American beauty influencer James Charles paid a visit to Birmingham's Ring shopping centre on Saturday afternoon, and reportedly attracted 8,000 fans wanting to see him in the flesh.
The BBC reports that Charles "brought Birmingham city centre to a standstill", while a local blog claims that the 19-year-old "created a scene of absolute mayhem and chaos".
His visit is said to have caused severe traffic congestion in parts of central Birmingham from 3.30pm to 7.30pm.
Footage shared by Charles on Twitter shows the shopping centre's main concourse packed with screaming fans in a scene that resembles a One Direction or BTS meet-and-greet.
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"I can't believe this is my life," Charles wrote on Twitter as he shared the footage.
I can’t believe this is my life pic.twitter.com/TOvGjNsk5d
— James Charles (@jamescharles) January 26, 2019
Charles, who hails from the town of Bethlehem in upstate New York, made history in October 2016 when he became the first ever male face of CoverGirl.
He now has 13.6m Instagram followers and 13.7m subscribers on YouTube, where he describes himself humbly as "a 19 year old kid with a few blending brushes".
He has such clout that he's even made a video with Kylie Jenner; not too surprisingly, it's his most popular on YouTube with 25m views.
A palette he created in collaboration with makeup brand Morphe sold out twice last year.
Charles was in Birmingham on Saturday to open a new store for Morphe. According to reports, he took part in a brief ribbon-cutting ceremony outside the store at 4pm before going inside for a meet-and-greet session with 250 fans.
His fans, whom he calls "sisters" and collectively "the sisterhood", shared their excitement for his traffic-stopping P.A. on social media.
Stuck in traffic in Birmingham for over an hour, James Charles definitely has something to do with this ???
— ItsSamm (@It_sSamm) January 26, 2019
Didn’t realise james charles was so famous in Birmingham and this is just a tiny part of a packed bullring. pic.twitter.com/MmeDQP6uds
— Braden ♔ (@BradeLeeStevens) January 26, 2019
Could not believe I met u yesterday it was amazing ?? #SISTERSQUAD @jamescharles ??? pic.twitter.com/HiNGGCixnY
— Keira Chapman (@KeiraCh94372139) January 27, 2019
@jamescharles you have shut down Birmingham sis ?
— Jadeeeee (@jadelilsb) January 26, 2019
Had the best day seeing you in birmingham like it was insanneee love you sister?❤
— Ella Hendry (@EllaHendry2) January 26, 2019
Hi sister @jamescharles pic.twitter.com/QATG79OXj5
— Sister Danny MET JAMES CHARLES (@bangbangcherri) January 26, 2019
Charles later told fans on Snapchat that this was his most popular public appearance yet, saying: "There were 8,000 sisters at the mall. We keep breaking records every single time. I will literally never forget today."
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