Charlie Davis-Carr, the once-toddler from the Charlie Bit My Finger video, is all grown up and reflecting on his unexpected internet fame nearly two decades later.
Now 18 and studying law at a university in the U.K., Charlie recently spoke with BBC Newsbeat as part of YouTube’s 20th-anniversary coverage. Despite being part of one of the most iconic viral moments in internet history, he says he doesn’t bring it up often.
“There were a few times in Uni when [people asked] for a fun fact, but I was never going to use this as my fun fact,” Charlie joked.
The video, originally uploaded in May 2007 by his father Howard as a way to share family moments with Charlie’s godfather in the U.S., quickly became an online sensation. As of 2025, it has amassed nearly 900 million views. However, in 2021, the family sold the original video as an NFT for over $700,000 and removed it from YouTube. A second video featuring Charlie and his brother Harry remains online.
While Charlie has no memory of the moment since he was only a year old at the time, he acknowledges that the viral fame has helped him travel and fund his education.
His father, Howard, previously shared that he wanted to ensure his sons had a normal upbringing despite their internet fame. “By the time they’re adults, I want them to be more than just the video,” he told the BBC in 2021.
Charlie seems to have taken that advice to heart. “I don’t play the ‘don’t you know who I am?’ card,” he said. “But it’s hard keeping it locked down since my friends like to tell other people. It slips out every now and then.”
@bbcnews The 55-second clip has had almost 900 million views since it was uploaded in 2007. #CharlieBitMyFinger YouTube #Charlie #Finger #Bite #School #Uni #IceBreaker #News #BBCNews
