A Florida man has accrued nearly 50 million likes and three million TikTok followers for sharing his simple – but clever – home repair hacks.
The TikTok user, who prefers to keep his legal name concealed and goes by the childhood name Gator, has posted hundreds of videos.
Gator, who hails from Tallahassee, told Fox News Digital that he was inspired to join TikTok after his son encouraged him to.
“[My son] posted a couple silly videos… and they did really well, close to a million [views],” he explained.
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Gator, who hails from Tallahassee, told Fox News Digital that he was inspired to join TikTok after his son showed him the app. (@jmg8tor via TikTok)
“And I was like, ‘Well, let me just get that app.’ And then I actually started posting videos.”
Gator originally used his account to post funny videos. He was at 200,000 followers before someone suggested that he share his home repair expertise on the short-form video app.
“I went live with somebody and I was actually working at a rental house. And then they were like, ‘What are you doing?’ And I said, ‘I’m just fixing a water heater.'”
“They said, ‘Why don’t you make this your content?’ And I was like, ‘I don’t know. I never even thought about it.'”
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Gator has accrued almost 50 million likes on TikTok for sharing his simple home repair hacks. (@jmg8tor via TikTok)
Gator told Fox News Digital that the first home repair video he posted amassed 20 million views in the first two hours.
“And the whole comment section was just like, ‘Can you show me how to do another tape measure hack?’ ‘How do you use a drill?’ ‘Can you fix a toilet, do you fix a door?'”
“And I was like, this is crazy.”
The Florida resident said that he learned about home repair when he began building houses at 18.
Gator’s hacks are simple and help viewers fix basic problems around the house. (@jmg8tor via TikTok)
“We didn’t really have the Internet back then,” Gator explained. “So you had to either ask somebody or know somebody.”
The TikTok star said that he thinks his videos are popular because many young people aren’t taught basic skills.
“When I was young, you had to get out and learn something. With social media and the technology, there’s just people are getting different jobs that don’t require them being out there working to learn anything,” he theorized.
“So they go to the Internet to find that.”
The unexpected social media personality called his TikTok stardom “a complete accident.”
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The TikTok star said that he thinks his videos are popular because many young people aren’t taught basic skills. (@jmg8tor via TikTok)
“I’ve never been on social media until a little over two years ago. Not ever. No Facebook. No nothing.”
A high point for Gator is when WD-40 reached out to him to offer a sponsorship deal.
“I’ve been using [WD-40] my whole life. My dad was in the Army, so I started showing WD-40 hacks…so then [they] contacted me.”
Despite his extensive construction experience, Gator maintains that he focuses on making videos that are accessible to all audiences.
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“I’m not showing you how to knock out a wall and remodel your bedroom. I’m showing you how to unclog a dishwasher and fix your garbage disposal.”
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