In less than three months, an 87-year-old grandfather has amassed a huge following on the video-sharing app TikTok, despite the fact that most of the app’s users are teenagers.
Many of Joe Allington’s videos have made light of the coronavirus-enforced quarantine, on the way to picking up 1.5 million followers on the platform.
One video, seen 457,000 times, sees him don washing-up gloves, multiple bin bags and a mask covering only his nose for his government-mandated daily walk.
A petrol tanker driver for decades, after leaving school at the age of 14 in the late 1940s, Allington from Lichfield went on to work in transport management. He retired at the age of 65, and became the family comedian to his daughter, Wendy Paintain, 54, and his granddaughters.
When they suggested he join TikTok, it was a natural fit. “I’ve found my second childhood, you know,” he said.
BBC
