KSI, one of the world’s most popular YouTubers, is exiting his collective The Sidemen.

In a video titled ‘I’m leaving the Sidemen’ posted on YouTube to his 18.4 million subscribers, KSI, real name Olajide Olatunji, said he has been “pulled in a lot of directions” over the past few years but the “decision is completely my own.”

Questions were initially raised online over whether the video was fake but it has since been verified and the rest of the collective posted a statement saying they were “sad to share the news” that KSI had “decided not to continue.” “This came as a surprise to us and we know it will be an adjustment for you, but we’ve got lots of exciting stuff planned that we can’t wait to share,” they added.

KSI said “nothing bad has happened” between him and the other six as he thanked them. He has in the past few years been judging ITV competition show Britain’s Got Talent, launched businesses, headlined crossover boxing events and bought a minority stake in a soccer team, Dagenham & Redbridge Football Club.

He is undoubtedly the most recognizable face from a collective that is seen as one of the most popular on YouTube in the world. They have 140 million YouTube subscribers between them and have been making videos for more than 10 years.

In recent times, The Sidemen have overlapped more with traditional TV. KSI has a more mainstream following since landing his role on Britain’s Got Talent, while two seasons of The Sidemen’s Inside reality show plus an American version have aired on Netflix. Last week, we revealed Sidemen Presents: SideMenu, a four-part culinary competition series, will get an unusual staggered launch on both Prime Video and YouTube. KSI is not involved with that one.