A 24-year-old who reviews fried chicken shops on YouTube has been given his own show on Channel 4.

Elijah Quashie, known as the Chicken Connoisseur on YouTube, will present a programme called The Peng Life in which he will sample food, fashion and other items at “street” and “elite” level and decide what is best.

Quashie’s The Pengest Munch videos have been viewed millions of times on YouTube. They feature him reviewing fried chicken shops in north and east London. The most viewed episode has been watched 4.3m times on YouTube and sees him visit Chick King, a chicken shop in Tottenham.

Channel 4 described Quashie, from Tottenham in north London, as a “raw British talent”. The commissioning of the programme highlights attempts by broadcasters to attract young viewers who are turning away from traditional television in favour of YouTube and other digital services.

The latest episode of Quashie’s YouTube series

Becky Cadman, Channel 4’s factual entertainment commissioner, said: “We’re here to develop ideas with exciting, raw British talent and Elijah has shown these qualities in bucketloads. We could not pass on the chance to bring his captivating presence to TV.”

Quashie’s show will air later this year. It will include him meeting up with celebrities to review items and “find out what the pengest luxuries are in their life”.

In a statement confirming the new show, Quashie said: “On YouTube I do the chicken ting, but now on Channel 4 I’m reviewing everything. The cheapest stuff to the most expensive stuff. Basically the deadest stuff you’ll ever find to the most expensive, baller status stuff. I’ll see if it’s worth the moolah. Hold tight.”

In an interview with the Guardian last year, Quashie said he was inspired to launch his videos by Gregg Wallace, or “the bald one on MasterChef”, as he described the celebrity chef.



“I wondered to myself, what makes his opinion more valued than anyone else’s? Is it because he’s been eating more food, so he has an experienced palate?” Quashie said. “I’m not sure. I thought, no one is doing this for the type of people who eat at chicken shops.

“This isn’t me being cliched, but I genuinely don’t know what life would be like without them. When I link up with my friends, we go to the chicken shop and eat and chill. If not there, we might end up going to someone’s house but then someone has to cook and it’s a bit long.”

Quashie wears a suit while visiting the chicken shops and says these are his church clothes. “I thought it was funny, because people might demean chicken shops, but it’s just as much a restaurant,” he said.

The Channel 4 programme will be made by Renowned Films, which has produced a collection of documentaries for Channel 4. Max Welch, the executive producer for the show, said: “Since we started Renowned Films, we’ve produced shows with some really gifted content creators, both in front of and behind the camera. Elijah’s no exception and we’re really excited to be working with him alongside Channel 4 on his first TV show.”

• This article was amended on 9 October 2017. The most viewed video of Quashie’s The Pengest Munch is Chick King, a chicken shop in Tottenham, not the first episode in his series, the Taste of Tennessee, a chicken shop in Hackney.

