Watford celebrity KSI and Youtuber friends The Sidemen explore their rise to fame in a new Netflix documentary.

The Sidemen Story, released today, charts the group's success over the last 10 years, recording the high and lows of their decade-long career.

Featuring behind the scenes footage of their videos and on-camera interviews, KSI and his friends discuss their history and motivations to continue making content together. 

The group consists of KSI and six other content creators who became famous on the platform individually, before joining forces in 2013.

KSI grew up in Watford and rose to fame posting YouTube videos on the football game FIFA, reaching a million subscribers in 2012.

Watford Observer: Watford celebrity KSI.Watford celebrity KSI.

The list of members and their online-monikers is: Ethan Payne (Behzinga), Harry Lewis (W2S), Joshua Bradley (Zerkaa), Olajide "JJ" Olatunji (KSI), Simon Minter (Miniminter), Tobit "Tobi" Brown (TBJZL) and Vikram "Vik" Barn (Vikkstar123).

The name originates from a social group created on the role-playing game Grand Theft Auto Online in October 2013 called "The Ultimate Sidemen".

Discussing why they continue making videos after a decade, KSI said it was their “legacy” that motivates him.


Watford Observer: The Sidemen group was founded in 2013.The Sidemen group was founded in 2013. (Image: SIDEMEN/UMPF)

Vikram said: "I mean, deep down we've worked so hard to get to the top," with KSI adding: "We don't want to let it go".

Reflecting on his various projects, KSI said he considers YouTube as “the core, the heart” of his career.

Adding: “Without YouTube, everything dies... I wouldn't be able to box, I wouldn't be able to do music without YouTube. So I always feel like I have to post content there to make sure everything thrives."

The Watford celebrity was born Olajide Olatunji, or JJ, in June 1993 to parents of Nigerian heritage and grew up in the Watford suburbs.

He later went to fee-paying private Berkhamsted School where he met fellow Sidemen Simon Minter, who would also go on to become a video-creator.

The YouTuber has branched out in recent years to include releasing three studio albums as a rapper, a boxing record of four wins, one loss and one no-contest, and his energy-drink empire with American creator Logan Paul.

The craze over the Prime drink saw Watford’s town pond drained and refilled with the drink in April 2023 as part of a publicity stunt by the brand.