Shadowing Practice: The Depressing Downfall Of Rate My Takeaway - Learn English Speaking with Video

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Danny Malin is a content creator who became one of the most beloved food reviewers on the internet.

He's gained an incredible amount of success, testing and then rating takeaways across the UK.

However, over the last few months, the Rate My Takeaway channel has been shrouded in controversy and drama, which ultimately led Danny to walk away from the platform he had built from the ground up.

They are in control and they have always been in control

and they have just basically had me doing the filming and they've just controlled everything.

So how did this beloved food review channel get torn apart and lead its host to walk away?

But first, if you didn't know, I make weekly documentary videos here on this channel, and I'd really appreciate it if you could subscribe to the channel so we can keep this YouTube dream alive.

But if YouTube wasn't enough, my videos are now also available on Spotify.

So if you can't get enough of me, you can now watch and listen to all of my videos on the go.

So make sure to go check all of that out.

But anyway, back to the video.

Before rate my takeaway, Danny worked at Leeds' Kirkgate Market as a butcher.

In 2020, during the lockdowns of COVID, he was classified as a key worker, so his days were spent delivering meat.

It was during this time that Danny made a video making fun of everyone going crazy over toilet rolls and supermarkets.

Overnight, this video went viral.

This gave Danny incentive to make promotional videos for the butchers that he worked for.

Coincidentally, while delivering meat to a shop one day, he met a lad who had seen Danny's videos and told him

that he had social media channels and could help Danny reach a much wider audience.

Not thinking much of it, he gave it a couple of weeks before giving the guy a call.

you to do it and then about eight months later we put it on YouTube

and bang it just went viral and since then we've just been full steam ahead with it to be honest.

In November 2020 the first ever video was uploaded to the channel in

which Danny would try a 5 ,000 calorie takeaway munchie box and like Danny said the channel started absolutely flying.

The first three videos on the channel did a total of 9 million views alone.

The camping chair and fold -out table outside of every establishment made it basically impossible not to watch.

And ultimately, the videos were about food, but everyone was there for Danny's personality.

His strong Yorkshire accent mixed with his overwhelming enthusiasm made him extremely entertaining to watch.

However, in February 2021, Danny's world would become shattered after his long -term partner suddenly died of a heart attack.

Sadly, my partner, Carrie, loved me like she passed away in February.

Sorry to hear that, mate.

Yeah, so it was pretty tough, so it sort of, you know, it hit me like a steam train to be honest

and i spent four

or five weeks just not knowing what to do obviously social

media stuff it slowed down obviously i didn't do anything

but it sort of obviously people picked up on what were going on

so there were a lot of newspaper articles locally in leeds

and what had happened and obviously three kids at home so there's like

me two youngest

and then carrie's eldest who's my stepson it just it was just awful just out of the blue awful

and then all of a sudden after like four

or five weeks i got a lot of support from people coming around

and talking to me for him

and i just decided you know what you know she wouldn't want me to sit

and wallow in self -pity

and you know i've got to do what i can for kids

and i've got to show my kids

that you know the mum would have wanted us to to be happy

and live on to be honest the youtube sort of fame

if you like when it took off come around

that time like four or five weeks in it started to grow then

so it's changed the life for me and the kids and it's give us something good to focus on.

So my kids, when they see me on things like this, radio interviews, in newspapers, they think it's amazing.

It's like my oldest lad and my daughter, when I said I was coming down here for you today, my God, my oldest lad, he was straight on phoned to his mates, look at this, and then when you put it on the other week, his mates were phoning him up, oh, I can't believe it's going on.

So like, again, for me, you know, some fat bloke from Leeds eating kebabs being down here, it's quite surreal, but it's helped me out with my kids and I can't thank people enough.

With this newfound virality helping Danny through a tough period in his life, the Rate My Takeaway platforms continued to grow.

So much so, Danny became a silent partner in a burger restaurant in Pudsey.

It was announced through a video of him trying the food, but wanting to remain impartial, he didn't give it a rating.

But 2022 was a huge year for the brand of Rate My Takeaway, with them even embarking on a summer tour of the United States to review the very best takeaways New York,

Vegas, and LA had to offer.

And by 2024, the channel had well over 700 ,000 subscribers and amassed over 125 million views.

However, in February 2024, Danny's life would change once again after suffering two strokes in two weeks

and was diagnosed with a blood clot on the brain.

I'd got stuff going off with the channel, I'd got some personal issues going on and I was under a lot of pressure, a lot of stress, and there was just too much going on.

And on the day that it happened, I was going outside, I'd just put some washer fluid in my car, we were going out for a family meal for the birthday

and as i was walking back in the house i just

all i remember is just feeling a little bit dizzy

and then the next thing i know all hell's broken loose

and sophie's got upset and called for an ambulance and all this

because i've had a stroke obviously she said

that my face went broke to one side i didn't know what i was doing didn't know where i was

so yeah so i'm admitted to hospital they they said they did a few scans said

that i got a blood clot the side of my head here

which caused me to have a stroke but me being me the idiot

that i am i come out of hospital and i had two meet

and greets booked in for my fans one at the trinity in leeds

and one of the ridings in wakefield trinity were on the monday wakefield were on the saturday

and the doctor said you know just plenty of rest lost quite a bit of movement in my left side

so i decided that i could just sit in van sit there

and just talk to people not realizing the full impact

that the stroke had had so i did it on the monday

and i was shattered did it on the saturday again i

was shattered on the sunday went to put something in the

microwave i lost 20 minutes of my life again i had another one.

So back in hospital, so it were like two within space of like two weeks.

So I'm pretty lucky to be honest.

Despite health concerns, Rate My Takeaway ploughed on and planned even bigger and better things.

One of these things was the Rate My Takeaway kitchen, a food court in a Huddersfield shopping centre that would house independent food vendors.

This place was actually a great idea

and was maximised for their fans to visit a physical space where the interbreeding of social media and real life could intertwine.

However, with the business flourishing like never before, the next year would be shrouded in controversy.

Throughout 2025, bubblings of drama were surfacing within the UK food review world.

You see, early on in the year, the Food Review Club channel was outed for allegedly getting paid to review restaurants' food, sometimes apparently in the range of £1 ,500.

Now, obviously, if that's the case, ethically, it kind of makes it unclear to your audience what is and isn't an ad.

This outrage originally stemmed from a business in Cornwall, who was shocked to find out that the Food Review Club had emailed them saying

that it would cost them £750 for a visit, which was 50 % off the original price because Matt was in the local area.

Oh, how nice of them, just the £750.

The owner of the business said, it does feel like there's a huge injustice and it's a proper insult.

I do think the guy is a complete phony.

And that's a quote from me that isn't swearing.

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It's so misleading and if he's getting paid for it, it should be disclosed.

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Paid adverts are fine and promotions are great, but this guy makes it so disingenuous.

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Now of course, because Matt got caught out for doing paid reviews, it led people to assume that others could be doing the same, which led Danny to speak out about how it may affect the industry

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and reiterated that he would never do a paid review.

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This then led to Matt responding to Danny in a video a week later.

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Yes, you can book us in to visit a venue, but everything that happens after that point is off the table.

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What to think, what to order what to say what to score it is completely

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and utterly down to us this is something that's very very

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important to us now one particular video i want to address

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now to you guys is danny from rate my takeaway he uh has said a few things in

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that video some of which are strange some of

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which are very untrue and are hugely damaging what he said about us being neck

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and neck in the early days both of us have been doing this a long time is true he

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and his team at rate my takeaway blew up overnight on youtube

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and of course i was getting messages from people asking how

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that felt to see them explode

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and my honest answer at the time always maintained this after

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what he went through in his personal life i said it

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couldn't have happened to a better team our time will come i'm sure of it

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but for now let them have their flowers they smashed it they did a great job

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and they've got a great product our competitive jousting towards them is absolutely not bullying

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and never has been there's been times where we have desperately needed a table

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and chairs it happens all the time still to this day of course we can't now whip out a table and chair

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so we reference it tongue -in -cheek a bit of competitive

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sledging shall we say a bit of banter i come from

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a sporting background where that's normal certainly not bullying i've never

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been a bully i'm a big advocate for sticking up for

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people you know this danny first hand yeah i might be direct

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and a little bit clear with my words sometimes

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but i've got a really big heart and you know that

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so this narrative that I'm a pig who's stealing people's money is ridiculous.

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Bottom line here is you're massively jealous of his success, so you decided to start making digs at him.

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End of story.

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The James Corden of the food review scene.

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Ray, my takeaway and Gary eats is all you need.

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This dude can jog on.

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In a podcast interview, Danny addressed the drama and what he really thinks about the ethics behind getting paid to review.

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We're doing a review, so I'm going to go, I'm going to taste it, I'm going to give my opinion, and then i'm going to rate it out of 10 what i think it's worth out of 10

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so therefore we don't need payment for this

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because we knew we'd be getting the ad revenue from facebook from tiktok from youtube

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and we do money like

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that matt from food review club i've never personally spoken to

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the guy never spoken to him obviously no he is you know because me

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and matt we were level pegging on facebook you know one

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week i'd be in front one week he would he started five

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or six months before me we'd already got the facebook page

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so that gave us a bit of an advantage and

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that he you know he did really well to be fair

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you know he grew his following way back in the beginning

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and I used to watch his content so you know

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and he did his thing and I did mine

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and we just never never sort of crossed paths never spoke never did anything

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and then obviously somebody outed him in Cornwall for charging for reviews now I knew

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that he charged because let's be right I've been to some places

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that Matt's been and I've gone

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and they've gone oh you know I've walked in we walk in with a camera we're filming

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and then they'll go well how much do you want

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so I took the camera off

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and I wouldn't want nothing you know I'm going to pay

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for the oh no we'll give you the food for free

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and I insist in paying as well because you know they've got to earn a living.

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So I'm walking into this small business or this food business, no matter how big or small it is.

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And like you said, I'm going to make an impact.

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It's either going to be good or it's going to be bad for them.

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Right, it's going to be one or the other.

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In July 2025, the trifecta of British food reviewers, Danny, Gary Ease and Greeno Ease,

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went down to Padstow in Cornwall to do a review for the Rate My Takeaway channel at Rick Stein's fish

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and chip shop.

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However, when the video went up, the comments were filled with abuse i am brilliant friends with danny

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and i have got to tell you

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that i've done some filming with them in the past

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and i probably wouldn't do any filming with the team from

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rate my takeaway again in fact i can say i'm not

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going to do any filming with the team from rate my

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takeaway ever ever again i speak to danny a lot danny

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speaks to me a lot i went down to padstow done

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a video with danny on his channel cameraman danny myself greeno really good friend greeno

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and the video went up

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and in the comments section the abuse was like nothing i've ever seen before

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and i do mean ever directed towards me towards danny towards

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danny's wife towards greeno it was it was unbelievable i then contacted the team

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and i said look guys you're gonna have to sort this

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out you're gonna have to take these bad comments down they're not good they're not nice

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and they're not pleasant to read and i'm i'm really lucky on our channel the community page is absolutely fantastic nothing

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nothing we got a message back saying yeah we'll do something about it they didn't do anything about it.

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I'm resting my case.

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I'm not going to say any more.

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Just disappointed.

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On the 28th of August, 2025, unbeknownst to viewers at the time, the Raid My Takeaway channel will post its last video on the channel.

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The video in question was called This Texas Barbecue Was Insane.

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In the pinned comment below this video, Raid My Takeaway commented, All is not what it seems.

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You need to look through the allegations and see the bigger picture.

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Me and the cameraman never pushed Danny out or asked him to leave.

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So this is a big shock to us.

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We never asked for more money.

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From the very beginning of our relationship, before Danny's fame, we agreed to split the profits equally, and that never changed.

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Thank you for understanding and support.

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Sad emoji.

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On the 5th of September 2025, Danny uploaded a video to his channel that he has with his new partner, called Why I'm Quitting Rate My Takeaway.

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I can't go into too much detail right now, just that basically the relationship between myself the cameraman

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and the editor has now become untenable really i've always said

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that you know it's it's three of us

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that we split things equally what i mean by that is obviously

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that the monetary side of things is split equally i i should also be equal within the business

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but that's something

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that you know from from day one for whatever reasons i don't get access to certain things

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or you know i can't do this and it's something

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that we've you know between the three that we've battled in

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and around for four years

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but due to you know my recent health struggles mainly me

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mental health you know I did a video earlier on the

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year spoke about how I had a stroke the adverse effect

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that I had then with mental health with dealing with different

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things obviously I've suffered with mental health difficulties for for the last five five years now four

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or five years for for all different reasons but

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because of the relationship between me and the other two guys that that's deteriorated quite a bit.

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It's just got to the time where I just need to move on.

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Start your own channel.

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Run it your way.

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We'll be right behind you.

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The heart of the show was always your personality, not the food, the camera work or the editors.

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You're the reason people tuned in.

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That's why I've no doubt the channel's views will drop without you.

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And equally, any new channel you start will thrive.

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The subscribers will follow you wherever you go.

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No question about it.

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After Danny posted this video and announced his departure from Rate My Takeaway, the channel lost over 22 ,000 subscribers in the space of a week.

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After Danny told his side of the story, the Rate My Takeaway channel posted a number of statements trying to address the situation,

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except one post which was like an essay close to a thousand words in their community section, which somewhat addressed the situation.

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We want to take the time to explain everything properly, because so many of you have supported Rate My Takeaway from the very beginning.

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From day day one, the agreement was simple, and we would handle everything else behind the scenes.

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The filming, the editing, the uploading, the social media, and the overall growth of the platforms.

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At first, we uploaded the videos to Facebook, and people really enjoyed them.

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The videos were too long for that audience.

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But we weren't starting from scratch, we had already built up a strong following on Twitter long before YouTube, so we tried again there.

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The breakthrough moment came with the grandma's kitchen video.

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We posted it to Twitter, and it went viral.

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That one clip changed everything.

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People began flocking to the YouTube channel, and suddenly the project took on a life of its own.

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And this was never just a work thing.

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We become good friends with Danny.

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He often referred to us as family, and for a long time, it really felt that way.

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We laughed together, traveled together, shared meals together, and supported each other.

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That's why this happening now is so difficult.

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It doesn't just feel like the end of a working partnership, it also feels like the loss of a friendship we value deeply.

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Now Danny has chosen to step away and we respect that choice.

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We also need to be honest.

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We've asked him multiple times to film a farewell video

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so things could be explained properly to the audience

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but chose not to and when we suggested sitting down together in the same room

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and filming both sides for you all, he refused.

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We had hope for closure as a team but sadly it hasn't been possible.

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We've also been reading all your comments and we understand how people feel.

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We know the audience is here for Danny and we completely respect that.

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We're not expecting anyone to care about us in the same way, and that's okay.

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We understand why people see things the way they do, and we don't hold that against anyone.

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All we ask is that you understand we've never had bad intentions.

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The truth is, this whole situation has left us feeling a bit lost.

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And the hardest part is that, because we don't have the confidence to speak on camera ourselves, it probably looks even worse from the outside.

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That's why we've chosen to write all of this instead.

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It's the only way we feel that we can be fully honest and clear to you.

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As for what happens next, we don't know right now.

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Our main aim here is to simply make sure that the past is understood clearly.

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At the heart of it, we're just sad it's ended this way.

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We've poured years into Rate My Takeaway, and it hurts to feel like people might see us in the wrong line.

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You've written an essay, but never addressed the real issues.

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Access, transparency, money, and the van.

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All this backstory doesn't explain why Danny was locked out, or why the basics of running a business weren't in place.

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Not giving him access to the channel or the ability to remove comments himself is absurd.

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That's not partnership, that's control.

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And now it's backfired.

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A week later on the 8th of September, Danny posted a 36 minute long video explaining his entire story since the beginning of the channel.

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But more specifically, he recounted how it was never an issue about money and

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that the cameraman and editor wanted to manage Danny as a creator.

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So I thought I'd just come on today because obviously since i put

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that video out caravan editor have put a put a you

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know put a video out sent it down they put a

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couple of statements out edited them you know things are a little bit unclear having to come to

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that decision was a very big thing now there's just a couple of points

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that i want to clarify okay just to make very clear

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because people are getting a little bit mixed open assumptions

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which is fine so the money situation with within rate my takeaway nobody got greedy all right

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so it's never been an issue me stepping away has never

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been an issue with the money what it was is the reason why we did that

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and we split it three ways i were told i'd be an equal partner within the company rate my takeaway

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so when we first went viral i got made an offer by by the two lads

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and the offer was i could have 50 of the ad revenue

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or i could be an equal partner within the company obviously i chose to be an equal partner

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because i knew that you know there's a lot more worth in

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that i knew that we'd build something amazing together

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which is what we've done but over the years what happened was

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when we come to this agreement the the guys cameraman the

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editor i'm going to call them by the name now

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because obviously you know some of you know

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so the cameraman is tom the editor is josh

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so tom sort of in charge he's always been in charge

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what they said to me was is they wanted to manage me as a creator all right

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so to become my manager now we had an issue where

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we got contacted by lifted entertainment lifted entertainment wanted to put a version of rate my takeaway

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or something different on tv at that point that's

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when we started talking about contracts and this

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and the other now i was promised well what tom said

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to me was nobody is filming anymore nobody is doing anything

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else on rate my takeaway until i sign this management contract

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now the agreement was they look after me outside the rate

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my takeaway they manage me as an influencer they do their very best to make sure

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that i get jobs opportunities

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and create a platform for me now what they did is they helped me with a facebook page

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but they have ownership of that they took ownership of

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that then just concentrated on rate my takeaway

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and nothing else lifted entertainment sadly didn't want to work with tom

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which is what the guy said to me he said he

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was just just wasn't a right fit for them now at

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this time they were asking me to sign this contract i

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were promised a third of the rate my takeaway business i were promised part of rate my plate

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which is one of their other companies and

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that we'd possibly do something on that so i promised all this

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but i've got to sign this contract first just to put it into context at

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that time it was about nine weeks after my ex -partner passed away

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and i was there with three kids at home i just

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had a lump of money going to my bank from youtube

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which was phenomenal

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which would have been probably four to five months wages what

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i would have got before thinking to myself what am i

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going to do i thought this is going to look after my family i was highly sedated on antidepressants

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because of the situation

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and you know me thinking what i'm going to do with

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kids now i'm not using this as an excuse i'm just putting into context how i was at the time

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so i just went with it i signed the contract the

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thing is i never got anything from them regarding Rate My Takeaway once I'd done that and never got access to things.

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Danny also addressed his previous goodbye video and explained how after giving in his resignation,

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within hours, the money was split equally and he was then locked out the Rate My Takeaway emails and the team van.

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I'd actually handed my resignation in Thursday the week before and I'm going to be honest, within that week, as soon as I put it in that Thursday night,

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within three hours, I was locked out of the email, could no longer get onto the Rate My Takeaway email.

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Within five hours bank account was emptied split between the three of us right

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so they didn't take the money they split it between the three of us

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and then on the tuesday the van was taken from the secure compound

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that we keep it in now we got the van through the funds

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that we'd earned through rate my takeaway through the sponsorship deal

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with uber that's why we did the sponsorship deal with uber

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and that would pay for the van i've then been told

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because i'm the registered keeper of the van i've then been

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told by tom persistently he's not telling me where the van

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is i've got no claim over the van i'm not having the van

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or i'm not having anything to do with the van

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which i think is unfair he then said about legal action

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and that i need to get a solicitor to contact him within seven days

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and then repeatedly said that there's going to be it's inevitable

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that legal action is going to come

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so within my notice what i put in there was

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that i was willing to film 12 episodes

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which is what i filmed per month and

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that one of them i would like to be a farewell episode

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because of the actions that they took straight away draining the bank account hiding the van

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when they drain the bank account that means

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that the tax on the van wasn't paid now I know

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that there was an issue somebody were commenting about the van being untaxed

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and again it's not down to me this is you know Tom saw this out

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and he'd not taxed the van at one point but it's me

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that owns the van so I ended up getting a fine

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and we got a fine to pay

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because the van were untaxed for a couple of months in

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my head I own a third of rate my takeaway the

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brand business this is what I've signed up for the contract between us for the management

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that died two years ago because they didn't fulfill what they were supposed to fulfill

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and there was a clause in there to say that

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if they lapsed for 30 days the contract become void

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and it had lapsed for more than 30 days so the contract become void.

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We then spent ages trying to sort out a new contract and they weren't having it.

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We did a deal with Estabulo for a sponsorship

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or should I say I brokered the deal afterwards we were sat in in one of the guy's restaurants

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and we're having a bit of food and I was like guys that's good

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that you know we've got a two -year deal you know

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this is really good this money's going to help us it's

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going to help us to improve the channel now what was said to me by tom was right well

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if you want that signing you need to sign a contract with us

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because they are in control and they have always been in control

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and they have just basically had me doing the filming

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and they've just controlled everything

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so you know what they say in those statements believe me is

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so far from the truth it's unbelievable on the 28th of october 2025 danny

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and gary announced that they would be combining forces

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and launching a brand new channel called danny

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and gary right let's call the mustard here let's go to

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the crack oh you guys there's been loads of messages aren't

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there guys saying absolutely loads what are you two doing danny

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go on you know don't go with him he's gonna wreck

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it danny get out there be yourself don't do it with gary

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so do you know what that's what we've decided we've decided

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that is it we're gonna listen to you see you later

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danny all the best pal nice to meet you come back here when have we ever listen to anyone.

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The next day after this video was published, Danny gave an update on the future of the Rate My Takeaway Kitchen at Hoddersfield Shopping Centre.

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Now then guys, how are you doing?

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So it's with much regret that I inform you that as from Monday the 10th of November, Rate My Takeaway Kitchen will no longer be operating inside the Paco Shopping Centre.

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That doesn't mean that the independent businesses there are going to close, they are going to remain open

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and they're still going to be serving you some absolutely fantastic food

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so please guys show them the support like you have done

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since we've been there the last 12 months we just want to thank all the customers all the people

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that have traveled far and wide to visit all the vendors

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that have come that have gone that are still there we do appreciate your support

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so thank you very much take care the story of Ray My Takeaway is one of those rare internet journeys

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that felt genuinely wholesome.

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A bloke with a camping chair, a tray table, and a passion for good food captured the heart of millions.

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However, like anything in social media and the business world, money and control take center stage.

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But whether you agree with Danny or the cameraman and the editor, one thing is for certain, is that the audience will always be there for Danny.

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Anyway, if you've made it this far, thank you so much for watching this video, it really does mean a lot to me.

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If you want to listen to me on the go, all of my videos are now available on Spotify, so make sure to go follow me over there, along with my Instagram at Fat Mima.

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And while you're still here, like this video, subscribe and comment below what you want to see next.

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As always, I'll see you in the next one.

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Vocabulary and speaking notes for this lesson

This video has 408 sentences and 5500 words to shadow. The speech runs for 25:03. The speaker talks fast, about 220 words per minute, so expect linked and reduced sounds. 85% of the words are among the 3,000 most common in English; the rest is worth studying before you start.

Key vocabulary in this video

15 words from the video worth learning, with pronunciation and meaning:

Word	Pronunciation	Meaning
equally adverb	/ˈiːkwəli/	In an equal manner; in equal shares or proportion; with equal and impartial justice; evenly
viral adjective	/ˈvaɪɹəl/	Of or relating to a biological virus.
creator noun	/kɹiːˈeɪ̯təː/	Something or someone which creates or makes something.
sadly adverb	/ˈsædli/	In a sad manner; sorrowfully.
upload verb	/ˈʌpˌloʊd/	To transfer data to a computer on a network, especially to a server on the Internet.
sponsorship noun		The state or practice of being a sponsor.
subscriber noun	/səbˈskɹaɪbɚ/	A person who subscribes to a publication or a service.
meal noun	/ˈmiːl/	Food that is prepared and eaten, usually at a specific time, and usually in a comparatively large quantity.
partnership noun	/ˈpɑɹtnɚʃɪp/	The state of being associated with a partner.
awful adjective	/ˈɔːfʊl/	Very bad.
shock noun	/ʃɔk/	A sudden, heavy impact.
ownership noun	/ˈoʊnɚʃɪp/	The state of having complete legal control of something; possession; proprietorship.
fame noun	/feɪm/	One's reputation.
edit verb	/ˈɛdɪt/	To change a text, or a document.
controversy noun	/kənˈtɹɒv.ə.si/	A debate or discussion of opposing opinions; (generally) strife.

Phrasal verbs you will hear

Word	Pronunciation	Meaning
come around verb	/kʌ.məˈɹaʊnd/	To change one's mind, especially to begin to agree or appreciate what one was reluctant to accept at first.
go up verb		To move upwards.
locked out verb		Not locked in (focused), unfocused.
blow up verb		To explode or be destroyed by explosion.
build up verb		To erect; to construct.
come back verb		To return to a place.
come down verb		To descend, fall down, collapse.
end up verb		To bring to a conclusion.

Pronunciation to watch

The speaker uses 143 contractions and reduced forms, such as I'm, I've, we've. Say them the short way, as you hear them.

The “th” sounds: ethics /ˈɛθ.ɪks/, enthusiasm /ɪnˈθuziæzəm/, breakthrough /ˈbɹeɪk.θɹuː/, thrive /θɹajv/
The “sh” and “zh” sounds: partnership /ˈpɑɹtnɚʃɪp/, shock /ʃɔk/, ownership /ˈoʊnɚʃɪp/, resignation /ˌɹɛz.ɪɡˈneɪ.ʃən/, passion /ˈpæʃən/
Long words — get the stress right: controversy /kənˈtɹɒv.ə.si/, unbelievable /ˌʌnbɪˈliːvəbl̩/, resignation /ˌɹɛz.ɪɡˈneɪ.ʃən/, ridiculous /ɹɪˈdɪk.jə.ləs/, disappointed /ˌdɪsəˈpɔɪnɪd/

How to practise with this video

Listen to the whole video once without speaking and note the words you do not know.
Start at 0.75× speed, shadow it sentence by sentence, then go back to normal speed once it feels easy.
Record yourself and compare with the original, paying attention to words like equally, viral, creator.

Grammar in this video

The structures the speaker uses most, with the exact words from the video:

Structure	In the video
Present perfect continuous have/has been + -ing — an action that started earlier and is still going on	have been doing · We've also been reading
Present perfect have/has + past participle — a past action that still matters now	has been shrouded · have always been · have just basically had
Passive voice be + past participle — the focus is on what happens, not who does it	has been shrouded · was classified · was uploaded
Relative clauses who / which + clause — extra information about a person or thing	visit, which was · post which was

What is the Shadowing Technique?

Shadowing is a science-backed language learning technique originally developed for professional interpreter training and popularized by polyglot Dr. Alexander Arguelles. The method is simple but powerful: you listen to native English audio and immediately repeat it out loud — like a shadow following the speaker with just a 1–2 second delay. Unlike passive listening or grammar drills, shadowing forces your brain and mouth muscles to simultaneously process and reproduce real speech patterns. Research shows it significantly improves pronunciation accuracy, intonation, rhythm, connected speech, listening comprehension, and speaking fluency — making it one of the most effective methods for IELTS Speaking preparation and real-world English communication.

Shadowing technique: read the full step-by-step guide →

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