When British YouTube stars Dan Howell and Phil Lester announced they had been in a secret romantic relationship for the past 16 years they joked they were finally revealing the truth behind ‘one of the biggest conspiracies in the history of the internet’.
The pair – known to their millions of followers as Dan and Phil – insisted it was time to stop ‘all this weird vagueness’ which had led to years of frenzied speculation about their relationship.
Were they ‘friends, lovers, a comedy duo, business partners or flatmates’, Phil asked before the pair uploaded a 46-minute video in a bid to put to an end the ‘apocalyptic constant stress of the Dan and Phil dating conspiracy’.
It would seem now that the answer is all of the above yet many questions remain about the couple and their reasons for keeping their relationship secret – not least to their own families.
Dan said one of the key reasons he kept his sexuality a secret until five years ago and his relationship with Phil under wraps is because of his ‘extremely homophobic childhood’.
But that was news to Dan’s father Tim who told the Daily Mail this week he was ‘not aware’ of any such difficulties in his son’s childhood.
Although the couple’s announcement would have come as little surprise to many among their army of fans, it prompted a huge outpouring of support with one devotee commenting: ‘It is bigger news than Taylor Swift getting engaged.’
Such is the extraordinary following the pair have developed during a career in which they have amassed more than 13 million YouTube subscribers between them while working alongside the likes of Swift as well as Ariana Grande and Prince William.
Phil Lester, 38 (pictured left) and Daniel Howell, 34 (pictured right) have amassed a staggering £8.5million fortune through their social media empire
Dan said that one of the key reasons he kept his sexuality a secret until five years ago and his relationship with Phil under wraps is because of his ‘extremely homophobic childhood’
The £4.1million modern penthouse apartment which Dan and Phil bought in 2022
Along with their phenomenal online success, Dan, 34, and Phil, 38, have hosted a BBC Radio 1 show, published best-selling books, and performed to packed houses on sell-out world tours covering 80 dates across five continents.
Yet very little is known about the pair who the Daily Mail can now reveal have amassed a staggering £8.5million fortune through their social media empire.
It includes a £4.1million modern penthouse apartment which Dan and Phil splashed out on in 2022.
Financial records uncovered by the Daily Mail show the presenters each have their own companies which manage their individual earnings.
Phil has Amazingphil Limited which is worth £2,248,530 million while Dan’s company, Dan Howell Limited, is worth £1,428,251.
Together they run Dan and Phil Productions Limited which has reserves of £203,137 and they also have their own online merchandise store, IRL Digital Limited, which has £369,856 in reserves.
The pair recently split a £148,876 payout when they closed another business.
That brings their joint earnings to more than £720,000 – and a combined total of nearly £4.4million.
Alongside that is the spectacular home the duo bought in Islington, north London, where Dan and Phil film many of their comedy and gaming videos.
The complex has its own family health club, with state-of-the-art facilities, including a 25 metre swimming pool for adults and separate pool facilities for children.
It also has its own luxury cinema with six screens with no more than 25 seats each, that hosts films from blockbusters to art productions.
It is a far cry from the pair’s more humble beginnings. While Dan grew up in the leafy Berkshire village of Winnersh he took part-time jobs in a DIY store and Asda before enrolling at the University of Manchester where he was studying law.
But he dropped out after a year after becoming an early YouTuber.
The pair run Dan and Phil Productions Limited which has reserves of £203,137 and also their own online merchandise store, IRL Digital Limited, which has £369,856 in reserves
Dan (pictured right) and Phil (pictured left) have also hosted a BBC Radio 1 show, published best-selling books, and performed to packed houses on sell-out world tours covering 80 dates across five continents
Phil has worked alongside Ariana Grande, as well as the likes of Taylor Swift and Prince William, during his careers
Meanwhile Phil, who grew up in Rawtenstall, Lancashire, had worked as a dog walker and car washer before securing a degree in English Language and Linguistics in 2008 and a Master of Arts in Video Post Production with Visual Effects in 2009 at the University of York.
Both were aspiring internet stars when they met in 2009 on Twitter, when Dan messaged Phil seeking advice on his budding YouTube career.
In 2010, they moved into a small Manchester apartment after realising they were more successful together than as individuals.
Though the pair were inseparable, both maintained an air of mystery surrounding their private lives.
When they announced this week that they had been a couple all along, Dan said: ‘We fell into it hard and fast in 2009, and here we are almost 16 years later.’
He explained it had taken so long to discuss the relationship publicly because of the effects of his ‘extremely homophobic childhood’, which meant he had been ‘deep in the closet’.
Dan added: ‘In my mid 20s I felt we had to hide the relationship because I was still hiding who I was to my friends, family, myself.’
The revelation posed troubling questions about his childhood yet that appears to have come as some surprise to his family.
Dan – who has a younger brother Adrian, 28 – lived with his father Tim, 64, and mother Karen, 59, in a £415,000 three bedroomed semi-detached house which was sold in October 2020.
Karen, who trained as a remedial massage therapist, owns and manages a business called Team Actuate which offers massage therapies and wellbeing packages to companies since being set up in 2002.
She now lives in a modern three-bedroom house in Reading bought for £490,000 in June 2022.
Phil and his mother Kathryn, 69, on holiday together
Phil (left) and his older brother Martyn (right) on holiday in America. Martyn has played a part in Dan and Phil’s success, co-founding their merchandise business while running a management agency for visual content creators
Phil and his mother Kathryn in the festive spirit. Phil grew up in Rawtenstall, Lancashire
Phil (bottom right), his mother Kathryn (left) and brother Martyn (back right)
Phil’s mother Kathryn and father Nigel, 70, live quietly on the Isle of Man
They appear to have gone their separate ways and Tim, who had been company secretary, resigned as a director of the firm in August 2018.
He now lives in a modest council-owned terraced house in Winnersh.
Insisting he was baffled by his son’s claims of a homophobic childhood he added: ‘I wish him all the best. He’s a YouTube superstar, my Daniel.’
And Karen said: ‘I love them both, I’m very happy they’re together. They’re soulmates.’
Meanwhile Phil’s parents Nigel, 70, and mother Kathryn, 69, live quietly on the Isle of Man.
His older brother Martyn, 41, has played a part in the duo’s success, co-founding their merchandise business while running a management agency for visual content creators.
Phil and Dan clearly wrestled long and hard before announcing their relationship.
They took a break from YouTube in 2019 and in June that year both separately came out as gay, roughly two weeks apart.
While praising their fans they said they had been subject to intrusion by internet sleuths, along with elements of homophobia, which Dan said had led to him having therapy.
He said: ‘What we had was the most important thing to me and I wanted to protect it, so when other people tried to grab it and drag it into the light, I felt completely violated.
![Pictured: the modern three-bed house in Reading that Dan bought for his mother Karen, 59, for £490,000 in June 2022. Karen said: 'I love them [Dan and Phil] both, I'm very happy they're together. They're soulmates.'](https://i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2025/10/17/19/103086805-15201503-Pictured_the_modern_three_bed_house_in_Reading_that_Dan_bought_f-m-6_1760725388522.jpg "Dan and Phil's £4M Penthouse: A Look at Their Internet-Breaking Fortune 47")
Pictured first: the modest council owned terraced house in Winnersh, Berkshire, that Dan’s father, Tim, 64, lives in. Dan said in his announcement of his relationship with Phil this week that it had taken so long to discuss the relationship publicly because of the effects of his ‘extremely homophobic childhood’. Pictured second: the modern three-bed house in Reading that Dan bought for his mother Karen, 59, for £490,000 in June 2022. Karen said: ‘I love them [Dan and Phil] both, I’m very happy they’re together. They’re soulmates.’
Dan’s mother Karen (pictured left) trained as a remedial massage therapist and owns and manages a business called Team Actuate which offers massage therapies and wellbeing packages to companies
‘Having all of these people trying to out us, and being so hostile to me when I tried to hide it, was so triggering. Honestly, it could have killed me.’
Dan said he felt like someone had put a curse on them, with them achieving huge success and said there were times when he thought he might be ‘happier without all of this’.
One insider told the Daily Mail this week: ‘It’s been hard on them, knowing who to trust. Out of fear, but they also wouldn’t want to put people in a challenging position by asking them to keep their secret.
‘Now they are able to draw a line under it all and it will be exciting for them to be able to get closer to people and live their lives without any barriers.
‘Both Dan and Phil have been fearful of living [as a couple] for quite some time, then to also factor in how they are in a relationship as well, it’s been really hard on them.’
The couple teased they will share more tales about their romantic journey on a podcast.
The apartment block where Dan and Phil own a £4.1million penthouse
Glamorous brochure pictures show the interiors of the apartments in the complex that Dan and Phil live in
The apartments were modern and had clean, minimalistic designs
At the same time they said they were keen to avoid the ‘dystopian nightmare’ that is ‘couple vlogging’.
Dan said: ‘You are sharing your life and you are selling the perfect relationship on Instagram. Look at how we kiss. Look at how we vacation in Santorini.
‘And then when your relationship inevitably goes wrong, not only do you have a personal problem, you’ve destroyed your entire professional life because – congratulations – everybody got invested in the storyline of your relationship.’
