Spud sellers, posh girl comedy and bus loving aunty among nominees

When Sarel presses record on her phone, there is no script, no plot, no meticulous plan for what she is going to say.

“I usually put on my swim cap, no make-up, and just pick up the phone and start chatting,” she says.

“I believe in maximum output with minimum effort, so if I have to do more than the minimum, I probably won’t do it. So I just talk to the camera and post.”

In just a few years, Sarel’s unfiltered style has transformed her from a casual online voice to one of TikTok’s most distinctive personalities, with over a million followers on the platform.

Sarel, famous for her Love Island spoilers, is among the nominees for the second annual TikTok awards, which celebrate creators shaping online culture in the UK.

There are 72 nominees in 12 categories, including education, beauty, comedy, food and sports. The candidates have more than 83 million followers combined.

From breakout comedians to beauty innovators, this year’s nominees include jacket potato entrepreneurs, tap-dancing siblings, a bus-loving aunt, a BookTok enthusiast and a movie location fanatic.

Sarel cannot believe that the thing he does most naturally, which is speaking, has gained millions of followers and likes.

“It’s crazy how people want to watch me talk,” he says. But the simplicity of his process is part of the appeal, and “you really see 100% of me on camera.”

Her journey has also taken her beyond the screen, and in 2023 she performed at the Edinburgh Fringe festival with her fellow TikTok stars.

“After doing that, I had a whole new respect for comedians,” he says. “When it comes to content, people walk away if they don’t like it, but if you bomb the stage the whole house looks at you like, ‘This is terrible.'”

With visibility comes scrutiny, and Sarel says it’s not always easy to deal with the dark side of social media.

“Hate is always louder than love,” he says. “Five years ago I would have responded to the comments but now I’m 31 and I’m too tired for that so I ignore it and ignore it.”

Since Sarel started sharing at an older age, she is still trying to figure out how much of herself to put online.

“I act how I feel at that moment, and my audience respects that,” he says. “I started off as if I were talking to my friends, but now I protect the parts of my life where I don’t want everyone’s opinion.”

While social media is full of people turning life events into months-long content strategies, Sarel isn’t interested in that, and even major milestones pass by on her feed with little fanfare.

“I recently got married and made two videos, then I said, ‘Let’s talk about traitors.’ I have ADHD, so I’m moving on quickly.”

Known for his “snarky cool girl” skits, Henry Rowley has become one of TikTok’s sharpest comedic voices.

The Leicester-born artist discovered his now signature characters while studying at Bristol University; Here he found himself “surrounded by a whole new world of luxury” and could not resist turning it into material.

“Some of these flamboyant people were my friends, and I found everything they said funny, so I started making videos about the things they said outside.”

His recent sketches, which feature Scottish impersonations of Harry Potter characters, have earned him more than a million followers on TikTok.

He also tried to carve out a niche for himself in stand-up; He admits it’s challenging.

“Doing content and comedy on stage is completely different,” he says. “It takes a lot of work to get back on my feet, and before the Fringe and my tour, there were plenty of bars and crappy gigs where I had zero laughs in a 20-minute set. It’s definitely humbling.”

Despite her rising profile, Rowley has kept most of her life out of the public eye.

“I mostly post characters and artwork so that people who follow me don’t know too much about me, which is really nice. I like to keep that balance,” he says.

His advice to other people getting into content creation is similar to what most aspirants say: “Don’t try to go viral, instead focus on doing something you’re truly interested in.”

If London has an unofficial ambassador for its buses, it might just be the Bus Aunt.

Often seen smiling next to a passing double-decker, he has turned his lifelong love of the capital’s transport network into a viral celebration of city life.

“My love for buses goes back a long way, in the early 90s,” he says. “I’ve always taken photos of myself on buses and one random day I chose to share a photo on TikTok and it went viral and now here we are.”

One of her videos, which was nominated for best video of the year, has been viewed nearly 50 million times, and Bemi now has collaborations with Burberry and Ikea.

The mental health nurse has become one of TikTok’s most unlikely success stories and admits it’s “a little overwhelming having everyone know me.”

“Sometimes I get recognized on the streets and people say, ‘Oh, hello Auntie Bus.’ I never thought in my wildest dreams that people would stop me, and it takes some getting used to.”

“It’s amazing to be nominated,” he says of his TikTok Awards nod.

“If I’m nominated it means I deserve to be here and I really love buses, I love London and hopefully that shows.”

He’s also proud to represent a different side of the app community.

“You’re never too old,” he says firmly. “I never thought I could make TikTok and be nominated for awards but here I am, only posting for a little over a year.

“Never give up on your dreams because what I loved about London brought me here.”

If there’s a resident librarian on TikTok, it’s Jack Edwards, who has built a loyal following by sharing his love of reading. But she says her journey to social media stardom began with rejection.

“It was the lockdown period and I was looking for a job in publishing and no one wanted to hire me,” he recalls. “My inbox was snorkeling in a sea of ​​rejection, and every email unfortunately started with that word.

“So I started talking about the books I was reading on social media.”

What started as a side project quickly turned into a full-time career, and Edwards eventually quit the job he had secured in broadcasting.

He says his advice to people who want to be creative is to find what makes their content personal.

“You have so many interests,” he explains. “If you were to create a Venn diagram of it all, the topic you should be creating content for is the middle crossover point. For me, that cross section is books, travel, and pop culture.”

Edwards adds that he is careful about how much of himself he projects to the audience. “I talk about the books and art I love, but never the people I love,” he says.

“But of course, when you talk about books, you’re talking about everything from trauma to politics to sexuality.”

This openness has allowed him to create a community that extends far beyond the screen.

“People are saying ‘Hi’ on the street and it’s the best thing ever. We have a mini book club right there on the sidewalk, an instant Jane Austen lovefest, and I know it’s super weird, but honestly it’s really special to me.”

Still, internet fame brings its strange moments.

“Sometimes you get a text saying, ‘Oh, hello, I just saw you at the urinal,'” he laughs. “It’s never normal to be seen in places like this.”