What Chicken Shop Date can teach us about content creation

We’ll have to make the most of those last few nuggets in the box. Social media mega-hit Chicken Shop Date is coming to an end after more than 10 years of cheeky questions and awkward pauses.

Ever since Amelia Dimoldenberg met up with the rapper Ghetts in the first episode, uploaded to YouTube in March 2014, the presenter has had ‘dates’ with names as big as Jonathan Bailey, Cynthia Erivo, Zara Larsson and even Sir Paul McCartney.

With millions of views for each episode (the one featuring Spider-Man actor Andrew Garfield is especially popular with 13m), it’s an example of how big a web series can become compared to some shows on linear TV.

But how do shows like Chicken Shop Date become so popular in the first place, without a big promotional campaign or broadcaster behind them? And if you want to become a content creator like Amelia, where’s a good place to start? BBC Bitesize Other Side of the Story pick through the pieces of advice.

How did Chicken Shop Date start?

Chicken Shop Date began as a project Amelia started at a youth club, she told the BBC in a 2025 interview. Originally, it was a way of filming interviews with grime artists that featured in Amelia’s magazine column.

Its unusual format, where each chat over a chicken takeaway is treated like a difficult first meeting, gradually became popular and when film stars such as Daniel Kaluuya wanted to get involved, it got bigger and bigger.

How do web series like Chicken Shop Date become so popular?

With no advertising campaign to promote it, Chicken Shop Date is a modern example of a word-of-mouth hit. These are shows, films, books - or any other sort of media - that do not get a lot of publicity when they launch. When people experience them and enjoy it, they tell their friends and family, who try it for themselves, then pass along their recommendation to others - and so on until it becomes a big hit.

On socials, people don’t necessarily need to tell other people they’ve enjoyed something. Episodes and short clips of Chicken Shop Date, and other web series, can be shared with other people, who then share it themselves, and that cycle continues until it becomes a viral hit. The more popular it became, the bigger names Amelia could attract to take part.

Amelia said of the series’ success at a festival in Edinburgh: “That has always been the ambition - my ambition - to make it as important as going on Graham Norton or going on Greg James, Radio 1, for example. So I’ve achieved that goal.”

What is a content creator?

Amelia is a successful example of a content creator, a job that has evolved from the rise of social media, similar to an influencer.

Content creator roles aren’t always ones you apply for like a regular job. It might be that someone has an original idea, some basic filming or recording equipment and editing skills - and when they upload the finished video or podcast, it becomes a hit.

This can interest other companies and brands in working with them to make content that features their products. These are known as collaborations or ‘collabs’ and is a type of advertising.

Although some people see ‘content creator’ jobs as less authentic than traditional roles such as a plumber, lawyer or teacher, a report showed that YouTube’s creators alone made more than £2.8 billion pounds for the UK economy in 2025 and that it supported more than 60,000 full-time jobs.

Also known as the ‘creator economy’, Amelia was one of the creators who called upon the government to recognise their role in society more. She has also set up a course where future content creators can learn basic skills.

So, if you have a fantastic idea that could be a global hit, have a think about how you could make it happen. Who knows, perhaps one day it could fill the chicken-shaped gap that's soon to appear in our lives.

This article was published in September 2026

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