split image Khaby Lame Charli Damelio

If you spend a lot of time on TikTok, there’s a good chance you’ve seen Khaby Lame’s videos before.

Khabane "Khaby" Lame (Italy) is so popular that he has now overtaken Charli D’Amelio as the most followed person on the app! 

Charli had the most followers on TikTok for over two years, but Khaby has broken her record with 142.8 million followers and counting. 🤩

Are you one of them?

Khaby Lame with hands out

Khaby created his TikTok account in March 2020, at the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic.

At first, he posted videos of himself dancing, playing with filters and watching video games, but he wasn’t getting many views. ☹️

However, that all changed in November 2020 when one of Khaby’s videos unexpectedly went viral. 🤩

Without saying any words, Khaby responded to another user’s ‘lifehack’ video by demonstrating a much simpler solution to the problem.

Khaby’s sarcastic hand gestures and funny facial expression were all he needed to make people laugh and he quickly began to gain followers from around the world. 🤲

By April 2021, Khaby had become the most followed person in Italy. Three months later, he became the second-most followed user overall and achieved the record of most followers on TikTok (male) after dethroning Zach King.

Did you know?
BTS (Republic of Korea) hold the record of most followers on TikTok for a music group with over 51 million followers.

Charli Damelio

Khaby was gaining a whopping three million followers per month, compared to Charli D’Amelio’s one million per month, so it was only a matter of time before he took her spot at the top.

Khaby Lame created his account in the same month that Charli D’Amelio achieved the record of most followers on TikTok. In just over two years, Khaby has shot to stardom and broken Charli’s record. 😎

Charli D’Amelio still holds the record of most followers on TikTok (female). She also holds Guinness World Records titles for being the first person to reach 50 million followers on TikTok and the first person to reach 100 million followers on TikTok.

One of the keys to Khaby’s success is the fact that his silent comedy is understood by people from every country. 🌏

“I speak a universal language that everyone understands,” he said in an interview with Forbes.

After meeting his childhood hero Lionel Messi and making videos with Usain Bolt and Zlatan Ibrahimović, Khaby’s popularity shows no signs of slowing down. 

Will Charli D’Amelio be able to win back her record or will Khaby continue to be the king of TikTok? 👑

Watch our top ten TikTok videos of 2021