Meet the Durham TikTok sensation who makes history fun for over 500,000 followers

Meet the Durham TikTok sensation who makes history fun for thousands of followers.

The History Gossip, real name Katie Kennedy, has amassed a huge audience for her amusing and satirical content.

The 25-year-old from Chester-le-Street is incredibly passionate about history, having earned a first-class degree at Durham University, and she is now studying a masters in British and European History at Oxford. This love for 'the juicy bits of history', which has brought Katie social media success, originated from her time growing up here in the North East.

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Katie said: "When I was around seven, we would go to a National Trust site every weekend, and even though I didn't always want to go at the time, I grew to love history from then. We also had Beamish on our doorstep, where I did work experience, and I would always watch Horrible Histories too."

Katie was in her final year at Durham, working hard on her dissertation, when she decided to start posting on TikTok. Originally skeptical about how her strong North East accent would be received, Katie soon began sharing her authentic self alongside fun history facts on the app, gaining massive attention.

She explains: "I wanted to do something fun with what little spare time I had, as I was so busy with uni work, so I decided that I wanted to share the juicy bits of history in an accessible way. For a while, I wasn't sure how I'd be received, speaking the way I do, but I thought to myself, why should I not be myself?

"I focused on making the videos snappy, engaging and funny as much as possible, and the reception has been amazing, although I do get the odd American not understanding what I'm saying. I never expected it to grow so quickly but it has been fantastic."

The History Gossip's presence on TikTok doesn't seem like it will stop growing anytime soon, with Katie going from 100k followers in January to over 500,000 today. This newfound recognition has now allowed Katie to fulfil a lifelong ambition, the publication of her own book.

Katie continued: "I feel like I have been able to cope with a lot of things that have been going on, as I began writing the book just after I finished my dissertation. Writing a book of my own and having it published is something that I have always wanted to do, but I never expected it to happen so soon.

"I wanted to make the book as much like my videos as possible, so it is in an 'on this day' format, with little tit-bits of information. I also recorded the audiobook back in September, and that was an great experience, although it took longer than expected as I kept messing up my lines."

Now, Katie has been eagerly anticipating the launch of her book, which is out on Thursday, November 7, and although things only seem to be looking up, she is making sure to enjoy everything as it happens.

She added: "I recently did some signings and seeing the book in person is honestly surreal. I love the design and especially all of the illustrations, and hearing how excited people are for it just makes me want it to come out as soon as possible.

"When I started TikTok, I feel like I had a blind confidence, thinking that nobody was watching when I recorded the videos, but there have definitely been times when I've felt self conscious. The way I see it, nobody should be ashamed of their accent or where they come from, and I want to make sure I'm being as authentic as possible."

'The History Gossip: Was Anne of Cleves a Minger? and 365 other historical curiosities', by Katie Kennedy, is out now. To purchase the book, click the link here.