Let’s take a trip back down memory lane to the early days of YouTube when the channel Smosh was still Ian and Anthony, cat videos and Nyan Cat were super popular, and the world was introduced to a high-pitched kid named Fred.
Fred was a popular online icon in the early years of YouTube and was portrayed by Lucas Cruikshank. For those who don’t know, Fred is a character with anger management issues who lives in a dysfunctional household. The channel produced popular videos such as “Fred goes swimming” or “Fred goes to the dentist.” While the premise of his videos was simple, he was able to rack up millions of views to the point where he was featured in iCarly in the episode “iMeet Fred.”
The big question is, what happened to him?
What happened to Fred from YouTube?
Fred’s success surpassed the internet. In 2010, the popular online character received his own movie and a Nickelodeon TV series later in 2012.
But the Fred YouTube channel changed drastically after 2012. Cruikshank passed the baton of his channel to other young creators in 2015. According to the channel’s description, Cruikshank wanted to give other kids a creative outlet, and parents were able to submit videos that could be uploaded to the channel. However, that didn’t last, and the last video was uploaded in July 2015.
“Lately, I noticed that there weren’t many channels on YouTube that families can enjoy together. So, I opened up the FЯED channel for a bunch of cool new shows inspired by the spirit of Fred Figglehorn, including original comedy, music, game shows and animation. I want to give other kids a creative outlet.
That’s why I decided to make FЯED a community channel, where families can submit their own videos and get involved with the creative process! You should come make videos too. Bring the whole family. It’ll be fun.”
But just because the “Fred” character is gone doesn’t mean Cruikshank is. A second channel titled “Lucas” is where the online superstar now posts his new content. The format has changed from playing a comedic character to reaction-like videos. Cruikshank also hosts a podcast with his brother Jacob called The Bro Show, where the two talk about different topics.
Outside of YouTube, Cruikshank is dating Australian model Matthew Fawcus.
Cruikshank may not be as big as he used to be, but he’s definitely still active online. And despite his format changing from comedy to reaction videos, he’s still entertaining an audience. He was iconic back then and continues to be iconic to this day. And hey, if you grew up with Fred and want to see this fun and loud little kid grown up, then maybe now is the time to check out his newer videos.
