YOUTUBER Niko Omilana rocketed to fame with his viral prank videos – including one humiliating stunt during the 2024 election.
He will be joining a slew of other celebrities as they head to Scotland for the celebrity version of the BBC’s Traitors.
Who is Niko Omilana?
Niko was born on March 4, 1998, in Staffordshire.
He gained fame by sharing prank videos on his YouTube channel and, prior to his political pranks, he was most recognized for his widely viewed video called I Pranked America’s Most Racist Man.
At the start of September 2022, Omilana was announced as a member of the YouTube Allstars football team.
The Allstars was created by British YouTube group Sidemen back in 2016 to play charity football matches.
He is immensely popular online, racking up over three million followers on Instagram and nearly eight million on YouTube (as of April 2025).
Taking on Rishi Sunak
Niko decided to pull off a huge stunt in 2024, inspired by his viral run for mayor of London in 2021.
He ran against Rishi Sunak in his own constituency, in the disatrous snap election called by the then-Prime Minister.
Although it was a devastating election for the Tories which saw them lose a record number of seats, Niko was ultimately beaten by Sunak.
Despite only receiving 160 votes, Sunak technically became the first prime minister to lose his parliamentary seat, as he was contesting a constituency that had been redrawn.
During his candidacy for London mayor in 2021, he associated himself with the Niko Defence League, but he ran as an independent candidate during the 2024 General Election.
Labour came second in the race, followed by Reform UK, the Lib Dems, the Green Party, Count Binface and an independent candidate.
Niko came in eighth place.
During Sunak’s speech where he congratulated Keir Starmer’s Labour party on its landslide victory, Niko held up a sign with the letter L – signifying “loser” – printed on it.
The Youtuber also performed a stunt during Sunak’s speech congratulating Labour for its landslide victory.
As the former PM apologised for his party’s loss, Omilana stood behind him holding a piece of paper with the letter ‘L’ — signifying ‘loser’ — printed on it.
Niko’s run for mayor
In April 2021, Niko announced that he would be running for London Mayor.
Niko took to Instagram to ask voters for his support.
In a video posted to the platform, he said: “I’m Niko Omilana, founding father and supreme leader of the Niko Defence League, and I am running for mayor of London.
“As you can see I’m taking this extremely seriously, everything up until this moment has been a warm-up, a light jog, a walk in the park but now we are about to take the nation’s biggest city.
“There is no greater leader in this country than me so please my friends, vote Niko for mayor of London on May 6th… or your breath stinks!
“Make sure you are registered to vote as well, you don’t want to miss out on this one.”
He shared his full manifesto to Twitter which included telling Boris Johnson to “shush” and outlined his plan to rename Big Ben.
While Omilana was not elected as mayor, he did come fifth, beating out some much bigger names in politics, like Laurence Fox and Piers Corbyn.
Sadiq Khan won a landslide victory as support for his ULEZ scheme soared.
Shaun Bailey, the Conservative candidate, came in second – a result repeated by his successor Susan Hall.
Joining the Celebrity Traitors
Niko will be joining the cast of Celebrity Traitors as filming kicks off this summer.
He will be joined by Olympian and diving icon Tom Daley, Bridget Jones actress Celia Imrie and author Stephen Fry.
Broadcasters Kate Garraway, Johnathan Ross and Clare Balding will also be joining the cast alongside singers Paloma Faith, Cat Burns and Charlotte Church.
There will be a slew of comedians in the cast too, including Alan Carr, Lucy Beaumont, Nick Mohammed and Joe Wilkinson.
Actors Mark Bonnar, Tameka Empson and Ruth Codd will also enter the castle, alongside rugby star Joe Marler and David Olusoga.
Money expert Martin Lewis revealed that he had been asked to join the cast but had to decline due to scheduling commitments.
Claudia Winkleman will be returning as the presenter when the show kicks off in the autumn.
