Where Are the Charlie Bit My Finger Kids Now? A Look Into Their Lives 18 Years After Going Viral

Mar. 15, 2025

Charlie and Harry from the viral “Charlie Bit My Finger” YouTube video.Photo:HDCYT/YouTube

HDCYT/YouTube

In May 2007, Howard Davies-Carr uploaded a sweet video of his one-year-old son Charlie biting his three-year-old brother Harry’s finger toYouTube. A few months later, the video gained traction online and quickly became one of the firstviral videoson the internet.

18 years later, the video — originally uploaded to the platform to share with the boy’s godfather in the U.S. — is still one of the most recognizable YouTube clips online. The iconic video, which was quickly dubbed “Charlie Bit My Finger,” captured the attention of millions worldwide and became an integral part of online meme culture.

While the original video ended up being removed from YouTube in 2021 after it was sold as a Non-Fungible Token — or NFT — the clip still lives on in internet culture.

As for the brothers behind the meme? After going viral as little children, Harry and Charlie have led a more private life as they’ve entered adulthood. In fact, they used the earnings from selling the famous video to further their education.

Read on for what the kids from “Charlie Bit My Finger” are up to now.

What is the ‘Charlie Bit My Finger’ video?

In May 2007, the children’s father Howard, who resides in the U.K., uploaded the video of Harry and Charlie to YouTube as a private video to share with family in the U.S. In an interview withThis Morningin June 2017, Howard explained that he decided to make the video public after more family members asked to see the clip of the two brothers.

“I was filming the boys growing up, just doing normal things and they did that particular thing [in the video] after a busy day in the garden,” he shared. “I made it public, the family saw it and I thought that was it.”

What happened after the ‘Charlie Bit My Finger’ video went viral?

A few months after he made the video public, Howard went to YouTube to take it down. However, he discovered that the clip had around 20,000 views online. In another interview withABC Newsin March 2012, Howard opened up about that moment his kids went viral and the realization that “he had lost control of a private family moment.”

“So I had to make a decision,” Howard said. “Is this something that we accept is us and do something more with or is it something we just park and say, ‘That’s really nothing to do with us,’ and then everybody else will be exploiting it and making money from it?”

Howard decided to keep the video online and the views quickly climbed. From there, the family was inspired to upload more videos of their daily lives with Charlie and Harry onto YouTube and gained a following. The video even inspired a star-studded parody onJimmy Kimmel Live!in 2014 that featured iconic Australian brother duoChris and Liam Hemsworthas Charlie and Harry.

When “Charlie Bit My Finger” eventually reached 50 million views on YouTube, Howard then learned how to partner with YouTube to share ad revenue from the video, He told ABC News that the revenue earned them “close to half a million dollars.”

In an interview with Howard’s family withThis Morning,his wife Shelly noted that their “day-to-day life” didn’t change after the video was uploaded online. “We still live in the same house… but we’ve managed to send all four boys to [private] school.”

“I worked full time when I had my [first three children],” she continued. “Then as a result of the video, I quit and [was able to] have [my youngest son] Rupert.”

What happened to the original ‘Charlie Bit My Finger’ video?

In May 2021, it was announced that the original “Charlie Bit My Finger” video was sold as an NFT and taken down from YouTube permanently, 900 million views later. The second video, “Charlie Bit My Finger — Again!” is still available online and has over 880 million views on YouTube.

According toThe New York Times,the video ended up being sold for over $700,000, with the outlet noting that “NFT buyers are not usually acquiring copyrights, trademarks or the sole ownership of whatever they purchase. They’re mostly bought with the idea that their copy is authentic.”

Where are the kids from “Charlie Bit My Finger” now?

In an interview with theBBCin June 2021, Charlie and Harry revealed that they both planned to use the money they made from selling “Charlie Bit My Finger” to fund their university education. “I can’t even remember doing it so making money off it, and having experiences off it, is really cool,” Charlie recalled. “We’ve been to America twice from it, I went round Sky’s studios, and we’ve met a lot of cool people. It’s just an extra part of our life that’s quite interesting.”

But despite becoming one of the most recognizable videos on the internet, both Charlie and Harry have been able to maintain their privacy. In another interview withCNBCin May 2021, Harry said that his school friends found it “exciting for a couple of weeks” when they found out he was in the viral video, but the excitement later faded “into the background.”

Howard also told theBBCthat over the years, he ensured fame didn’t get to their heads. “By the time they’re adults, I want them to be more than just the video,” Howard told theBBC. “You see fame come and go, it’s very fickle. So we’ve never viewed this as fame, we’ve never viewed it as a source of income.”

Charlie — who is now 18 — shared a similar sentiment during an interview withBBC Newsbeatin 2025. During the rare interview, he opened up about his life after internet fame, noting, “It was never not a part of my life, it’s always been there.”

He added that while he doesn’t play the “do you know who I am” card, it can be “hard to keep locked down” since his friends like to share the fun fact with others from time to time.

“It slips out every now and then,” Charlie continued. “And people are like: ‘Oh that’s cool’, for like five minutes. Or they say: ‘I don’t know what that is.'”

He also shared that he doesn’t remember the viral moment since he was “about one” when the video was uploaded online, but it made his life “easier” and allowed him and his family to travel “a decent amount” over the years.

Now, Charlie is currently pursuing his education and studying law at a university in the U.K.

source: people.com