- TOM PARKER BOWLES meets Spudman: Why you should believe the hype that has people travelling across the world and queueing for hours to eat a £5 baked potato from a van
- Ben Newman, who has become a sensation, may have to move his business
- READ MORE: TikTokers have souped up the humble jacket potato with fine dining fillings
A beloved TikTok chef known as the Spudman is facing eviction from his pitch – despite amassing an online following of millions of fans.
Tamworth Borough Council wants to remove him from his spot in the town centre to plant flowerbeds.
The Mail’s food critic Tom Parker Bowles visited the Spudman last year and urged his readers to ‘believe the hype’ about the viral chef. Read his review here.
Ben Newman, 39, who sells £5 jacket potatoes from his trailer in Tamworth, Staffordshire, has gained 4million followers on TikTok – where he shares clips about his business.
More than 72,000 fans have signed a petition supporting the father-of-nine.
On Tuesday morning, he posted a TikTok video discussing a meeting planned several hours later with the council.
Speaking in the clip, Ben, who is undergoing dialysis for a kidney condition, said: ‘So it’s past two in the morning, and I got after up about half an hour ago, and I can’t get back to sleep.
‘So I thought I’d pull my thoughts out into the camera for a minute. Got this big meeting with the council tomorrow, [I will have to] sit there with a load of suits and defend my business.
‘It’s nuts that [it] has even got to this point that we’ve had to do all this just to keep our pitch, keep our contract and keep the shipping container going on there that we were promised by the previous council.’
While many people are supporting the vendor and TikTok star, he revealed that he has received ‘a fair bit of hate online’ and been accused of ‘kicking my toys out of pram for no reason’.
Ben Newman (pictured), 39, who sells £5 jacket potatoes from his trailer in Tamworth, Staffordshire, has gained 4million followers on TikTok, where he shares clips about his business
But he now faces eviction from his pitch despite amassing an online following of millions of fans. Pictured: Customers gather outside Ben’s trailer in Tamworth
‘It’s my livelihood. It’s what feeds my children, keeps a roof over their head and stuff like that. Lot of people also said just, you know, up and go somewhere else. I don’t want to.
‘I love Tamworth. I love the people of Tamworth, and I want to be on our pitch for a long time to come and doing nice things for the people.
‘So I’m going to go into that meeting tomorrow, and I’m not going to take anything less than what we’ve asked for, because I don’t think I’m being unfair.
In a video posted on Facebook last week, Ben admitted he was ‘frustrated’ with the situation and was struggling to come to terms with the councils’ plans.
‘I have lost my pitch to a flowerbed. A flowerbed is more important than me,’ he said.
‘I feel so destroyed by this. The amount we’ve done and that’s what I get – a flower bed on my pitch.’
Ben said that while the council had offered him other places to go, his current pitch is ‘where I have built my business and that’s where everyone knows I am’.
He added that ‘a thousand other towns’ would love the footfall they bring.
The star chef also revealed when he bought the pitch back in 2003 for £100,000, it was sold to him as a transferable asset – meaning it could be passed on to his son or sold it on.
But, following changes to his contract, it is no longer transferable and he would have to apply for the pitch every 12 months to retain it.
Tucking in: Tom Parker Bowles with Ben Newman at his food truck
TikTok sensation Spudman with one of his famous jacket potatoes. Spudman, whose mouth-watering loaded jacket potatoes fired him to internet stardom, has been booted off his patch by the council
Ben Newman (pictured, left), 39, has attracted fans from all over the world to try his £5 spuds
Ben said he had been offered a new pitch in front of Editha’s church, which he says will only cause further issues ‘in the long run’.
He told BBC Radio 5 Live: ‘They (the council) want to put us right smack bang in front of (St Editha’s) church which I don’t think is going to go down very well in the long run.
‘You want to take pictures of the church and not a big catering van. I know we like putting our face on a few things but I think our original pitch was the best spot for us, that’s where we would like to be.’
In a statement, the Labour-led Tamworth Council said it was aware of the issues raised by Ben and other local residents and was keen to discuss them further with the spud seller.
The council’s leader, Carol Dean, said: ‘We have seen and read the concerns that have been raised over the weekend around the revised layout to St Editha’s Square as part of our plans to create a more welcoming public space for everyone to enjoy.
‘We appreciate the strength of feeling from the community and we are listening.
‘We are seeking a meeting with Spud Man as soon as possible so we can consider the issues raised together.
‘We are keen to engage with all traders and businesses, including Spud Man, as we work together to protect the town for future generations.’
Mr Newman, instantly recognisable by his trademark pink-mohawk, said: ‘We are getting kicked off our patch by the council’
A concept design of the council’s plans to redevelop St Editha’s Square. The flower bed is being erected in the same place as his current pitch
The flower bed will cover much of the area where Ben currently sells his spuds
A snaking queue gathers outside Spudman’s food stall in St Editha’s square, Tamworth
The Change.org petition states that the loss of Spudman would cause a ‘considerable upheaval and loss of business’.
‘Spudman, beloved in our community for years, has faithfully served customers at his original location. It’s also worth noting that small businesses, such as Spudman’s, hold significant importance to local economies,’ it reads.
Tamworth Borough Council first requested Spudman relocate to the main high street in June – a move the potato chef is unhappy about as he does not want to upset other traders with his own high footfall.
Mr Newman, instantly recognisable by his trademark pink-mohawk, said at the time: ‘We are getting kicked off our patch by the council.
‘I love this spot, by the church, on the square, absolutely beautiful and we’re getting kicked off. We knew it was coming because they are redeveloping all the square, we didn’t realise it was going to happen this soon.
‘Where are we going to go and what are we going to do, I don’t know just yet.
‘It will be better in the long run and we will be coming back but what do we do in the meantime? Can’t believe I’m getting kicked off.’
Fans of Spudman were left devastated by the news but pleaded the social media star to take his potatoes on tour.
Mr Newman has previously revealed the heartfelt reason behind his rockstar look after suffering his own health battles. The jacket potato king got the punk hairstyle to raise money for kidney research and it’s something that has stuck ever since
He suffered three failed kidney transplants – in 2014, 2016 and 2019 – and will be on dialysis for the rest of his life
Karen Whipday said: ‘Go on tour, take Spudman around the country and share the love.’ Lee Smethurst added: ‘Do they know who you are?’
Emily Lord posted: ‘Go on tour round the UK and make videos.’
Vixie Massey said: ‘What’s wrong with the pavement now? Council should offer you a different plot.’
Tamworth Borough Council has been approached for comment.
Mr Newman has previously revealed the heartfelt reason behind his rockstar look after suffering his own health battles.
The jacket potato king got the punk hairstyle to raise money for kidney research and it’s something that has stuck ever since.
His business has exploded since he started uploading videos onto TikTok last year just to ‘keep an eye on my kids’ and the son of a potato merchant is regularly mobbed when fans see him walking through the town.
It’s beyond his wildest dreams and something that seemed unimaginable when he started the business under a different name two decades ago, aged just 18.
He now sells up to 1,000 meals a day priced between £4 and £5 from inside his tight-knit cream-coloured trailer.
He suffered three failed kidney transplants – in 2014, 2016 and 2019 – and will be on dialysis for the rest of his life.
Although he has been asked if he would tour the UK, Ben is adamant about bringing more trade to Tamworth, as well as promoting other jacket potato traders across the country
Ben, also known as @spudarmy on TikTok, has amassed a huge following of 1.9million by sharing his culinary tips – often handing out free jackets to a few lucky customers
Customers have been flocking from as far as the USA, Australia, New Zealand and Malaysia to his humble jacket potato van
People have been flocking from as far as the USA, Australia, New Zealand and Malaysia to his humble jacket potato van after his videos took the internet by storm racking up 2.6 million followers and 41.6 million likes on TikTok.
‘It’s all been beyond my wildest dreams,’ he said.
‘I just try and have fun with the videos. People seem to enjoy the livestreams but I enjoy filming people’s responses when I give them a free spud.
‘I’ve seen the Binley Mega Chippy comparison but I like to feel we’ve worked a little harder than that.
‘They were a meme and it happened by chance. We know it will drop off but we want to keep going for as long as we can and to put Tamworth firmly back on the map.
‘If we do well, so does the town. It’s all about promoting local businesses and also every jacket potato seller out there.
‘There is one in your own town, go and support them.
‘My grandad was a farmer and my dad was a jacket potato merchant, I think they would be proud.’
He has no idea how he became an unlikely tourist attraction for young people after originally joining TikTok to keep an eye on his children.
Since then, his simple videos of him sharing culinary tips and daily life as a jacket potato vendor on his trailer have exploded in popularity.
Mr Newman has even earned his own personal fanbase in Hawaii and admits he is still baffled by his newfound fame and becoming a millennial craze.
