Teens take TikTok by storm with Romford ice cream videos

Two teenagers have taken social media by storm with videos centred around their very own ice cream van.

Romford’s very own TikTok stars Joshua Pattrick and friend Ted Barnes have seen their ‘King Whippy’ account generate millions of views in just under two months.

Their trademark white and pink ice cream van tours around Havering and other parts of Essex.

Their videos feature the likes of ‘Elvis’ and regular people sharing moments of joy as they tuck into their ice cream in the sweltering summer.

@romfordicecream Elvis came down!! #essex#nolikeynolightey#romford#bosh#icecream#fyo ♬ original sound – KingWhippy

Josh and Ted took over the van from Ted’s parents about six months ago.

Often found in Romford’s South Street and in Harold Hill, Josh said business has gone through the roof since their TikTok success.

But more notably, it has made them into celebrities of sorts among school kids.

@romfordicecream Comment where we should go next #fyp#nolikeynolightey#romford#essex#kingwhippy#schoollife#college#uk#global ♬ original sound – KingWhippy

He added: “Whenever we go around Essex, people recognise us. They greet us. People ask for pictures. Me and Ted are just so thrilled.

“We did know we will do well as we have a lot of nice people supporting us. But we never expected it to do this well.”

They now go around different schools to not just sell ice cream but interact with young people their age and include them in their world.

Josh said: “The response we get is so lovely. It goes beyond selling ice cream. It is very social. It is very inclusive. We often get messages with people telling us about their day in school and classrooms.”

Romford has been in the news for knife crime involving youth but he believes the town can also be a “good place to be”.

He said he wants to make his customers see its value.

Josh added: “We want people to come down to Romford not just for shopping but seeing it like a good place.”

Young people his age, he said, can often lose hope and direction. He said he would urge them to “look after themselves” and “work hard”.

The King Whippy van in its trademark white and pink colours (Image: King Whippy)

“Life is a marathon not a sprint I often say”, Josh shared. “There is a lot of opportunities in life.

“Seventeen-year-olds are often scared to show their face on social media.

“But I would say take the risk. If we hadn’t tried doing this, 1.3 million people would not have seen the van.”

Having tasted success online, Josh says they aim to venture into creating more lifestyle content in the coming months to become bigger social media stars.

Revealing his plans for the future, he said: “The van is brilliant and it is our trademark, but we want to become personalities. We want to continue making people laugh and enjoy our videos.”