A Surrey resident who was working in Egypt during the shutdown has achieved improbable internet celebrity thanks to his TikTok films about the nation's ancient past. Sam Mayfair began creating films while imprisoned in Cairo, Egypt, and has amassed one million followers and more than 250 million views on TikTok and YouTube.
The 38-year-old Egham resident had his workplace closed and his flights cancelled, so he downloaded a video-sharing app to pass the extra time by visiting Egypt's well-known landmarks while they were still open. He immediately gained a following when a few of his films went viral, appearing on Egyptian news and becoming recognised upon his return to the UK.
He said: “I don’t think I was on the app for very long before I started to pick up quite a bit of momentum. I did live streaming through TikTok at the pyramids and sometimes had 25,000 watching and asking questions."
“That’s when it clicked and I realised there was huge demand for knowledge of these things. I never really set out to be a creator or influencer, it was never really my goal. I was just a guy making little videos of something I was interested in and I never thought it would blow up to this size."
“It’s weird, it’s got to the point where people have recognised me when I’m out and about. I went into a pharmacy in London the other day and the pharmacist recognised me which was really strange. He was like ‘you’re the guy who makes videos about the pyramids!"
Mayfair, who is of Egyptian descent, claims that he has always had a fascination with Egyptology, the study of ancient Egypt. His educational videos reveal unknown truths about well-known locations like the Pyramids and Sphinx as well as less well-known monuments and artefacts.
Mayfair, who is still employed full-time, claims that his coworkers are encouraging and have already seen the tapes. He claims that now that he has moved into YouTube, all he wants to do is keep expanding his social media outlets.
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