Meet the first year vlogger with thousands more followers than you

Debbie Wilkinson wants to own an animal sanctuary, fancies Dakota Johnson and is freaking out about exams.

She’s just like you – but with 14,535 followers.

Philosophy and Theology fresher Debbie started making videos alongside her friend Jade Walker when they were in school.

She said: “I never really had a lot of confidence to do things, probably because I was a lesbian emo with a fringe down to my chin and a checkered Vans bag.

“But when I started my GCSE’s I met my best friend, Jade, who happened to be completely hilarious. We started to make videos together for fun and you can still see those on my Facebook”

Jade still regularly appears in Debbie’s videos and the pair see each other most days.

Debbie and Jade- the artists behind “If I were a mum”

When her videos were first noticed Debbie was thrilled with the positive feedback she received,

“It was really exciting, and it made me really happy. I love when people quote my videos to me and tell me they like them.”

However, she admits some negative attention does get to her:

“One night I was locking up leaving work and a group of boys stood around me shouting my name. It was really intimidating and really embarrassing.

“At one point it started to really bother me and I stopped making videos for a while. But it was no fun. I don’t actually get a lot of negativity now, I get a lot of compliments and positive comments, and it’s really nice”

18-year-old Debbie, from East Belfast, has her own approach to dealing with the haters:

“People generally have this assumption like ‘If this person will not necessarily see what I’m saying about them, then its completely justifiable to say it’, which is completely untrue.

“I read every single comment I receive and I know what people have said – good or bad. But when people give me abuse I know they don’t mean it, how can you hate someone you don’t know?  I’m kind of able able to brush it off and forget about it, because I know they don’t genuinely mean it.”

With over 14,000 followers on Facebook it’s not surprising that the vlogger is often spotted in real life. She does admit her friends sometimes get annoyed having to play the photographer for keen fans, much to Debbie’s amusement.

“A lot of people approach me in nightclubs, which is cool but I also get very awkward and embarrassed, and sweaty.

“But my girlfriend Rebecca isn’t bothered by any of it. She literally just wonders why anyone would want a photo with me.

“At uni I get recognised, but people tend to just look at me curiously rather than approach me. I see people pointing and stuff but I just get really awkward and don’t know what to do.”

“I once got told I am the alpha-human because I am a ‘girl who also looks like a boy’. They said it was a compliment…I’m not sure how to take it!”

Debbie and her girlfriend Rebecca, who often acts as photographer

Anyone who is a fan of Debbie’s videos will notice one consistent character in the clips. The ma figure.

“I very rarely plan or take time to think about it. I literally hear my mum say something unreasonable and I just think ‘Oh my god I can’t believe what you just said, I’m going to record this because I can’t be the only one who is fascinated by what you just said'”

Dakota would undoubtedly be a fan of the chicken hat

Despite the popularity of her videos, Debbie says the possibility of going into blogging full time Zoella-style is “both out of reach and unreasonable”.

At the minute Debbie’s bucket list is probably quite similar to yours.

She wants: “To scrape a pass in these exams and get my head showered on a good night out”

Living the dream