Privately-educated schoolboys, Grime MC's cousin and university dropouts: How seven Brit YouTubers 'The Sidemen' amassed multimillion pound fortunes thanks to gameplay videos of Call Of Duty and FIFA

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Internet personality KSI's use of a racial slur in a recent video has thrust his collective of YouTubers, The Sidemen, into the spotlight for the wrong reasons.

The group have produced a host of comedy sketches and online challenges since launching their video channel in 2015, earning them more than 18million subscribers.

But they were plunged into controversy over the weekend, when they took on a 'Countdown Challenge', in which they tried to come up with a nine-letter word like on the Channel 4 show.

KSI - the most high-profile figure of the group - struggled to come up with a word before offering one which caused offence, adding: 'We need points and I don't mean this maliciously.'

The boxer, and the wider group, then posted apologies following the incident, with KSI himself pledging to take a hiatus from social media.

But who are the Sidemen, what do they do and how did they become so popular? Read on below for everything you need to know.

Some of them were already pals before the troupe was formed, with Bradley (back-right) and Brown (front-middle) meeting at Bexley Grammar School in London and Olatunji (front-right) and Minter (back-left) attending the £23,000-a-year Berkhamsted School in Hertfordshire. (Payne is pictured front-left, Barn middle-right, and Lewis middle-left)

In February 2014, Olatunji, Minter, Bradley, and Barn moved into 'The Sidemen House' so they could collaborate more closely and grow their brand further 

The Sidemen (clockwise from top-left: Harry Lewis, Vik Barn, Tobi Brown and Simon Minter) have produced a host of comedy sketches and online challenges since launching their video channel in 2015, earning them more than 18million subscribers

The Sidemen are a group of YouTubers, who originally formed a decade ago, after forming a bond on an online platform for fans of popular video game, Grand Theft Auto.

The collective is made up of KSI, real name Olajide 'JJ' Olatunji; Simon Minter, known online as Miniminter; Joshua Bradley, known online as Zerkaa; Tobi Brown, known online as TBJZL; Ethan Payne, known online as Behzinga; Vikram Barn, known as Vikkstar123 and Harry Lewis, known as W2S.

Describing the group's name, Minter said in a video: 'A sideman is basically someone's b**** who just follows them around... I was basically JJ's b**** that followed him around.' 

Some of them were already pals before the troupe was formed, with Bradley and Brown meeting at Bexley Grammar School in London and Olatunji and Minter attending the £23,000-a-year Berkhamsted School in Hertfordshire.

But it was via the world of online gaming that they began to lay the foundations for a group that is dominating internet entertainment.

Barn told The Times: 'I think that was really powerful, because it allowed us to connect purely as people. 

'There's none of that real-world interaction. It's just a voice and a conversation, and we enjoyed our conversations so much that we thought, 'Let's hang out In Real Life.' And by that point we were friends.' 

They came together as a six-piece in October 2013, before Lewis was invited to join when he met Bradley at a FIFA gaming event in New York City.

There has been the phenomenon that is the Prime energy drink, promoted to great success by KSI and fellow broadcaster Logan Paul

KSI, pictured performing on stage at Capital's Jingle Bell Ball last year, is the most high-profile figure in the group

The Sidemen originally formed a decade ago, after forming a bond on an online platform for fans of popular video game, Grand Theft Auto

The Sidemen (pictured: Lewis, Minter and Brown) began to make their name by recording video game sessions from their bedrooms, filming their own commentaries and reactions while playing, and uploading them to YouTube

The group often mingle with celebrities, as Ethan Payne is seen pictured with West Ham and England midfielder Declan Rice

The Sidemen (pictured Joshua Bradley) regularly post glamorous holiday pictures of their jet-set lifestyle

They set up a dedicated channel in 2015 and began to branch into other avenues of online entertainment, taking on a series of challenges, including eating tasks, hide-and-seek games and experimenting with parenting

Nearly 300 videos have been posted on the channel, which now boasts more than 18million subscribers and some five billion views in total

Its success spawned further channels, MoreSidemen, SidemenReacts, SidemenShorts and even a Spanish alternative, Sidemen en Español - though just five videos have been posted and its subscriber tally is at a more modest 8,000

Millions more views regularly roll in on their respective individual channels, too (pictured, Joshua Bradley)

The Sidemen began to make their name by recording video game sessions from their bedrooms, filming their own commentaries and reactions while playing, and uploading them to YouTube.

They set up a dedicated channel in 2015 and began to branch into other avenues of online entertainment, taking on a series of challenges, including eating tasks, hide-and-seek games and experimenting with parenting.

Nearly 300 videos have been posted on the channel, which now boasts more than 18million subscribers and some five billion views in total.

Its success spawned further channels, MoreSidemen, SidemenReacts, SidemenShorts and even a Spanish alternative, Sidemen en Español - though just five videos have been posted and its subscriber tally is at a more modest 8,000.

Millions more views regularly roll in on their respective individual channels, too. 

In February 2014, Olatunji, Minter, Bradley, and Barn moved into 'The Sidemen House' - a £4.5m mansion near London which comes complete with a gym, indoor pool, cinema and sauna - so they could collaborate more closely and grow their brand further.

The group's success - which has seen them accumulate a net worth of more than £44m - then quickly began to expand beyond the YouTube community.

The luxury estate boasted six en-suite bedrooms, cinema, gym, large indoor swimming pool and sauna

The group also had 24-hour security to guard the property. They all moved out of the house in December 2021

Elsewhere, they organised a Sidemen FC charity football match at Charlton Athletic's Valley Parade stadium, which resulted in Brown catching the eye and being invited to train with League Two outfit, Crawley Town last October

They launched an online shop, selling a wide range of branded clothes and other merchandise, which earns them around £2m a year, according to reports.

Meanwhile, a book and a nationwide tour to promote it followed - becoming a number one best-seller in the UK, with 26,436 copies sold within the first three days of its release.

And of course there has been the phenomenon that is the Prime energy drink, promoted to great success by KSI and fellow broadcaster Logan Paul.

The pair took part in high-profile boxing bouts, while KSI has also appeared on Channel 4's The Great Celebrity Bake Off and even dipped his toe in the music industry, with his second album, All Over The Place, going to number one in the UK.

The group collectively nearly bagged a Christmas number one last year as well, claiming third place in the festive charts with Christmas Drillings featuring JME, in aid of food poverty charity FareShare.

Elsewhere, they organised a Sidemen FC charity football match at Charlton Athletic's Valley Parade stadium, which resulted in Brown catching the eye and being invited to train with League Two outfit, Crawley Town last October.

Asked to define what exactly the group is and what is is about, Payne told the Times: 'I think that's the charm of it really. We're not in a box,' while Barn described them as 'entertainerpreneurs'.

Despite their roaring popularity, however, the group have also been embroiled in a number of controversies.

The group's clothing line boasts some 1.5 million followers on Instagram

KSI has previously been accused of trivialising rape by making what was referred to as 'rape faces' in a series of his online videos.

The clips showed the star in a host of different backdrops as he turned to the camera with an aggressive expression while giving off sexualised signals. 

He also faced a backlash for making inappropriate comments to women and asking them about sexually transmitted infections in an old video, which he's since admitted he's 'not proud of'.

And most recently he was the subject of criticism after using a four-letter slur, referring to people of Pakistani origin, in a Countdown Challenge clip.

Yesterday, a statement from The Sidemen posted on Twitter said: 'During yesterday's 'Sidemen Sunday' a racial slur was said during the video.

'We accept that it was completely unacceptable and inexcusable. The fact the incident was made light of on the show was wrong and compounded the hurt. We deeply regret this and would like to truly apologise.

'We have reflected on this incident both collectively and individually and are truly ashamed that we let ourselves and you guys down in this way.'

Meet the Sidemen taking the YouTube community by storm 

Olajide "JJ" Olatunji, aka KSI

By far the most high-profile and successful of the group, Olajide "JJ" Olatunji, 29, has been a household name on YouTube for more than a decade since dropping out of the £23,000-a-year Berkhamsted School in Hertfordshire.

KSI previously revealed how he hid from his parents in the toilets for over an hour to avoid telling them his exam results - terrified of their reaction because they had sacrificed so much, coming to the UK from Nigeria and taking on debt and more work for themselves, to send him to private school.

When he did eventually tell them about his AS Level C, D, F and U grades, his father Jide buried his head in his hands while his mother Yinka smashed glasses in the kitchen. 

On top of his work with the Sidemen, KSI - which stands for Knowledge, Strength, Integrity - personally boasts more than 24 million subscribers.

His boxing bouts with US YouTuber Logan Paul in August 2018 and November 2019 were among the most-watched events in the platform's history.

In July 2021, his second album All Over The Place went to number one in the UK.

He had a reported net worth of £16m as of last year. 

Simon Minter, aka Miniminter

A fellow Berkhamsted alumnus, Minter, 30, left university when tuition fees rocketed and went to work in a warehouse, before being taken on by his old school friend, KSI, to run his clothing line.

At the same time, he began creating his own YouTube content, primarily videos about FIFA and football more generally, while also recreating famous Vine clips. Since then he has amassed more than 10 million subscribers on the video sharing platform. 

Not much is known about his family, but his father is believed to own a small business. 

Minter also owns a property company and had a reported net worth of £9m as of last year.

Joshua Bradley, aka Zerkaa

Born in Bermondsey, Bradley, 30, attended Bexley Grammar School as a teenager before achieving a 2:1 degree in digital film production at Ravensbourne University.

He created his first YouTube channel in 2009, mainly uploading video game content of FIFA and Call of Duty, before co-founding the Sidemen, with whom he lived for four years, until moving into an apartment with his girlfriend, Freya Nightingale.

Cousin of the British grime MC Jme, he has also launched his own personal clothing line named ZRK.

He had a reported net worth of £3m as of last year.

Tobi Brown, aka TBJZL

A fellow Bexley Grammar alumnus, Brown, 29, was born to working-class Nigerian parents and completed a degree in computing at Coventry University before launching his YouTube career.

He typically uploads video game commentaries of FIFA and NBA 2K as well as football challenges, vlogs and comedy style videos, creating a fan base of nearly five million subscribers.

Brown has also founded a streetwear brand called ILLVZN, released a number of music tracks, including one with his brother Manny and sister Janelle, and was invited to train with League Two Crawley Town after impressing in a charity football match.

He had a reported net worth of £1.2m as of last year. 

Ethan Payne, aka Behzinga

Payne, 27, who attended a comprehensive school in Romford and dropped out of a criminal studies course at Hull endured a difficult childhood and says the Sidemen 'saved my life, 100 per cent'. 

His biological father disappeared before he was born and the man he had been allowed to assume was his father left when he was 13, while his mother struggled with cancer.

As he began uploading videos on YouTube, primarily commentaries of FIFA and Call of Duty, viewers trolled him over his weight, which eventually inspired him to get fit, charting his journey to shed 4st to his fanbase of nearly five million subscribers.

He and his girlfriend, Faith Louisa Kelly, have a child together, born in September 2022. He had a reported net worth of £3m as of last year.

Vik Barn, aka Vikkstar123

Born in Guildford, Surrey, Barn moved to Sheffield when he was eight to attend Silverdale School.

He then turned down a place to study natural sciences at University College London to pursue his YouTube career - which includes videos on Call of Duty and Minecraft - full-time.

He often jokes that his parents, British nationals of Indian heritage, are 'disappointed' that he did not become a doctor. 

Barn caused a stir by announcing he would quit Call of Duty if hackers allegedly cheating continued to go unpunished and has invested in esports teams.

In December 2021, Barn announced his engagement to his longtime girlfriend, Ellie Harlow and he had a reported net worth of £8m as of last year.

Harry Lewis

The youngest of the collective, Lewis, 26, also attended a grammar school in Guernsey before making his name on YouTube, where he has amassed an army of more than 16 million subscribers.

He was the last to join the Sidemen after meeting Bradley at a FIFA gaming event in New York City.

His parents, including mother Sue, have appeared in some of his videos. 

Lewis also owns the first football challenge club in London called Kicktown and had a reported net worth of £4m as of last year.