TikTok star Spudman dubbed new 'Binley Mega Chippy' after viral success

Cast your mind back to May 2022, when people were still getting used to life after lockdown and the attention of the internet was placed solely on a takeaway in a small suburb just outside of Coventry.

What a heady time that was, where social media was absolutely obsessed with Binley Mega Chippy, which became the perfect British meme.

It inspired countless videos, parody accounts and even songs across TikTok, as people queued up to sample scran from an inconceivably popular takeaway in the midlands.

It was one of the most innocent, feel-good trends we've enjoyed over recent years, but now someone else is ready to take Binley Mega Chippy's viral crown.

That person is the Spudman.

The Spudman, real name Ben Newman, has become a viral sensation after sharing his story on TikTok.

Ben first used his @spudarmy account during the pandemic, and over the last few years he’s become incredibly popular – helping him sell up to 1,500 jacket potatoes a day from his trailer in Tamworth town centre.

Ben's videos couldn't be simpler, and yet some of his videos have racked up more than 90 million views. He records himself working away with a Go-Pro camera on his head, keeping the residents of Tamworth going with hearty potato-based dishes.

His biggest moment yet saw him team up with a local wholesaler to “give something back” and hand out free spuds from his food van.

The queues wrapped round the town centre, forcing Ben to urge people against joining the line as there were simply too many people waiting for a complimentary spud.

He said on social media at the time: "There's about 1,000 people outside my trailer right now, more than I can count anyway. It's one o'clock, if you're on your way, you're probably not going to get served now. The queue is insane.

"We're going to try and get everyone served who is in the queue. I'm insanely overwhelmed. It’s just mental. Don't join the queue now."

Speaking to StaffordshireLive about his journey so far, he said: "The amount of people I'm able to connect from all over the world is just crazy. My kids were on it and I just downloaded it to keep an eye on them. I soon realised it wasn't just for dancing girls, so I uploaded a few videos of me making a potato. They began hitting a few thousand views each and I was just like 'wow'."

It’s the kind of wholesome online content we can get on board with – keep doing you Spudman.

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