IShowSpeed facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
IShowSpeed
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Watkins at Chinatown, Singapore, in 2024
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Darren Jason Watkins Jr.
January 21, 2005 Cincinnati, Ohio, U.S.
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| Years active | 2016–present |
| Twitch information | |
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| Years active |
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| Genre | Gaming |
| Followers | 2.6 million |
| YouTube information | |
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| Subscribers | 46.8 million |
| Views | 6.4 billion |
| Musical career | |
| Genres |
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| Labels | Warner |
| Last updated: December 24, 2025 | |
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Darren Jason Watkins Jr. (born January 21, 2005), known online as IShowSpeed or simply Speed, is a popular American YouTuber and online streamer. He is famous for his energetic and exciting personality shown in his live streams, which often include real-life adventures in different places around the world. Many see him as a cultural ambassador because his travels often highlight the unique cultures and innovations of the countries he visits to a global audience.
Watkins was born in Cincinnati, Ohio. He started his YouTube channel in 2016, first sharing videos about video games. He began to get a lot of attention in 2021 because of his very lively and expressive reactions while playing games. In 2022, he started focusing more on soccer content, becoming a big fan of Cristiano Ronaldo and often making videos about his support for the player.
Watkins has also started a rapping career. He signed with Warner Records and released his 2022 song "World Cup", which became popular in many countries. He won the Breakout Streamer of the Year award at the 12th Streamy Awards in 2022. He also won Streamer of the Year twice at the 2024 Streamer Awards and 2025 Streamer Awards.
Contents
Speed's Journey: From Gaming to Global Streaming
Early Days and Online Growth (2016–2021)
Darren Jason Watkins Jr. was born on January 21, 2005, in Cincinnati, Ohio. He created his YouTube account in 2016, where he sometimes uploaded gameplay videos. Around December 2017, Watkins started livestreaming and sharing videos of games like NBA 2K and Fortnite. At first, he only had a few viewers.
Watkins became well-known after clips of his very energetic reactions during live streams went viral. These clips often showed him reacting strongly to games and other players, and they quickly became popular memes. His strong reactions led to him being temporarily banned from the streaming platform Twitch and the video game Valorant. Kotaku magazine described Watkins as "one of the biggest and fastest-rising streamers" on YouTube. A game that really helped Watkins become popular was Talking Ben. His videos about Talking Ben the Dog made the mobile app famous again, and it became a top-selling game on the App Store in April 2022, even though it was released over ten years earlier.
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In April 2021, Watkins's YouTube channel reached 100,000 subscribers. Just two months later, his channel grew to 1 million subscribers. In December 2021, Watkins took part in a Twitch "e-dating" livestream show. During this show, some of his comments were considered inappropriate, and he was later banned from Twitch for a period. His Twitch account was unbanned in October 2023, but he continued to stream mostly on YouTube and sometimes appeared on other creators' Twitch streams.
Rising Fame and Memorable Moments (2022–2023)
In April 2022, a video clip of Watkins playing Valorant on a live stream became widely shared. In the clip, he made some comments that were not respectful towards another player. This led to one of the game's producers permanently banning Watkins from Valorant and all other Riot Games titles. Watkins later apologized for his behavior, admitting it was "wrong."
On July 4, 2022, during American Independence Day, Watkins had a memorable moment when he set off a Pikachu firework inside his bedroom, almost causing a fire. This event attracted a lot of media attention. In the same month, his YouTube channel reached 10 million subscribers.
In August 2022, Watkins experienced a "swatted" incident while livestreaming on YouTube. This means someone falsely reported an emergency at his home, causing police to arrive. Officers handcuffed Watkins, and his cameraman had to end the stream. Watkins later said he was briefly held and that Adin Ross helped him return to streaming on August 11. In September 2022, Watkins played in the Sidemen Charity Match. A clip of him went viral when he became frustrated with the referee, Mark Clattenburg, for disallowing his goal. Watkins showed his frustration in a playful way, which resulted in him receiving a yellow card.
In December 2022, he won the "Breakout Streamer" award at the 12th Streamy Awards. That same month, during the World Cup, Watkins caused discussion for his actions towards a spectator. During a live stream, he approached a man and made comments and actions that were seen as disrespectful to someone from another country. He later uploaded an apology video to his Twitter account.
On January 7, 2023, Watkins shared during a livestream that his pet bulldog had passed away. This event deeply affected Speed, and he became visibly emotional while talking about it with his fans. In May, Watkins announced he had signed a special streaming deal with the video-sharing platform Rumble, working with Kai Cenat. A month later, after many attempts, Watkins finally met his idol, Cristiano Ronaldo, in Lisbon after a Portugal soccer match.
In August 2023, his YouTube account reached 20 million subscribers. Later in December 2023, Watkins had a charity boxing sparring match against KSI after a year of friendly rivalry. They raised money for the Anthony Walker Foundation.
Global Tours and Continued Success (2024–Present)
On January 19, 2024, Watkins publicly announced he adopted a dog.
On February 23, 2024, Watkins participated in "Match for Hope 2024," a soccer charity match in Ahmad bin Ali Stadium, Qatar. He played for Team Chunkz. A clip of him went viral when he slide tackled the famous Brazilian former soccer player Kaká.
Watkins appeared at WWE's WrestleMania XL on April 7, 2024. He dressed as a bottle of Prime for a championship match. During the event, he was kicked by Randy Orton and then had an "RKO" move performed on him onto the commentators' table. Watkins also appeared on the April 29 episode of Raw to announce picks for the 2024 WWE Draft.
On May 29, 2024, Watkins attended the annual Cooper's Hill Cheese-Rolling and Wake in Gloucestershire, England, where he suffered a leg injury that he said required hospitalization. In June and July 2024, during the UEFA Euro 2024, Watkins toured Europe, reaching 25 million subscribers on June 2. On July 3, Watkins visited Norway. While interacting with a large gathering of fans from a window, he injured his ankle. When he was being escorted out, a very large and enthusiastic crowd caused some difficulties, and he was hospitalized. Watkins' European tour received over 2.5 billion views across many social media platforms.
On August 3, 2024, Watkins performed a live-streamed stunt where he jumped over two speeding luxury cars in Miami. The video was later removed by YouTube. While on tour in Southeast Asia, he passed 30 million subscribers and gained a total of 110 million views during the trip. One of Watkins' livestreams, "IRL Stream in Indonesia," was the first time an English-speaking streamer had one million people watching at the same time.
In November 2024, Watkins competed in an exhibition 50-meter race against 2024 Summer Olympics men's 100 meters gold medalist Noah Lyles. The competition was organized by MrBeast. On November 22, Watkins began his tour of Australia and New Zealand. On November 26, it was announced that Watkins would be the president of the U.S. version of Baller League, a six-a-side soccer league. Later that month, he was ranked first by Complex Networks in its list of "The 25 Best Streamers Right Now."
In December 2024, Watkins was nominated for and won the "Get Off Your A** Award (Best IRL Streamer)", "Best International Streamer", and "Streamer of the Year" awards at the 2024 Streamer Awards. Later that month he won the "Most Influential Soccer Creator" award at the GOAL Champions Awards.
On January 10, 2025, Watkins announced that he would be doing a tour in South America. On January 28, during his tour in Peru, he was declared an honorary mayor of Lima for an hour by Rafael López Aliaga, the city's mayor, who also declared him an "ambassador of Lima."
On February 1, 2025, Watkins appeared in WWE's Royal Rumble. He substituted for Akira Tozawa and managed to eliminate Otis with Bron Breakker. However, he was soon eliminated himself.
Later on February 14, 2025, Watkins participated in "Match for Hope 2025," a soccer charity event in Stadium 974, Qatar. He was a co-captain for team Chunkz & IShowSpeed, playing against team AboFlah & KSI. Team AboFlah & KSI won 6–5. The event raised more than $10.7 million for charity.
On March 5, 2025, Watkins was featured on CBS Sports Golazo's coverage of the UEFA Champions League. Later on March 8, 2025, Watkins participated in the 2025 Sidemen Charity Match at Wembley Stadium in London, United Kingdom. As captain and player for the YouTube Allstars team, he scored his first goal in the charity match series in the 56th minute. Watkins then helped secure victory for the YouTube Allstars by scoring the winning penalty in a shoot-out.
On March 18, 2025, Watkins announced that he would be doing a tour in mainland China and Mongolia. During his tour, Chinese media and people praised Watkins for helping build good relationships between China and the United States. In contrast to his streams in mainland China, Watkins' stream in Hong Kong was very chaotic due to large crowds and excited fans. His ride on the MTR led to fans causing some difficulties at Tin Hau station.
On May 5, 2025, Watkins was "swatted" at a KFC store during a Cinco de Mayo real-life livestream.
On July 5, 2025, Watkins announced a second tour to Europe. He also began streaming on Twitch again for the first time in four years. On July 9, Watkins visited Serbia and met Baka Prase, who gave him a €30,000 Rolex as a gift. In Latvia, some of Watkins' actions during his visit caused discussion among the public. Later on July 22, Watkins participated in the MLS All-Star Skills Challenge.
On August 28, 2025, Watkins began the "Speed Does America Tour," a 35-day, 24/7 livestreaming trip across the United States. He streamed continuously on both YouTube and Twitch while visiting 25 states. That same month, Rolling Stone magazine named him its "Most Influential Creator of 2025."
The tour ended at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum, where Watkins hosted the premiere of his five-part YouTube series Speed Goes Pro. Many famous people attended the event, including Justin Bieber, Kim Kardashian, Suni Lee, DDG, and Randy Orton. The show, produced by OBB Pictures and sponsored by Dick's Sporting Goods, follows Watkins as he tries to become as skilled as professional athletes in different sports by training with them.
Two purchasable outfits based on Watkins' appearance were added to Fortnite Battle Royale on December 25, 2025.
Music Career
In August 2021, Watkins released his first song, "Dooty Booty," on his YouTube channel. After it was uploaded, the song quickly became popular on YouTube and other social media sites, like TikTok. In November, Watkins released a song called "Shake," which used parts of "Ready or Not" by the Fugees and "Hit The Road Jack" by Ray Charles. The music video for the song received over 211 million views on YouTube.
In June 2022, he released a song called "Ronaldo (Sewey)," inspired by his admiration for Cristiano Ronaldo. In November 2022, he released a song titled "World Cup" under Warner Records to celebrate the 2022 FIFA World Cup. On July 7, 2023, Watkins was a surprise guest at the 2023 Rolling Loud festival in Portugal. He performed "Shake," "World Cup," and "Portuginies" with the help of American rapper Ski Mask the Slump God and producer DJ Scheme.
In March 2024, Watkins released his first extended play Trip 2 Brazil.
Discography
Extended plays
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| Trip 2 Brazil |
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| Speed Gang |
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Filmography
| Year | Title | Role | Notes | Ref. |
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| 2024 | The Sidemen Story | Himself | Documentary; Cameo |
| Year | Title | Role | Notes | Ref. |
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| 2024 | WrestleMania XL | Himself | Disguised as Prime bottle | |
| WWE Monday Night RAW | Series 32; episode 18 | |||
| 2025 | Royal Rumble: Indianapolis | Entrant 8 | ||
| CBS Sports Golazo | ||||
| Speed Goes Pro | Five-part YouTube series |
| Year | Title | Artist(s) | Role | Ref. |
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| 2022 | "Let's Go" | Tion Wayne feat. Aitch | Himself | |
| "Don't Lie" | A1 x J1 feat. Nemzzz | |||
| 2024 | "Where Do I Go" | Vikkstar, Nicky Romero, Alpharock and Oaks |
Awards and Nominations
| Year | Ceremony | Category | Result | Ref. |
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| 2022 | Streamy Awards | Streamer of the Year | Nominated | |
| Breakout Streamer | Won | |||
| 2023 | Streamer of the Year | Nominated | ||
| Variety Streamer | Won | |||
| 2024 | The Streamer Awards | Get Off Your A** Award (Best IRL Streamer) | Won | |
| Best International Streamer | Won | |||
| Streamer of the Year | Won | |||
| GOAL Champions Awards | Most Influential Soccer Creator | Won | ||
| 2025 | Kids' Choice Awards | Favorite Gamer | Won | |
| The Streamer Awards | Streamer of the Year | Won | ||
| Best IRL Streamer | Won | |||
| Best Marathon Stream - "Speed Does America" | Nominated | |||
| Esports Awards | Streamer of the Year | Won |
