Everyone is shocked that the Chicken Connoisseur kid is actually a 23-year-old man

Less than 24 hours after he entered the public consciousness, we’ve already been hit with a shock revelation about Britain’s newest cultural icon, the Chicken Connoisseur.

If you’re not aware, the Chicken Connoisseur hosts a YouTube show, The Pengest Munch, in which he visits London’s chicken shops and reviews their produce. They are absolutely brilliant.

Despite his youthful looks, it turns out that the Connoisseur (real name Elijah Quashie) isn’t an enterprising schoolboy, but is in fact a 23-year-old man.

In fairness, he’d already said that he’s 23 on Twitter:

@ErenSabanci 23, but I look like 15

— Chicken Connoisseur (@PengestMunch) October 7, 2016

But because he looks and sounds so young, it was widely assumed that he was a teenager, and that the above tweet was just a joke. However, BuzzFeed reporter Victoria Sanusi spoke to Quashie and confirmed that he is indeed 23.

And yet, the public still can’t believe it.

No way is that chicken shop guy 23

— Kazuhira Miller (@Adil_M97) December 9, 2016

Apparently the chicken kid is 23, this can't be true, I will not accept this ??

— Michael 'Buck' Maris (@buckotb) December 9, 2016

GUYS THE CHICKEN CONNOISSEUR IS 23, I THOUGHT HE WAS ABOUT 14

— Marie Le Conte (@youngvulgarian) December 9, 2016

Even Members of Parliament are shocked.

@youngvulgarian wwwwhhhhaaaaatttt!

— Jess Phillips MP (@jessphillips) December 9, 2016

And if you ever needed confirmation of status as an icon, a Twitter poll on the subject of whether or not you’d bang said icon for bragging rights is a sure sign of it.

would you bang the Chicken Connoisseur for the anecdote

— Bridget Minamore (@bridgetminamore) December 9, 2016

Now the question is, does it matter that he’s 23? Obviously part of the joy of the videos was in thinking that a young lad at school had gone out and made these really excellent videos, but does the fact that he’s a grown man make them less joyful?

And to think, yesterday we didn’t even know who he was. It’s been a funny old year, hasn’t it?