Amelia Dimoldenberg Is Hungry for More

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Opinions differ on which episode of Chicken Shop Date got people to remember Amelia Dimoldenberg’s name. The 2021 episode in which she asks Jack Harlow if he can read? Or maybe 2022’s viral TikTok dance set to her interview with documentarian Louis Theroux was what really did it. Daniel Kaluuya’s 2020 episode went triple platinum in my browser history, but it’s all personal preference.

Whatever your pick, she’s no longer a semi-anonymous Englishwoman at whom people just yell “Chicken!” on the street. Now, with piles of burgers and fries between us at a Los Angeles In-N-Out — alas, the post-awards-show celebration spot doesn’t serve nuggets — Dimoldenberg gets the star treatment with several fans pausing for a closer look, stopping by the table to announce “I love your videos!” or, in one follower’s case, DM-ing her later to commend the early-morning cheeseburger. (It was, in fact, 10:30 a.m.)

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The attention is no surprise. Chicken Shop Date — an ongoing, decade-old YouTube series with around 100 episodes and hundreds of millions of views — has become a crucial stop on any self-respecting celebrity’s promotional tour. The premise is exactly as it sounds: Dimoldenberg, who puts on a wry and slightly awkward affect for the videos, and her guest are on a date at a chicken shop, a kind of poultry-forward fast-food joint that’s ubiquitous in the U.K. The character she plays is both desperate for her date’s affection and desperate to dump them. Flirting is encouraged, and the guests are judged by the public based on how down they are to play the game.

The idea came to her as an ambitious teenager from London obsessed with magazines and grime musicians. At the time, she had never been on a date. What if she interviewed the artists she and her friends liked while sort of setting herself up with them? “Two birds, one stone,” she says, dipping a fry into ketchup. And wouldn’t it be funnier if she took them somewhere totally unromantic like a chicken shop?

Since her first Chicken Shop Date, with British rapper Ghetts, the web series’ production value has improved, but Dimoldenberg, now 30, has always understood the dance of the show. In that inaugural episode, she remains deadpan, coaxing out a less-media-trained side of Ghetts by asking him questions like “Your name used to be Ghetto. Where did the O go?” and “Do you like pets, Ghetts?”

When Dimoldenberg started, podcasts were not yet YouTube channels. Magazines weren’t forcing ensemble casts to endure rounds of trivia or play with puppies for engagement. Even Hot Ones — another disarming, chicken-based interview series — hadn’t taken off. Now, Dimoldenberg is publicly flirting with Andrew Garfield and fielding booking requests from Kamala HQ. “If I’d have started now with the way that content is — the algorithms are so fierce, and there’s so much competition — would I have even had the confidence to start a show?” she wonders.

Early on, Dimoldenberg considered selling the rights to Chicken Shop Date just to have the funds to keep it going. “I met with multiple different media companies, and one of them offered to buy the copyright for £500,” she says. “They were saying, ‘But then obviously you’ll get a salary. You’ll get paid every time.’ And thank God I didn’t do that.” (Luckily, just as she ran out of cash, she got a manager and signed an advertising deal with Voxi, a British phone network, which has kept the show alive.)

Dimoldenberg, who was at Central Saint Martins studying fashion journalism when she launched the series, still produces and directs each episode and is in charge of the final cut. The show’s profit comes solely from YouTube ads (not product placement) and goes straight to her production company, Dimz, Inc. She keeps the overhead low — each installment costs about £4,000 to produce — and has only two full-time -employees. “I always tell people if they ask me for advice, ‘Learn to delegate,’” she says.

“I am not interested in just doing something for the sake of it, or to make X amount of money, or to be famous in a certain way,” she continues. “I am more concerned with just making things that are quality and that aren’t polarizing or divisive. It’s just stuff that’s good.”

That quality-minded approach is partly how she has been able to book A-list guests (Ryan Reynolds and Hugh Jackman recently promoted Deadpool & Wolverine on the show) and become a staple interviewer on red carpets with celebrities often giving her their best sound bites of the night. Though she’s adamant about keeping Chicken Shop Date on YouTube, she has been developing scripted projects through Dimz. Some film and TV cameos may be on the horizon too.

One day, Dimoldenberg says, Chicken Shop Date will come to an end — she’s certain of that — but not anytime soon. It’ll happen, perhaps, when she sits across from the One. “When I’m filming, I forget the cameras are there, and I think maybe the guest does too,” she says. “And to me, it’s equal parts real as it isn’t. Why couldn’t I meet someone on the show? It’s like falling in love with a co-worker.”