Jim Chapman: ‘I once signed an autograph as Andrew Garfield by accident’

If you, like me, were chronically online in the 2010s then you will be familiar with Jim Chapman, or ‘j1mmyb0bba’ as his YouTube channel was then named. Part of the ‘Brit Crew’ — a group of British personalities including Zoe Sugg (Zoella), her brother Joe (ThatcherJoe), Alfie Deyes (PointlessBlog) and Jim’s now ex-wife Tanya Burr — Jim was basically one of the countries best-known influencers, before being an influencer was even a thing.

Born in 1987 and raised in Wilby, Norfolk, as a little boy Jim dreamed of being an illustrator, a hobby he has kept up to this day. He graduated from the University of East Anglia with an undergraduate degree in psychology with a view to studying for a masters (because of a ‘fascination with the way people worked’), until YouTube came knocking. When his work on the platform began to take off, he thought: ‘Oh, this is an opportunity.’ He was earning enough to pay rent to his mum and his mental health was at an all time low, so he decided to quit everything else and focus solely on his channel.

It was a gamble that paid off. Now Jim is an author, illustrator, presenter and model, as well as being an influencer — a term he dislikes being known as. His content, focused on men’s fashion and grooming and family life, now stretches across social media including Instagram, where he has 2.3 million followers. ‘It’s more about betterment than vanity,’ he replies, when I ask about the part of his career that hinges around how he looks. Jim comes across as very grounded. He says doesn’t read his own press, for starters, ‘because here's the thing about my job, the good is never good enough, but the bad really f***ing sucks.’

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He goes on: ‘I say this from my ivory tower — I appreciate that — but never have I had enough view traffic, never have I read a thing about me that was good enough. However, if it's in any way negative, I'm like: “Oh, my God, that hurts.”... I just find it better to drop the ego, don't think about it and move on with my life.’

Jim admits that the atmosphere for content creators nowadays is vastly different from when he was coming up on YouTube. ‘Sometimes, people in my world, the ‘influencer’ world, who are young, are the face of what they do, there isn't much they can talk about other than themselves,’ he says. ‘It can be boring, for one thing, but also quite vacuous, and I think sometimes taking a step out of your comfort zone and trying new things broadens your horizons, and then you can have better conversations with people.’

Before his current career Jim had stints working in retail and in insurance. ‘For a while, I was cold calling people trying to sell car insurance. I was the guy who would send the bailiffs after you, for a little while. I'm kind of known as being Mr Nice Guy nowadays, but in that job I was a professional a***hole,' he recalls. Clearly, it wasn’t a good fit for him.

He has two children, Margot and Jesse, with wife Sarah Chapman (née Tarleton) who is a model and influencer, for want of a better word. They are currently renovating their home in the Cotswolds together after having moved out of London in order to be closer to Sarah’s family. ‘Of course, I'm still going back and forth to London quite a lot, so I was concerned that it was going to be hard for me, but actually seeing my family thrive is kind of all I need,’ says Jim, before adding that it was ‘totally worth it’.

Your aesthetic hero

I think, because I’ve been doing this job for a long time, I tend to not have heroes. The more I do it, the more I realise everyone’s just a bloody human being, so no one immediately pops to mind, but I think David Gandy always looks impeccable, and holds himself really well. He’s actually really intelligent too, and has done exceptionally well with his career.

The last thing of note that you bought for yourself

I bought a car that broke down after two and a half days, so I had to return it. I thought I was being smart by buying something that was 10 years old. I thought: ‘I’ll get more car for my money that way.’ Then it broke down on a one-way system in central London. That was unfortunate.

An exhibition that has really impressed you

I can’t think of a specific exhibition, but one of my favourite places ever is the Natural History Museum. To this day, it's so magic for me. I went when I was little, and they still have a lot of the stuff that I remember from that time there now. I'm so fascinated by prehistoric stuff and all the biology that came before us. It just blows my mind.

Recently I took my kids and the massive animatronic T Rex is still there — exactly the same. It used to be terrifying. I will say that both of my kids snuggled in a bit tighter when we walked into that room, so I think it still does have that majesty about it.

Your favourite painting

I'm much more into illustrations, because that's a part of what I do. What I tend not to do in the house is have copies of famous artworks, because I want it to be the real thing and, of course, I can't afford the real thing, so I would rather have slightly more unique pieces from artists that are a bit more unknown.

In fact, I can walk around a fine art museum, and very often nothing really sings to me, but I can pick up a copy of, say Spider Man and see loads of drawings that I love. Fine art doesn’t appeal to me in the same way.

A possession that you’d never sell

I can’t think of a single thing. I am really conscious of how nothing means anything by now. It sounds really miserable, but everything can be replaced. For example, if my house burned down, it’s all insured. I could get another house. So there’s not a thing I can think of that means enough to me that I would never get rid of. I had a bunch of watches, but I sold them all when I had the kids. I thought: ‘Actually, I want more money in my pocket now than things on my wrist’. Some of them were sentimental, but the sentiment was not within the item, it was in my mind.

Who would play you in a film of your life

I get told I look like Andrew Garfield sometimes. In fact, I once signed an autograph as Andrew Garfield by accident. I was at the BAFTAs and Hacksaw Ridge had just come out. I was signing autographs and doing selfies, and then this guy said: 'Sign this'. I didn't realise it was the poster of Hacksaw Ridge. He said: ‘I loved you in the film,’ and then suddenly my heart dropped. I looked over and Andrew Garfield was about 6ft behind me, and I'm much taller than Andrew Garfield — I'm 6ft 3in. He’s very cool, very handsome but very much not me. I was on autopilot so I signed a big ‘Jim’ on the poster. It haunts me to this day.

A book that you found really inspiring

A Short History of Nearly Everything by Bill Bryson — it’s fascinating. I tend to read more facts than fiction.

The music that you work to

When I draw I have music on. I listen to basically the same four albums I've listened to since I was about 16. A lot of Radiohead, Bloc Party's first album, James Blake, Billie Eilish, The 1975 — all the really sad ones. Basically, if it hurts, I like it.

The last podcast you listened to

Good question. I actually recorded one the other day, but I don't listen to anything I’ve done. I mean, I don't read my own press or watch back my own content once I've edited it. I'm my own worst critic. I don't need more ‘me’. For me, it's a really important distinction between church and state — who I am is not what I do. So, I just don't like sitting through something I've already done. I don’t need to watch it all again. But also, I just sit and look at myself and go: ‘God, you blink funny,’ or ‘Your voice is annoying,’ or ‘You mumbled there’. You know, no good can come of it. So I just don't.

What you’d take with you to a desert island

Something really practical like a pen knife. Assuming I don't get bitten by a snake or die of sun exposure, I think I’d quite enjoy it. I love adventure and it would be so peaceful. Your phone wouldn’t be going ‘ping’ every five minutes. I also quite like being on my own.

The thing that gets you up on the morning

My kids. My son is two and this morning he woke up at 6am. Yesterday he came down in his Elsa dress with his big sunglasses on, so it's a good way to wake up.

Otherwise, what wakes me up, in a more sort of metaphorical sense, is that I love existing. I know it sounds ridiculous and really wishy-washy, but I want to touch it all and smell it all, and I want to make sure that by the time my time on this planet's done I've experienced it. Especially because of being in a really bad place years back — I'm so conscious of how little time I have here right now, and so I want to do stuff.

The items you collect

I am a collector of just… bits. My wife will say: ‘What have you bought now?’ It will be an odd contraption of some sort that I think is going to change my life, that I then never use. I also like Lego because I like to make stuff, and sometimes it’s a nice way to relax: to stay in for an evening, have a glass of whisky and make something that is low energy.

A hotel you could go back and back to

I quite like to not stay in a hotel. I like to experience things and explore. I only really stay in one if it's convenient, for example Soho House is handy as it's in so many cities now, so you kind of know what you're getting.

The most memorable meal you’ve ever eaten

This one is a tricky one. I don't know my most memorable meal. I do remember accidentally eating snails. We were in France, and they were fine. We were eating these little deep fried things and then we found out that they were snails. Everyone else went, ‘Bleurgh’, but they tasted good. We didn't know it was a problem until they decided it was.

Otherwise, I think it's more about the location. I’ve been to the jungle a few times, when I was working with WWF. And so when you see slop on a plate, that is really exciting, because you're in the jungle. I eat everything. I can't think of much stuff I wouldn't want to eat. I mean, I wouldn’t want to eat brains... but it's more about the company and the location than the food for me, I think.

The best present you’ve ever received

I got a nice watch once, but even that I sold when we had the kids. It was nice at the time, and I think at that point in my life it meant a lot to me, because at that moment success meant money, and so it was a mark of that.

Before Jesse came along, Margot and my wife had made his little book together. It was called Daddy's Magic Hugs, and we had so many bedtimes when I read that to her, and it's now tattered and knackered.

You can keep up to date with Jim on his social media channels, @JimChapman. You can follow him on Instagram here