| Jessica Kellgren-Fozard | |
| Birth Name: | Jessica Kellgren-Hayes |
| Birth Date: | 25 January 1989 |
| Birth Place: | Camden, London, England |
| Children: | 1 |
| Mother: | Lee Kellgren |
| Father: | Derek W. Hayes |
| Relatives: | Jonas Kellgren (grandfather) |
| Education: | University of Brighton (BA) |
| Channel Direct Url: | JessicaKellgrenFozard |
| Channel Display Name: | Jessica Kellgren-Fozard |
| Years Active: | 2011–present |
| Genre: | LGBTQ+, disability, history, fashion, and lifestyle |
| Subscribers: | 1.14 million |
| Views: | 185 million |
| Language: | Received Pronunciation[1] |
| Silver Button: | y |
| Gold Button: | y |
| Stats Update: | 10 June 2023 |
Jessica Kellgren-Fozard (née Kellgren-Hayes; born 25 January 1989) is a British YouTuber and television personality. She is known for her videos on disability awareness, LGBT history, and vintage fashion. She began making YouTube videos in 2011 and has since gained over a million subscribers.
Kellgren-Fozard was born in Camden, London and grew up in Bristol. Her mother, Lee Kellgren, is a dyslexic artist and printmaker, and her father, Derek W. Hayes, is an animator and director. She has one younger brother.[2] She is the granddaughter of Jonas Kellgren (1911–2002), the first professor of rheumatology in the UK at the University of Manchester. She is of Swedish, American, and Russian descent on her mother's side.[3] [4]
Kellgren-Fozard is a Quaker and attended Sidcot School in Winscombe.[5] [6] She finished her secondary school education at Cotham School at the age of 19. She initially pursued a local BTEC diploma in Art and Design.[2] She then studied at the University of Brighton, graduating with a Bachelor of Arts in Film and Screen Studies.[7]
In 2008, Kellgren-Fozard participated in the BBC Three reality television series Britain's Missing Top Model,[2] finishing in third place.
In 2014, she appeared on Brighton-based LatestTV.[8] In 2015, she co-hosted LatestTV's movie review series such as PostFeature and Movie Line and interviewed filmmakers on FilmFest. In 2016, she hosted her own educational entertainment television show called Quintessentially Jessica.[9] [10] [11]
Kellgren-Fozard's videos cover a range of topics including vintage fashion and beauty, disability issues, and LGBT issues and history.[12]
In 2019, she partnered with The School of Life for the YouTube Originals series "The School of..." on the YouTube Premium service, narrated by Alain de Botton where seven popular YouTube creators cover a philosophical topic important to them.[13] Kellgren-Fozard's episode is about the secrets of happiness.[14]
In December 2020, fellow YouTuber Daniel Howell selected Kellgren-Fozard to be featured on YouTube UK's creator campaign The Rise, in which ten established YouTube personalities each highlighted a "rising star" of their choosing.[15]
Kellgren-Fozard is deaf, which is caused by her disabilities: hereditary neuropathy with liability to pressure palsy, Ehlers–Danlos syndrome, and postural orthostatic tachycardia syndrome. Her symptoms began appearing when she was a teenager.[16] [17] She is also blind in one eye and suffers from memory loss. In a July 2023 video, she revealed that she had been diagnosed with ADHD.[18]
Kellgren-Fozard is a lesbian. She lives in Brighton with her wife, Claudia, a former dentist. They married at a Quaker meeting house in Bristol, in September 2016.[19] The couple announced on 1 January 2021 that Claudia was pregnant with their first child.[20] Their son, Rupert Henrik Kan Kellgren-Fozard, was born on 4 June that same year. Kellgren-Fozard has been vocal about her Montessori parenting of Rupert, making videos about it on her channel.
Kellgren-Fozard was awarded an honorary PhD from the University of Worcester in 2018 after being nominated by students for her work in disability awareness.[21] [22]
| Year | Award | Category | Result | Ref. |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2019 | Diva Awards | Rising Star of the Year | [23] | |
| Blogosphere Awards | Vlogger of the Year | [24] | ||
| 2020 | National Diversity Awards | Positive Role Model Award – LGBT | [25] | |
| 2021 | British LGBT Awards | Online Influencer | [26] | |