Who is John Nellis? Meet Strictly Come Dancing 2026 contestant and YouTuber

John Nellis has made a name for himself interviewing some of the biggest stars in football, but this year the spotlight will be on him as he joins the cast of Strictly Come Dancing.

The Northern Irish content creator, known for his football videos, has built a huge following online, largely thanks to high-profile face-to-face meetings with the likes of Lionel Messi, Kylian Mbappé, Cristiano Ronaldo and Erling Haaland.

Now, he's taking on one of television's biggest challenges and with no dance experience whatsoever, he's in for a wild ride.

So, just who is John Nellis and how will the football fan fare when he gets his first taste of the Strictly ballroom? Read on for everything you need to know.

Age: 33

Job: YouTuber / content creator

Instagram: @johnnellis

John Nellis is one of the UK’s biggest sports content creators, with a combined audience of more than 20 million followers.

His videos have amassed billions of views and featured some of the biggest sporting names, including Lionel Messi, Kylian Mbappé and Cristiano Ronaldo. And in 2024, he won Sport Creator of the Year at the TikTok Awards UK & Ireland.

In 2022, he quit his job as an air traffic controller at Cork Airport, where he'd worked for eight years. During the pandemic, Nellis had more time to work on his hobby of making videos and he soon took the leap to make it his full-time job. At the time he had 7,431 subscribers and now he has 16 million!

"I went from a big, serious stressful job and then into the dream job, very quickly," he told BBC News NI in 2022. "When no planes were flying I had so much more time to put into editing and thinking of ideas. It just spiralled."

"When I look back, I label myself as delusional. I don't know how any channel with as few subscribers as I had, in their right mind, would quit the job I had," he added.

What has John Nellis said about Strictly Come Dancing?

"I keep laughing in disbelief," John said of joining Strictly. "I keep realising the magnitude of it and getting a bit nervous. I keep saying to my wife how surreal it all is. I keep kind of going, 'This is mad.' So, nervous but ridiculously excited."

Strictly Come Dancing begins on Saturday 19 September at 7:25pm on BBC One and iPlayer.

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Authors

Tilly Pearce is a freelance TV journalist whose coverage ranges from reality shows like Love Is Blind to sci-fi shows like Fallout. She is an NCTJ Gold Standard accredited journalist, who has previously worked as Deputy TV Editor (maternity cover) at Digital Spy, and Deputy TV & Showbiz Editor at Daily Express US.