Belgian influencer Celine Dept’s channel was the most-watched channel on YouTube last week, with over 1.1 billion views in a single week. This saw Dept overtake the American YouTuber MrBeast, according to statistics from Tubefilter.
Belgian influencer Celine Dept overtakes MrBeast as the world’s most-watched YouTuber
Colin Clapson
Published:
Since May 2023, Dept’s channel has featured videos about football. She has secured appearances from global stars including Gareth Bale, Neymar, Erling Haaland and, most recently, Cristiano Ronaldo.
Top clubs, you either love or hate, like PSG and Manchester City have collaborated with her. The video of her meeting with Ronaldo has been viewed more than 6.9 million times since 16 June.
Success with boyfriend Michiel
In her home country, Dept previously enjoyed success alongside her boyfriend Michiel Callebaut as CEMI, though mainly with a younger audience.
The pair have a nose for business: they sold clothing and entered into commercial partnerships. In 2022, they launched a cinema film.
However, no new videos have appeared on their joint CEMI channel for a year now. Their online shop is also inactive. For their latest video, the Flemish Media Regulator reprimanded the couple: they were fined 5,000 euros for product placement in children’s programmes.
Ever-increasing profits
The annual accounts of their company, CDMC Works, show higher profits year on year: in 2024, they recorded a net profit of 841,740 euros.
In recently published accounts for 2025, profits had fallen to 153,683 euros, but the company has been run differently since 1 January 2025. Dept and Callebaut have each set up a management company and receive a monthly payment of an undisclosed amount.