Popular streamer IShowSpeed – real name Darren Watkins – is playing next week’s Sidemen charity match, the YouTube group has confirmed, amid fears he would have to pull out to recover from a recent hospitalisation.
Watkins, who has more than 20 million subscribers on YouTube, claimed he “almost died” when he suffered a sinus infection in July which caused “deadly” cluster headaches, sharing updates in which he could be seen with one eye closed and the other severely swollen.
In a stream last month, Speed told viewers: “I literally had the worst-ever sinus infection. It got super, super bad, and the sinus infection was causing cluster headaches.
“I went through so much. I’m still healing.”
He added that doctors were telling him “a whole different story right now” about whether he would be well enough to take part in the football match, which takes place on Saturday at the London Stadium.
Fears he would have to withdraw from the kickabout only intensified when the 18-year-old accidentally showed his penis on camera, and the Sidemen’s official Twitter/X account mysteriously deleted the tweet announcing him as a player.
He was previously confirmed to play in the match after being challenged to do 20 keepie uppies by Sidemen member and rapper KSI, and succeeding.
However, after the tweet was deleted, fellow Sidemen member Simon “Miniminter” Minter told fans on a stream that Speed was “still playing” the charity match, subject to medical checks.
He said: “As long as he’s OK with the medical stuff he had before. He is still playing, yes.
“The reason [the tweet] got deleted is because there was some question on whether he would be able to fly.”
Now it seems Speed is all good with the “medical stuff”, as the Sidemen tweeted a video on Thursday adding: “It’s official, he’s back. Welcome back to the charity match [Speed].”
Responding to the news, KSI – real name Olajide “JJ” Olatunji - begged the streamer not to “slide tackle me” because of his upcoming match against Tommy Fury in Manchester in October.
KSI is joined in the Sidemen by Minter, Tobi “TBJZL” Brown, Harry “WroetoShaw” Lewis, Josh “Zerkaa” Bradley, Ethan “Behzinga” Payne and Vikram “Vikkstar123” Barn.
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