"Proud to be French," "wanting to be like everyone else," sport before YouTube... 4 things to know about Tibo InShape, the YouTuber who will question Macron this Tuesday

Aged 33 and followed by 26.7 million people on YouTube, Thibaud Delapart is known for his sports training videos that he shares on social networks. He is now the number one YouTuber in France, having stolen the first place on the video platform from Squeezie in 2024 .

His trademark, a shock speech to motivate his troops , as in a video where he spoke about depression: "Don't give a damn about your excuses (...) stop being a shit, being a person without any motivation (...) get up now, right now!" , he urged in a video on TikTok in 2022 - which caused an uproar. " Depression is a real illness, it's difficult to get out of it but there are solutions. And that's really what I wanted to show through TikTok. So I want to apologize to the people who misinterpreted my TikTok," he later acknowledged.

The Toulouse YouTuber also built his audience by sharing his encounters with prominent figures (forensic doctors, Paralympic athletes, victims of domestic abuse, etc.).

His "immersive" reports to reveal unattractive professions have also made him successful, as well as sketches with his partner Juju Fitcats , a content creator also specialized in fitness. But it is also thanks to his unbridled use of "Shorts" , short videos inspired by the TikTok format, that Tibo InShape owes his meteoric rise on Google's video platform.

With his huge following, the tank top-wearing influencer launched his own brand of food supplements at the end of 2019, attracting customers from " 16-17 years old to 50 years old and over," he told AFP in January 2023.

The assault that got him into sports

In 2009, when he was 17, Tibo InShape and his friends were attacked by several people in his village.

Rescued by the police that day, he decided shortly after to take up sport. " I can almost thank these people today ," he commented in a video in June 2024 on Brut .

"During an end-of-studies internship in the United States, I discovered the world of fitness, and in particular gyms open 24/7," he explains on his online sales site to tell how it all began.

"When I got back, I decided to share my bodybuilding experience with my friends" and " to simply put my advice and exercises online on YouTube videos," says the internet star.

His links with politics

The government called on his services in 2019 to promote the Universal National Service (SNU), notably with a sponsored video, immersed in French Guiana with Gabriel Attal, Secretary of State in charge of the file at the time.

However, Tibo InShape is regularly accused of promoting conservative, even far-right, positions . He had to apologize several times after praising a bodybuilding session by Vladimir Putin, a video that has since been removed.

According to him, these accusations began when he chose to put a French flag on the wall. "Being proud to be French does not mean being far-right or racist," he told the media Brut .

Announced as one of the headliners of the "Aux Jeux streamers" competition organized in April 2024 by France Télévisions, featuring internet personalities, he was ultimately removed from the list of participants. Streamer Baghera Jones herself had threatened to withdraw, pointing to the "actions and/or comments of certain participants." From his first exchanges with the French online entertainment giant Webedia, co-producer of the event, streamer Adrien Nougaret, alias ZeratoR, had told AFP that he had drawn attention to the "polarizing and divisive" profile of Tibo InShape.

In the interview for Brut , Tibo InShape indicates that he "considers himself more right-wing" , before assuring that he voted in the last legislative elections for "Ensemble", the coalition of the presidential camp.

Celebrity Management

When asked how he handles fame, the content creator explains that he "would give all the money in the world to be incognito on the street. I want people to understand that we want to be like everyone else for an evening."

He clarified that he's not "in Kardashian mode" and that he sets "limits" on what he shares about his private life. He explained, in particular, that he won't show his children if he becomes a father.

And to remind that "if tomorrow, YouTube had to stop, it wouldn't be serious" .