Korean Englishman

This article is about the English YouTuber duo. For Koreans living in England, see British Koreans. For English people living in Korea, see Foreigners in Korea.

Korean Englishman (Korean: 영국남자; RR: Yeonggungnamja; lit. "Englishman") is a YouTube channel created by internet personality duo Josh Carrott and Ollie Kendal. It features videos in Korean and English centring around South Korean culture and food.

Korean Englishman
Josh Carrott (left) and Ollie Kendal (right) at Youtube FanFest Korea, 2015
Personal information
Born	Joshua Daryl Carrott[1] Oliver John Kendal[1] (1989-05-14) 14 May 1989 (age 36) (1987-11-16) 16 November 1987 (age 37) Brighton, England
YouTube information
Channels	영국남자 Korean Englishman Jolly
Years active	2013–present (Korean Englishman) 2017–present (Jolly)
Genres	Korean culture Expatriates in Korea Mukbang
Subscribers	6.15 million (Korean Englishman) 4.8 million (Jolly)
Views	2.53 billion (Korean Englishman) 2.04 billion (Jolly)
Creator Awards 100,000 subscribers 2013 (Korean Englishman) 2017 (Jolly) 1,000,000 subscribers 2015 (Korean Englishman) 2019 (Jolly)
Last updated: 27 July 2025

Cast

Joshua Carrott

Joshua 'Josh' Daryl Carrott was born on 14 May 1989 in Brighton, England, to Daryl and Maureen Carrott.^[2] His father was a firefighter, and his mother was a police officer.^[3] His paternal grandmother was ethnically Chinese. Aged 12, his family moved from England to Qingdao, China. Carrott was first exposed to Korean culture through South Korean expatriate students at the International School of Qingdao. He then returned to England for university, majoring in Korean language studies at SOAS, University of London.^[4][5][6] He also studied a year abroad at Korea University.^[7] He is married to Gabriela Kook, an Argentine-born South Korean chef.^[8][9][10] They welcomed daughter Julie in August 2024.^[11]

Oliver Kendal

Oliver 'Ollie' Kendal is Carrott's best friend and business partner, whom he met while attending SOAS in London.^[12] His father Henry was the vicar of St Barnabas Church, North Finchley.^[13] He has a background in video production, as well as photography and graphic design. In 2013, he was pursuing a master's degree in biblical studies. In November of that year, he and Carrott incorporated the private limited company Kendal & Carrott in the United Kingdom.^[14][15] Ollie is married to Lizzie Kendal and has a daughter named Juno.^[16] On 24 June 2022, Ollie won Best Friends Cooking Battle (ft. Celebrity Chef), with Josh finishing in second place.^[17]

Channels

Korean Englishman

The channel initially featured the reactions of their English friends to Korean cuisine. Most famously, they introduced fire noodles to their English friends as a spicy food challenge in 2014; this later developed into the "Fire Noodle Challenge".^[18][19]

They have since collaborated with both Western and Korean celebrities and organizations, including:^[20][21]

• A collaboration with Tottenham Hotspur featuring Son Heung-min introducing Eric Dier, Pierre-Emile Højbjerg and Hugo Lloris to Korean barbecue.^[22]

• A collaboration with Wolverhampton Wanderers featuring Hwang Hee-chan introducing Matheus Cunha, José Sá, Max Kilman, Matt Doherty and Mario Lemina to Korean street food.^[23]

In addition, Carrott, Kendall and Kook have been invited to Buckingham Palace twice and spoken with King Charles III on both occasions. The second occasion was a British-Korean state dinner featuring South Korean President Yoon Suk-yeol. The trio also sat at the same table as Jisoo, Jennie and Rosé of K-Pop girl group Blackpink, which led to Carrott offering to translate for Jisoo and Jisoo accepting.^{[24][non-primary source needed]}

Jolly

Carrott and Kendal launched a second channel, "Jolly", in 2017, which produces a broader variety of content intended for a more global audience.^[6] Both Carrott and Kendal frequently have friends and family on as guests, including Kendal's brother-in-law, Chris Lee.^[25]

In 2019, over half of the channel's views came from Korea.^[26]

Other works

On Carrott's 32nd birthday, Kendal published Carrott's (partially fictitious) autobiography, which was ghostwritten by his friends, with parts of the proceeds donated to Carrot Land Adventure Park in Ohakune, New Zealand.^[27]

Controversy

Main article: Gabie Kook § Controversy

In October 2020, Carrott and Kook were criticised and later investigated by police after a video was uploaded on Gabie Kook's channel of Carrott and Kook receiving packages to their quarantine apartment in a way some thought were violating South Korea's COVID-19 quarantine regulations.^[28][29][30] In April 2021, all the charges were dropped.^{[31][32][better source needed]}