Ronnie Pickering Speaks Out Five Years On From The Day He Went Viral

Ronnie Pickering has spoken out about the road-rage video that brought him viral fame five years ago today (21 September). You can watch the original clip here:

If you've somehow never seen it before, the video shows Ronnie, from Hull, UK, embroiled in an altercation with a moped driver, back on 21 September 2015.

As tempers flared and heated barbs were exchanged, Ronnie uttered the now immortal words: "Do you know who I am? I'm Ronnie Pickering."

Little did the grandfather-of-five know that the exchange was being filmed on a GoPro, with the footage quickly circulating across the internet.

Reflecting on the day his life changed forever, Ronnie told Hull Live: "I can't believe it was five years ago to be honest. I had no idea it was being filmed and the first I knew was when a friend texted me and told me it was on YouTube.

"It then got picked up by the likes of UNILAD and it then became one of the country's best known YouTube videos.

Twitter/Craig Pickering

"I think that along with the original YouTube upload and all the other follow-ups and memes, the video has probably had 100m views. It is a bit crazy to think how many people have seen it."

Ronnie, now 59, said he regrets some of the things he said during the altercation, though he believes the way the video was edited didn't reflect the reality of the situation.

He said: "People have rows like that all the time but they are not always filmed. The guy wanted a reaction and he got one.

"The video was heavily edited. The footage of him winding me up wasn't there at all.

"To be honest, I was just spouting a lot of gobbledegook. I said things I wouldn't normally say. I now wish I had never said all that, but what can you do?"

ViralHog

Five years on, and Ronnie is not proud of his conduct, but one thing's for certain - we all know who Ronnie Pickering is now.

He said: "The guy on the moped was an irritating fella but I have no bad feelings towards him now.

"I now see the funny side. It has become a comedy video really. There were unpleasant words had but there was no violence. It made a lot of people laugh.

"It has stayed with me but I do not revel in it. It is certainly not something to be proud of. You just have to get on with it. One day I was just me and the next everyone knew the name Ronnie Pickering.

"Some people still come up to be and say 'do you know who I am?' but I don't mind and I have a laugh about it."

Topics: Viral, UK News

Jake Massey

Jake Massey is a journalist at LADbible. He graduated from Newcastle University, where he learnt a bit about media and a lot about living without heating. After spending a few years in Australia and New Zealand, Jake secured a role at an obscure radio station in Norwich, inadvertently becoming a real-life Alan Partridge in the process. From there, Jake became a reporter at the Eastern Daily Press. Jake enjoys playing football, listening to music and writing about himself in the third person.

@jakesmassey