The Sidemen: what are the KSI-led YouTube superstars up to in Ireland?

The week before a tell-all documentary on Netflix, members of the social-media supergroup were out and about in towns around Ireland

The Sidemen Story — a "deeply personal new documentary film with unprecedented access to Europe’s biggest YouTube collective" — comes to @NetflixUK on February 14

Fans of social-media supergroup The Sidemen were out in force around the country yesterday, as word made its way online that members — including JJ Olatunji, better known as PRIME drinks entrepreneur, rapper and occasional boxer KSI — were in towns and cities around Ireland.

Fans are speculating online that the crew could be in the country to film future content, with KSI and Tobi Brown being spotted in Portlaoise by eagle-eyed followers.

Sidemen spotted in Portlaoise, Co Laois Ireland pic.twitter.com/SrQ1OBNHpa

— Football Today (@Ksi_JI) February 7, 2024

Meanwhile, Vikram Barn, aka Vikkstar, and Harry Lewis, better known as W23, were papped by CityLink buses' social media staff before they crossed the country from Galway to Dublin, posing for pics with fans and staff.

You never know who you might see on a Citylink bus!

We had @Vikkstar123 and @wroetoshaw from @sidemen onboard our Galway-Dublin commuter service today 🤩 pic.twitter.com/dbAukvyRZ5

— Irish Citylink (@citylinkireland) February 6, 2024

X/Twitter user ronaldo_nwoke also spotted Joshua 'Zerkaa' Bradley, on the stroll alongside musician and content creator Randolph.

@Sidemen Saw @ZerkaaHD and @RandolphUK in Ireland pic.twitter.com/GHbvdnQ6VP

— GoldenDeity23 (@GDeity23) February 6, 2024

A quick recap for those not in the know: The Sidemen is a collective of social media personalities from Britain, formed in 2013 as a groupchat among friends in the Grand Theft Auto: Online videogame, whose commentaries and camaraderie in the medium spurred them on to make sketches, challenge videos and more across a number of channels, including their flagship weekly Sidemen Sunday videos.

They've parlayed a combined audience of 138 million followers into their own media empire, including books, a clothing line, and the Sides restaurant chain, while KSI's endeavours, including his PRIME partnership with celebrity-boxing frenemy Logan Paul, have led to him becoming one of the most well-known personalities on social media today.

The next move for the group is onto Netflix, with documentary film The Sidemen Story charting their coming-together and seemingly inexorable rise — landing on the streaming giant on Valentine's Day.