The beauty and lifestyle guru is now hosting a Hillary Clinton-produced talkshow. She talks about her rise to online fame, keeping her private life private, and her fear of going broke
“I learned how women delivered babies from watching YouTube videos. So I had to give back. I had to share.” Patricia Bright is chatting to me by Zoom from her home in south London. Behind her is the garden office that her almost 3 million subscribers will recognise as the studio where she does her filming. We’re discussing her birthing vlogs, among them My Unexpected Labour and Delivery Story, one of which was filmed in the hallway metres from where she is sitting.
Bright is a YouTube sensation – a beauty, fashion and lifestyle guru who began making videos more than 10 years ago while working in the City, long before the phrase, “Hi, guys, welcome back to my channel,” was used ironically. She is celebrated as one the first black British YouTube to gain 1 million subscribers, but the 34-year-old’s true skill is building an empire from being a proud oversharer with a dry sense of humour and an infectious personality. She feels like your best friend or your auntie, depending on which you need. She also has no qualms in acknowledging that – as with midwifery – she may not be the most qualified person in every area she covers. “I’m not a hairdresser, I’m not a makeup artist, I’m not a fashion expert, and I’m not a financial expert.” She adds, however, with the confidence of a YouTube veteran: “If you want to create content in that area, you can do that. The platforms allow us to do it.”
