase its phone cases and partnered with SHREDDY to share what she eats in a day as a vegan.
As creator of TikTok’s most casually joyful channel, Achusiogu has grown her audience this year via her vlogs, knitting projects and showing how she does her girlfriend’s hair. She has also posted book reviews, fit checks, talked about being autistic and her choice to live alcohol-free. Her channel is mostly without commercial content but she did work with TikTok to be on its float at Manchester Pride. As we mentioned, joyful.
The food and lifestyle creator has been openly documenting her life on Instagram, from her cycling commute to work to discussing online bullying and even sharing her experience of having a colonoscopy. She has also has a cooking project called Hungry Bundles, and sold over 30 jars of apple butter after posting about it on Stories. Although she rarely does brand campaigns, she shared gifted items from her local boutique Lowie.