They have five Christmas number ones and have over 13 million social media followers. Eight children’s books have been written by them, and charity donations totaling incredibly close to a million dollars have been raised. However, Nottingham-based content creators Mark Hoyle and LadBaby’s Rox have humble beginnings.
When our first child was born, Mark, 38, says, “We had just £20 to our name at one point.” Prior to joining advertising, he and Rox the Hoyles had worked in advertising. Phoenix, a nine-year-old, and Kobe, a seven-year-old, are the couple’s two children. We’ll never forget how awful it feels to be without everything. When Phoenix was born, Rox had to give up her job because Rox was the breadwinner. That put us in a financial strain. The bill payments were difficult for us. At the end of the month, when everything came out, we had practically nothing.
In 2016, Mark launched LadBaby, a funny video production company. The popularity of the platform has increased exponentially. He claims, “I was already wrapping Rox up, and I just do it on camera.”
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Indeed, two years later in 2018, supported by legions of fans, the couple recorded and released We Built This City, a charity parody of Starship’s song, with lyrics changed to “we built this city on sausage rolls”. It was the first of five consecutive Christmas number ones for them, all of which donated proceeds to The Trussell Trust food banks.
In 2021 came a charity collaboration with Elton John and Ed Sheeran: Sausage Rolls For Everyone. “Elton and Ed were amazing. They totally understood what we were doing, they understood the importance of the charity. They came along and were willing to sing silly lyrics that we’d written about sausage rolls. And you know, it’s quite a moment. It’s something you never forget. I watched The Lion King all the time growing up, and here I was singing with the man who did all those songs I loved as a child.”
They still have a relationship with Ed. He has invited us to a few football games together over the past few years to watch his team play my team, Mark says.
Will there be more number ones? “Never say never,” says Rox, 41. “We’re only a couple of years away from our 10 year anniversary. I’m trying to get hold of Mariah Carey. She’s never had a Christmas number one. I think this is the collab that the world needs. All I Want For Christmas is Sausage Rolls.” Mark adds: “I’d love to see Mariah look at a sausage roll and wonder what the hell it is. They don’t have ’em in America.”
You have to believe that the family will be playing their own music on Christmas Day, but don’t forget Mariah. “Why not, hey? Watching yourself is cringe, isn’t it? particularly because I’m unable to sing. However, the kids enjoy watching the videos. They dance and sing along when we set them up on the television in the room.
Your own music video, or five, is a really cool thing to have as a family. Rox goes on to say, “We never anticipated what they did.” Because the first song never reached number one at the beginning, I have a soft spot for it. We assisted in getting the song’s original authors a number one.
However, Mark and Rox have just released a new range of sauces, Dinner’s Ready, with flavors influenced by some of Britain’s favorite meals, keeping LadBaby’s attention in the kitchen and away from the studio. There is indeed sausage roll sauce. The Trussell Trust will receive a donation of 10p per sale. “Yes, we’ve already raised a lot of money.” However, it saddens me that things are still like in the UK. And that’s the heartbreaking part. According to Rox, “Food banks are the busiest they’ve ever been.”
There is a myth about the people who use food banks. Not just the homeless, though. People of average income cannot afford their bills. And it’s not their fault because everything has increased and taxes have increased. According to Mark, “There is evidence that many food banks have had to alter their opening times so that customers can go there before 9 and after 5 so they can go there around work.”
Rox and Mark, long-time supporters of the Mirror’s Pride of Britain, are future-proofing for the children too. “It’s a family business that hopefully one day we can hand down to our kids to give them a helping hand,” says Mark.
The couple anticipates Christmas. “I enjoy cooking, but I’m not good.” I’ve been waiting ten years, but Rox says she’s finally done it. You’ll be surprised if you see that I also make sausage rolls, Mark adds. It’s a little tradition since I used to do it on Christmas Day with my parents. I think my life seems to revolve around sausage rolls”!
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