1. The Botox backlash
Are we heading into our natural era? The answer is maybe after a new batch of Love Island contestants shocked viewers by how old they look after finding pictures of them before they say they had tweakments.
A video from a TikTok plastic surgeon, who was asked to guess how old the girls were, also blew up after he thought that one contestant looked nearly 20 years older than she was. Ouch.
The reactions follow new Google Trends data that revealed the most searched “why does gen z…” query in 2024 so far is “why does gen z look older than millennials”.
We’ll have to wait to see if tides turn and demand for syringes and surgeries drop but something has definitely shifted, even if some Gen Z faces can not.
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2. Language lesson: Match my freak
Tinashe’s Nasty is possibly the most internet-friendly song of all time and it’s inspired tonnes of viral content. The song made a star of content creator nates.vibe (below) and even got the TikTok nun Sister Mary Blaze “serving the body of Christ” after she posed on an alter to the super-sexy track.
Both TikTokers blew up after using the song’s refrain, “I've been a nasty girl, nasty”, but it’s a line from the verse that’s really seeped into culture and is this week’s expression to know.
It goes: “Is somebody gonna match my freak?” and it’s led people to highlight their unique traits and weird idiosyncrasies, including content creator Anna Sitar…
And TV presenter Mary-Claire Fitzpatrick…
The expression was also key to a super-viral post on Twitter/X after an account asked “Who are 2 people that actually did match each others freak?”. Thousands replied, mainly naming iconic duos like Bert and Ernie…
So if someone asks you whether you can match their freak my advice would be to first assess whether they mean it in the Tinashe way, i.e. kinky, or the idiosyncratic way, a la TikTok. What you share after that is entirely up to you!
3a. Nicola Coughlan
Miss Nicola Coughlan is having one hell of a moment. Those ground-breaking consent-focussed sex scenes in Netflix’s Bridgerton, her brave public advocacy for the humanitarian crisis in Gaza and her pitch-perfect clap back to body shamers have made her a darling.
The cherry on top of her piping-hot cake is Gen Z’s favourite brand SKIMS announcing her as their latest face. The shoot to mark the partnership is gorgeously ethereal and nabbed Nicola, 37, even more attention. If her team were campaigning to make her the most beloved actress of 2024 then they are crushing their goal.
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3b. Jude Bellingham
Another star blowing up in the broader consciousness - who also has a SKIMS contract - is footballer Jude Bellingham.
The England and Real Madrid midfielder is not only being hailed as one of the best players on the pitch at Euro 2024, he’s also raising temperatures as a model. I’ll leave one of the SKIMS campaign images here just to prove my point.
Bellingham’s had a stellar 2024 after winning the Champions League, La Liga Player of the Season and the Laureus World Sports Award for Breakthrough of the Year. He’s also had an incredible start to Euro 2024 by scoring in England’s opening game against Serbia.
His popularity is peaking too. According to the must-read newsletter Garbage Day he had the fifth biggest hike in Instagram followers in May, adding more than a million to his account. He now has over 33 million followers on the platform.
4. Kai Cenat, Sidemen and the future of reality television
Two blockbuster broadcasts in recent weeks tell us a lot about who’s driving youth culture, what’s getting mass attention and how digital platforms are increasingly morphing into TV.
Let’s start with Kai Cenat (above). I’ve told you before that he's one of the most popular influencers among American teens. And his meteoric rise, and influence, took another leap this month after he broke North American viewership records on Twitch after live streaming for over nine hours with comedian Kevin Hart. The broadcast which hit a peak of 712,000 concurrent viewers also featured a cameo from basketball superstar LeBron James as well as the comedian Druski. Clips from the stream were released just over a week ago and have been watched more than 30 million times on Cenat’s YouTube channel.
It’s not possible to accurately say how many individuals watched Cenat’s special (as some may have watched multiple times and viewed multiple videos) but it’s worth considering that American TV’s most-watched series of the 2023-2024 season was NFL Sunday Night Football on NBC and it averaged 19 million viewers.
Equally it’s hard to equate a freewheeling live stream with produced programming on a network but it’s directionally interesting when the views are so high as it speaks to where attention and time, particularly from young people, is being spent.
What I think can be compared more easily to television is the phenomenal success of Inside, a reality show from the creator supergroup Sidemen.
Broadcast on YouTube over the course of a week, 10 contestants, including Love Island’s Chloe Burrows and YouTuber Joe Weller, were trapped in a prison-style house competing to win £1 million. That prize pot was in constant peril as it could be used to buy luxuries like fizzy drinks, but at hugely inflated prices.
Slick, well-paced and full of drama Inside would not have felt out of place on Netflix or a network channel. The production values were high and although Sidemen, a seven strong collective that includes KSI, hosted and produced the series themselves the budget must have been significant, likely in the millions.
Sidemen’s investment in the series has probably already paid off. According to The Publish Press the first episode got more than four million views in the first 24 hours of release, and has attracted more than 46 million views across all seven episodes.
Again it’s not an apples to apples comparison but when the new series of Love Island launched earlier this month just over two million tuned in to the first episode that night.
Inside isn’t the first reality format to find a huge audience on YouTube. It follows the success of MrBeast’s recreation of Squid Game which has been viewed 622 million times, and Druski’s Coulda Been House talent search show that’s had nearly 37 million cumulative views since it launched three months ago.
While the advertising and sponsorship revenue is much lower on YouTube compared with network TV, so are production costs. I’d love to see a breakdown of the financials for Love Island versus Inside so that we had an answer about which show was most profitable, but from what we know right now, if it’s eyeballs you’re after, launch a reality show on YouTube with talent native to the platform.
5. Another hot girl summer
Both Spotify and TikTok have waded into the annual debate over what will be *the* song of the summer.
Spotify went broad with their take by naming 30 tracks…
TikTok mercifully picked just 15 for the U.K. and Ireland markets. I can’t seem to find anything from TikTok U.S. but they are probably too busy trying to not get banned to make us a list…
Whichever way song of the summer works out the season is likely to be remembered as one that was dominated by female artists.
As I previously noted Chappell Roan is breaking through in a major way with three tracks on Spotify’s U.S. top 50. Plus Google Trends reported that searches for her name are at an all time high for the fifth month in a row.
Charli XCX is having a massive summer after dropping her sixth album BRAT. The rave-pop record is adored by fans and critics alike and the lime green artwork even became a meme.
Sabrina Carpenter continues her march to the top of pop. On Spotify’s global chart she currently occupies the top two spots with the earworms Espresso and Please Please Please.
Billie Eilish is also riding high with multiple tracks from her latest album HIT ME HARD AND SOFT charting. The big stand out though is BIRDS OF A FEATHER and creator Tyrell Hampton perfectly captured why it’s a vibe.
6. Jovan Owusu-Nepaul
Prospective British members of parliament all pledge to serve their community but one running for Labour has taken the concept of serving quite literally and is giving us a lesson in ‘1950s immigrant chic’.
In an interview with GQ Owusu-Nepaul explained that he gets all his clothes from charity shops/thrift stores and is inspired by the smart looks of those who left Commonwealth countries to make new lives in mid-century Britain.
“I look at those people that came on the Windrush ships in the 50s and 60s, and they were slick,” he told GQ.
Whether his superlative style gets him votes is to be seen. Britain goes to the polls on July 4th.
Yes! You and your freak made it to the end.
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highly flammable is produced and written by Rachel Richardson
She’s a content creator, commentator and consultant at Beginning, Middle and End
