YouTuber, Influencer, TikToker and… MEP. As much as one would expect that these qualities are unrelated to the parliamentary position in the European Parliament, Phidias Panagiotou had a different opinion. It is about the 24-year-old Youtuber, who ran as a candidate alone in Cyprus and was finally elected.

Phidias Panagiotou has over 2.6 million subscribers on his YouTube channel and announced his candidacy in the European elections, wearing a tie, suit and boxer shorts.

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A post shared by Fidias Cyprus (@fidiascyprus)

He explained the reasons for this decision in April, with his father who is a priest by his side and wearing a red bow tie. He stated that he wishes to get involved in politics to change the bad texts and that “if you are not satisfied with the things around you and you want them to change, you have to be the change”.

He said that many people think that he is not a politician and he himself admitted that he has no idea about politics and knows nothing about the European Union, but in a few months he will ask, read and learn.

His YouTube channel contains videos in which he poses various challenges to himself and films his reaction. These are videos with titles like ‘I Survived 10 Days Buried Alive’, which has 2.1 million views.

The hug with Elon Musk

In one of his self-challenging videos, he slept in a sleeping bag for three months outside the SpaceX offices, until he managed to hug Elon Musk.

Check out this Instagram post.

This post was shared by Fidias Panayiotou (@fidias0)

Also, as he revealed recently, he won a Lamborghini from the famous YouTuber Mr Beast, after he stubbornly accepted the challenge of holding onto a part of the super sports car for more than 70 hours, which he eventually sold for $240,000.

His first reaction to his election

Phidias Panagiotou, upon hearing of his electoral victory, formed a heart, which he dedicated to those who voted for him.

Specifically, he reported on the election results after the announcement of the exit polls in Cyprus:

“Today is a historic day not only for Cyprus, but also for the whole world. Today’s event ladies and gentlemen of the parties, I want you to take it as a “bell” that rings to modernize, to remember that you serve the people and not your personal and party interests”.

“I will be an MEP for all the people of Cyprus and Europe” he also declared, adding: “I will try to be the best and most useful Cypriot MEP”.