Five-time Ballon d’Or winner Cristiano Ronaldo has chatted with partner Georgina Rodriguez, looked back on some of his Uefa Euro goals and spoken about how he deals with adversity and pressure in a new YouTube channel which has earned more than 21 million subscribers in under 24 hours.
The all-time leading scorer in international football launched the channel on Wednesday with a set of 11 glossily-produced videos, including one in which he invited fans to “discover everything” about himself and Rodriguez, who has been in a relationship with the Portugal captain since 2016 and is mother to two of his five children.
“You’re the first person I had to invite to start the channel,” Ronaldo tells Rodriguez in an interview-style video featuring the pair using microphones on a sofa as voiceovers relay their words.
“This is a project we’ve been thinking about for many years. Now we’ve had the opportunity and it’s become real. I’m very, very happy and very excited.
“It’s a way for me to be closer to my fans, to my people. So many years of football – it’s an ideal platform for me to be able to share a little of my life, my things and really original, organic content.”
— Cristiano Ronaldo (@Cristiano) August 15, 2024
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Ronaldo YouTube: ‘Guaranteed success’
Al-Nassr striker Ronaldo has the world’s most popular Instagram account, with more than 636 million followers on the social media platform.
Buenos Aires-born Rodriguez has more than 62 million Instagram followers, often sharing photos of herself and her family on beaches and yachts.
“It’s a promising project with guaranteed success, like everything you do,” the 30-year-old told Ronaldo. “With your dedication and that magnetism that you have that attracts people, and that curiosity you bring out in your fans and the whole world, it’s a guaranteed success – I have no doubt.
“We are real people; we feel and we suffer everything. We want to show them a private side that they haven’t had the chance to see yet: that side of you that I’m sure they will love. Those of us who are close to you know that side.”
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Cristiano Youtube ‘huge’
In one video asking Ronaldo to pick between a selection of sports and sporting icons, the 39-year-old’s choices include the NBA over NFL, UFC over boxing, tennis over golf, Michael Jordan over Steph Curry and Tom Brady over Tiger Woods, although he is unable to decide between tennis greats Novak Djokovic and Rafael Nadal.
“I also count on your support because it’s a project that’s pretty huge, just as you have a ton of followers who are guys, but also a load of women,” Ronaldo tells Rodriguez.
“I’m very proud to share these moments with you on the set, to have fun, to have a good time, but also to show our fans that we have a healthy relationship.”
