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Joe Sugg reveals how “bothering” his sister Zoe lead to their influencer careers
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Jun 22, 2025
#AD Joe Sugg looks back on how he and his sister Zoe Sugg became the ‘original’ internet influencers, the pressures he faces in the public eye, people pleasing and the advice which has helped him on his way. Subscribe for regular entertainment! http://bit.ly/1qyfc2T Watch videos in full + exclusives here: https://thisisheart.co/heartglobalplayer Honest Celebrity Interviews: https://thisisheart.co/honestinterviews Music Artists: https://thisisheart.co/3YVm8wN Film and TV Stars: https://thisisheart.co/filmandtv _ We're the UK's biggest commercial radio brand creating memorable moments with the most recognised names in entertainment!
View Video Transcript
0:00
So who are you interviewing today
0:02
Interviewing Joe Sarg. I've met him once before, but I just can't wait to actually find out who has his back within his four walls
0:13
Hello, how are you? Very well, thank you. So, Joe, welcome. Hello
0:21
Thank you. Hello, Anna. Thank you. So you've done the internet, you've done Strictly. There's not much you haven't done
0:26
But in terms of the support network that's always been there behind you, that's almost like been your safety net as you've navigated life and your career
0:35
Who is that one person who's really had your back? For me, the obvious one that stands out when I really think about it is my sister, Zoe
0:45
For many reasons. She was born first. She's my older sister, not by that many years
0:50
But she has been so valuable in terms of being able to guide me in life, I think
0:56
So even when I was a young child, I used to always ask my sister, probably more than my parents, for advice
1:03
And because I think sometimes you feel like your parents, there's such a disconnect sometimes in age and stuff
1:08
And so sometimes the best advice comes from somebody who's lived what you've lived just a couple of years before you have
1:13
and that's been a theme throughout my entire childhood and then followed me into my career as well
1:20
Were you an annoying younger brother or do you think you were actually great? I would love to say that I was a lovely younger brother
1:25
and I think I was. I think if you asked Zoe, she'd say, yeah, I definitely was a lovely younger brother
1:30
but I can imagine I probably was annoying. I think annoying is the main word, yeah
1:34
Very like annoying. I used to always just walk into her bedroom and just stand there because I was bored
1:39
and I think, well, what can I do? I don't know, I'll just go and bother my sister for a bit
1:43
and see what we can get up to. So I was walking to our room and there'd be no reason for me to go in there
1:48
but I'd stand there until she shouts, go away. You'd be like, entertain me, entertain me
1:52
Come on, we live in the middle of nowhere, what should we do? And I think also that sort of boredom
1:56
that we had as siblings probably in hindsight led to, in a weird way, the careers that we have now
2:03
I think many a day of us sat around recording what are now essentially podcasts on cassette tapes
2:11
back then on blank cassette tapes. have the fisher price cassette player by any chance no no it was a brown thing with a sort of
2:18
uh yellow cassette and i recorded my first radio show on that of my sister but we had like an old
2:24
i think it was like our grandparents old like tape recorder radio thing and we'd go to um we'd go to
2:30
the supermarket you buy blank cassette tapes and we buy them and just record we make up our own shows as well and look where it got you yeah i know exactly yeah exactly Now if we had this tech when we were younger it been great And it weird because actually mentioning siblings in terms of those that actually have our back
2:47
it's your sibling, it's your sister, it's your brother who is there from start to finish
2:51
Your partner's come later, you know, your mum and dad might not be there at the end
2:56
So it's your siblings, weirdly, who almost ensure you right the way through, I would say
3:01
Oh, exactly. And how have you shown Zoe your appreciation of everything she did for you
3:08
That sort of safety net, having your back. The best way that I've been able to sort of pay her back for everything that she's done for me
3:16
I think is being there for her children. She's got two little girls now
3:23
And I think just being the best uncle I possibly can be. So I think being there for them for my niece's second birthday or third birthday
3:31
I built her this homemade talking bin. We went to this little theme park called Black Gang Chai in the Isle of Wight
3:42
And we used to go there as kids. And she was obsessed with this talking bin where you put rubbish in, the bin talks back to you
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So I decided to hand make her very own talking bin. Which at first I thought my sister would be like, oh my God, we have not got a space for this giant spray painted bin
4:00
but actually I know what my sister's like and she would appreciate that so much
4:04
and it's creating memories for her children which I think is, I'd like to think is a nice way of paying it back
4:12
Are you called Uncle Joe? Uncle Jojo, yeah. Uncle Jojo in his talking bin
4:16
Yeah, in the talking bin. Do you think that's a children's TV show waiting to happen
4:20
I hope so. I mean, I've been pitching it for ages but let's see hopefully in the future
4:25
And how do you think that solidarity that you probably had as siblings
4:29
How do you think, you know, Zoe and her support of you, and I think arguably your support of her, it's not one way traffic
4:36
How do you think that sort of shaped your career and who you are, your values and where you are today
4:40
I mean, I think it's been everything for that. She actually was the one that said to me, you know, you were both creative kids
4:47
You should give this YouTube thing a go and you should try making videos for the Internet
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She lent me her equipment as well. So she actually edited my first two videos for me
4:56
So she did everything. She did more than she should have done to sort of get me into this career path
5:01
And yet even throughout everything to do with career, I've always looked up to her and always asked her for advice when I need it and stuff
5:09
which doesn't have to give me, but she always does. And vice versa It usually quite rare that the older sibling needs to ask the younger sibling for advice But there been a few occasional times where she ask me for help on something and stuff
5:27
What sort of things? I'm from a gardening family anyway, but if my mum's not there
5:32
then Zoe might ask me for a bit of advice in gardening. But it's quite rare
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But I'm sure there's definitely other times in the past where maybe she's asked for my opinion on things and stuff
5:42
It's valuing that person that you know has no agenda but fully has your back
5:47
Yes, yeah, exactly. You know that they are purely on your side
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But also be very honest with you as well and be real and sort of say, you know
5:55
if they think that you're wrong, they'll tell you, actually, no, I would do things differently
6:00
or I have a different opinion and things like that, which in the moment you sometimes think
6:04
well, no, I think I'm right. But then in hindsight, usually my sister is right
6:09
Do we have that on record? Yeah, my sister is usually 99.9% of the time
6:14
My sister is right. I like hearing that. My sister's wrong, however she's watching
6:18
Just in terms of general advice you've been given, aside from Zoe, what's the best piece of advice you've been given
6:24
It sounds quite odd, but I am not important. Because sometimes, I think especially in the last 15 years of my life
6:33
I've done some crazy things and had amazing experiences and stuff, But you open yourself up to a lot of external thoughts
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And I've always been a people pleaser. And I've always had this thing in my head of being worried about what people think of me and how they'll perceive me
6:48
And a lot of the time it stopped me from doing things. And there was definitely a time before doing something like Strictly, I would have been like, absolutely not
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But then I had a piece of advice that was like, you are not that important. People aren't constantly thinking about you and what you're up to
7:03
It would limit me from doing things and trying my hand at something or giving something a go because I'd be worried about how it'd be perceived
7:11
But I think that worry is just a waste of energy. Do you think you would not have done strictly without that advice behind you
7:20
Yeah, there's no way. I used to always seek external advice from too many different people
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So I'd almost keep asking everybody's advice on something until I had somebody that would go with a different opinion
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And then I'd be like, OK, right now I'm confusing more to ask more people. And then there was a time where I had to sort of think, right, you need to start taking control of your own decisions
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And like just do what you want to do as opposed to the advice and the thoughts of everybody else around you There too much white noise sometimes that kind of waters down like the direction you want to take yes and i feel uh you know like there a very different joe who set
8:03
out on this journey on youtube to the joe that kind of sits here today charting that sort of
8:08
journey from kind of a to a very different b what is it right at the heart of it that really matters
8:15
like what if i had to say right here right now in this moment would you ensure what would it be
8:21
i think i would ensure my inner child curiosity i think like i was when i was a child i'd be
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curious about everything i want to know how this is like this or that's like that and i think
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keeping that curiosity is something that keeps everything exciting and the idea that there's so
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much more to learn about the world and and different things and things you can try your
8:44
hand at and and get involved with so i think i would ensure yeah the the childlike curiosity that
8:50
that I've always sort of had. Well, that's where the talking bin comes in, isn't it
8:54
Exactly. I don't think anybody who has a talking bin for their nephew or niece
8:59
hasn't got that childlike curiosity. And maybe something else, something more tangible
9:05
Is there a thing or a person that I would say matters a lot to you
9:11
So if you're almost cast onto a desert island, what is that one thing
9:17
The one thing that I would sort of bring with me on the to the desert island i mean the obvious one is my family i think i think if i say anything
9:26
other than my family i worry that i might get very harshly judged but i can't worry about that
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because i'm not that important i always say you're very important yeah uh interesting i wouldn't take
9:38
any technology with me yes which is ironic being the career that i have and don't get me wrong i
9:44
I love social media and things like that. But I also appreciate the power of a digital detox
9:49
Imagine the content on an island, though. Yeah. That would be amazing. It would be great
9:53
You'd be in a very conflicting position. Yeah. I would bring a sketchbook and pens
9:59
Because I love sketching. I love drawing. And then I could draw my adventures and write down my adventures in a sketchbook
10:06
And then when I eventually leave the desert island, I can then do a video of my sketchbook going through
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like a story time with my sketchbook so I can still make content out of it
10:19
That's amazing. Thank you so much, Joe. It's been so lovely to chat to you. Thank you
10:23
Thank you. And thank you to Aviva and Heart for kind of getting, I suppose
10:27
to the heart of these issues and the heart of Joe Sugg
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