The pyjama-clad teacher poking fun at the super-rich

Shabaz Ali is famed for his TikTok videos targeting ludicrous displays of wealth. He tells Zoë Beaty why he decided to take a stand against the fashion for conspicuous overconsumption

On today’s episode of I’m Rich, You’re Poor, Shabaz Ali is taking a trip down memory lane – or, rather, through the hilly streets of Blackburn, where he grew up and later became a social media sensation. It’s unusual for this teacher turned online star to start to look back – quite the opposite. He’s risen through the ranks of TikTok by giving his 1.9 million followers a much-needed reality check.

Better known by his handle @shabazsays, Ali is loved for his “I’m rich, you’re poor” deadpan takedowns of the super-rich influencers showing off their “hard-earned generational wealth”, all delivered from his bed and dispatched with a dry northern wit. He’s basically a star now – but, as anyone who’s followed him for any length of time will understand, the most surprising thing about meeting Ali in the flesh is that he’s upright and dressed. He only left his duvet today, he says, to pick me up from Blackburn station. “After this, I’m going straight back to bed too,” he laughs.

It’s where he accidentally launched his second career as an influencer when he arbitrarily posted a video lying on his side, snuggled in a hooded onesie, talking to the camera as though on FaceTime with a friend. “People loved it because they were like, this is what I’m doing [scrolling in bed],” he says. “I think people just assume I’m in there all the time. But I do get out sometimes – I have to work.”