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TheOdd1sOut – real name James Rallison – has racked up 10 million fans from telling viewers about his life in animated videos, starring a cartoon marshmallow-like character.

So, when he was offered a big part in this year’s YouTube Rewind, he couldn’t turn it down – little did he know it would later become the most disliked video of all time.

‘Guys! Let’s do the In My Feelings challenge!’ James mimicked. ‘That was it, that was my part. I was really excited to get a speaking role, but it didn’t work out, apparently.’

Laughing, he recalled: ‘Susan Wojcicki [YouTube’s CEO] even publicly said it was cringey.’




However, he added: ‘I’ve looked at it more optimistically. If I was going to be in the most disliked video on YouTube, I’m glad it’s not directed at me. I’m glad it’s not because I’ve done something wrong.’

In fact, the widely held opinion after the controversial video was released was that the 22-year-old and fellow animator JaidenAnimations were the main YouTube stars that held the video together.

‘You know what? I can have this record on in my plaque wall – I don’t have a plaque wall – I can say I’m in the most disliked video and I’m not really hated for it. That’s a plus!’ he pointed out.

Explaining why he agreed in the first place, he admitted Jaiden had the right idea when she hid PewDiePie memes in the video – earning her a shoutout from the man himself.

‘The reason I was a part of YouTube Rewind and I put so much effort into the video was because I had a more prominent role, I wasn’t just put in the end credits, so I thought this will be great exposure,’ James explained.

‘People always say when you’re starting out, don’t get paid in exposure – but it’s YouTube Rewind! So I was like I’m going to stick out! It’s going to be all these real people and then a cartoon, it’s going to be great for business.

‘And when the video came out, I didn’t see any growth, I didn’t see any change, but Jaiden, who referenced PewDiePie… he shouted her out and she grew a big audience just from that shoutout, so I was just like man, Jaiden did what I wanted!’

Nevertheless, with a whopping 10 million fans around the world, he definitely hasn’t done too badly.

‘I started drawing comics when I was in school as a 12-year-old boy, when I was 16, I got a drawing tablet, so in 2012 I started a web comic,’ he recalled.

He’s built up 10 million subscribers over three years on YouTube (Picture: The Odd1sOut)

‘So I’ve been creating stuff on the internet for almost seven years. Then I started [posting to] YouTube in 2014, it takes a lot of time, a lot of practice. I enjoy doing it so it’s great that it worked out and I can do what I love for a living.



‘I always tell people you’re not going to be famous overnight. It’s a lot of work.’

And, despite not using his own likeness in videos, that hasn’t stopped him being recognised in the street.

‘It’s never got to a point where I can’t go to the grocery store, I can go wherever I want and if it happens, it happens,’ he explained.

‘When I was first starting out, if I got recognised, it would have made my whole month, I would have thought about it for the rest of the day, I would have made a video about it. But now it’s gotten to a point where if it happens I’ll say hi to them – I’m really happy to meet my fans.’

‘Whenever I go to a crowded area, this is what happens,’ he pointed out.

And he’s very aware that he needs to keep his content family friendly.

‘There are definitely things where I’m like “probably don’t mention that”. I know my audience – I’ve been to a bunch of conventions, I’ve seen kids with their families and them watching it, so I want to make family friendly stuff,’ James said.

‘I love going to VidCon and other conventions, that’s where I meet [fans] the most. They ask me if I take vacations and I tell them that these are my vacations.’

He grinned: ‘Not to toot my own horn, but I’ve gotten on VidCon’s bad side for going out into the Expo Hall and meeting people, because I want to meet as many people as possible, and VidCon is like, “Don’t do that! No, no, no!” and then they get mad at me.


‘Sorry VidCon!’

However, he prefers to stay away from trends, instead focusing on videos that his viewers can come back to.

‘I wanna make good quality videos that will last a long time,’ he told us. ‘I don’t want to do videos on trends.

‘That’s another thing that YouTubers do. They’ll make videos on trends and challenges and stuff, but I want these videos to have a long lifespan.

‘My videos are pretty bingeable and rewatchable, so if anyone discovers my channel, they can go back and watch any video in any order.

‘So it’s important to me to just make what I want to make and what I think will be most entertaining.’

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