'I'm momager to my famous YouTuber family'

Social media star Saffron Barker's mum Wendy, 47, from Brighton, opens up about supporting her daughter, 22, and sons Casey, 27, and Jed, 20, as they build careers from posting their lives online

- JOSIE COPSON

I’ve never had any desire to be famous, but somehow I’ve had a camera in my face almost every single week over the last decade. When I was young I told my mum that I wanted to work in a fish and chip shop and then later I wanted to be a solicitor. I was always content with the idea of a quiet life, but my children, Casey, Saffron and Jed, had other ideas.

I fell pregnant when I was 19 with my now-husband Darren. From that moment, I vowed I’d do anything for my children – and my life now proves just that!

Saffron led the way on our YouTube journey, which is no surprise as she’s always loved being in front of the camera. From a young age, she’d say, “Record me please, Mum.”

She was in a girl band at 13 and they started making their own vlogs, emulating their idol Zoella, who’d become successful sharing her life online. Saffron would come to life creating the videos, but they were just for fun, never uploaded for the world to see.

When the band split, Saffron felt a bit lost. She’d never enjoyed traditional academia, so she needed a passion. I said, “Why not do YouTube?” I got her a camera from Currys and she got to work. For her first video she recorded herself saying “morning” about 100 times to get it “right”. Little did I know this was just the beginning.

Within a few weeks her videos had been watched thousands of times. I knew she had that star quality, but the speed at which she gained popularity was crazy. After just three months Casey set up his own channel and he soon began making videos with his now-fiancée Nicole.