Nick Shirley is 24 years old. He was born on April 4, 2002, grew up in Farmington, Utah, and graduated from Farmington High School in 2020 before leaving for a two-year Latter-day Saint mission in Santiago, Chile.
- Born
- April 4, 2002
- Age
- 24 on October 29, 2026
- Legal name
- Nicholas Shirley, as filed in his federal lawsuit
- Hometown
- Farmington, Utah
- High school
- Farmington High School, class of 2020
- Church
- The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints
- Mission
- Santiago, Chile, late 2021 to 2023
- Languages
- English and Spanish
- YouTube channel created
- April 26, 2015
- Breakout video
- Minnesota child care video, December 26, 2025, posted at 23
How old is Nick Shirley?
Nick Shirley turned 24 on April 4, 2026. The Hindustan Times reported his birth date as April 4, 2002, and every dated report of his age since fits it. KSL TV called him 18 when he graduated in May 2020. At a White House roundtable on October 8, 2025, he introduced himself with “I’m 23 years old.” And when President Trump handed him a $10,000 check in the Oval Office on October 20, 2026, Deseret News gave his age as 24. Trump made a point of it, calling him “a very young guy.”
That means he was 23 when he posted the Minnesota video that made him a national name, and still 23 when he testified before a House Judiciary subcommittee on January 21, 2026. He was 24 when he testified to a Senate committee on July 15, 2026. His legal first name is Nicholas, the name he used as plaintiff in his September 2026 lawsuit against California officials.
Where is Nick Shirley from?
Nick Shirley is from Farmington, Utah, a Davis County city north of Salt Lake City. Deseret News calls him a Farmington native, and at a Harvard Republican Club event in September 2026 he talked about growing up in a Latter-day Saint household, The Harvard Crimson reported. His faith is covered in more depth in Nick Shirley’s religion.
His reporting now takes him far from home. Deseret News listed Cuba, Brazil, Ukraine, Greenland, the United Kingdom and El Salvador among his stops in June 2026, yet the paper still described him as a Utahn that October.
Nick Shirley at Farmington High School
Nick Shirley began posting one vlog a week as a sophomore at Farmington High School, KSL TV reported on May 26, 2020, as he finished with the class of 2020. “I started as a sophomore and I was like, I’m going to take this by storm,” he told the station. His first vlog showed him running a marathon with no training. He shot all his own footage and spent hours editing, KSL said, and by graduation he had about 80 vlogs and 7,000 YouTube followers. He also played football and ran track.
The station ran through his stunts, plus a softer one: he raised money to give two of his teachers a $1,000 bonus each. His own favorite was the time “I flew to New York without telling my parents when I was 16.” Speaking to College Republicans at the University of Utah in April 2026, he said that trip taught him “that you could just go do things.” His mother, Brooke Shirley, told KSL she was proud of him, if not of every stunt.
Nick Shirley’s early YouTube years
Nick Shirley’s YouTube channel dates to April 26, 2015, according to its About page, but it took off with pranks. CNN described his early uploads as shock content. At 17 he snuck into YouTuber Jake Paul’s wedding and posted “SNEAKING INTO JAKE PAULS WEDDING not clickbait” on July 29, 2019, a stunt KSL said won him thousands of followers. At 18 he filmed in Washington, D.C., on January 6, 2021, Deseret News reported.
Nick Shirley’s mission in Chile and his Spanish
Nick Shirley put YouTube on hold in December 2021, announcing a two-year mission for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in Santiago, Chile, CNN and NPR reported. He was 19 when he left and came home in 2023, according to Deseret News.
Spanish is now part of how he works. “I speak fluent Spanish,” he told the Shawn Ryan Show in January 2026, explaining how he talked with locals in El Salvador. On the same show he said many of the people he spent time with on his mission were Venezuelan migrants, “some of the nicest people I’d ever met.”
When Nick Shirley started making political videos
Nick Shirley started making political videos in 2023, after he got back from Chile. He spent a month power washing homes and made $10,000, then went to Turning Point USA’s AmericaFest in Arizona to interview attendees and on to the southern border, Deseret News reported. His return video, “I Interviewed Illegal Immigrants at the U.S. Border,” went up on December 26, 2023.
The audience grew fast. In February 2024, “I investigated the NYC Migrant Crisis” became his first video to pass 1 million views, CNN reported, and trips to El Salvador’s CECOT prison, Ukraine and Greenland followed. So did pushback: in June 2024, Reuters reported that a half dozen day laborers were paid $20 each to hold pro-Biden signs outside the White House for one of his videos. By October 2025 he was at the White House roundtable with President Trump, and that November he received a Citizen Journalist of the Year award at Mar-a-Lago. Through all of it he kept up a pace of about one video a week, Deseret News reported, and the label changed around him. “All of a sudden people were like, ‘Oh hey, you’re a journalist,’” he said at the Utah event.
Then came the Minnesota day care video on December 26, 2025. State inspectors who checked the centers afterward reported finding children at all but one, which had not opened for the day. In July 2026, a center owner featured in the video pleaded guilty to federal fraud charges; the child care count involved family co-payments she did not collect, not empty classrooms. When that video went up he had about 500,000 followers on X, Deseret News reported; by October 29, 2026, he had about 1.85 million there and 2.05 million YouTube subscribers. The full sequence, from Minneapolis to the Oval Office, is on the Nick Shirley timeline.
Nick Shirley age FAQ
How old is Nick Shirley?
Nick Shirley is 24 years old. He was born on April 4, 2002.
When is Nick Shirley’s birthday?
Nick Shirley’s birthday is April 4. He was born in 2002.
Where is Nick Shirley from?
Nick Shirley is from Farmington, Utah. He graduated from Farmington High School in 2020.
How old was Nick Shirley in the Minnesota video?
Nick Shirley was 23 when he posted the Minnesota child care video on December 26, 2025.
Does Nick Shirley speak Spanish?
Nick Shirley says he speaks fluent Spanish. He served his church mission in Santiago, Chile, from late 2021 to 2023.
What is Nick Shirley’s real name?
Nick Shirley’s legal first name is Nicholas. That is the name on his 2026 federal lawsuit against California officials.
Sources
- YouTube: Nick Shirley channel About page, October 29, 2026
- YouTube: Nick Shirley, “I Interviewed Illegal Immigrants at the U.S. Border”, December 26, 2023
- YouTube: Nick Shirley, “SNEAKING INTO JAKE PAULS WEDDING not clickbait“, July 29, 2019
- X: Nick Shirley (@nickshirleyy) profile, October 29, 2026
- U.S. District Court, Eastern District of California: Shirley v. Bonta, stipulation (Doc. 33), September 28, 2026
- House Judiciary Committee: When Public Funds Are Abused: Addressing Fraud and the Theft of Taxpayer Dollars, January 14, 2026
- U.S. Government Publishing Office: Exposing Fraud in America, Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee, July 15, 2026
- Rev: Transcript of the White House roundtable on antifa, October 9, 2025
- Shawn Ryan Show: Nick Shirley, SRS #269, January 8, 2026
- KSL TV: 2020 Farmington High Grad Works Hard On YouTube Stardom, May 26, 2020
- Hindustan Times: How old is Nick Shirley and where is he from? 5 things to know, December 30, 2025
- Deseret News: The Utahn at the center of the Minnesota fraud viral video, December 30, 2025
- Deseret News: Andy Ngo, Nick Shirley, and the pioneers of independent media, June 9, 2026
- Deseret News: Trump gives Utah’s Nick Shirley $10,000 under new fraud reward program, October 20, 2026
- CNN: Who is Nick Shirley, the 23-year-old MAGA journalist whose Minnesota fraud story went viral?, December 30, 2025
- NPR: What to know about Nick Shirley, the YouTuber alleging day care fraud in Minnesota, December 31, 2025
- The Harvard Crimson: Amid Transparency Suit, HHS Adviser Says He Worked in ‘Partnership’ With YouTuber Nick Shirley at HRC Event, September 14, 2026
- Reuters: Pro-Trump influencers fire up fears of migrant ‘invasion’ ahead of U.S. election, June 13, 2024
- NBC News: Minnesota department finds child care centers targeted in viral video operating normally, January 2, 2026
- CBS Minnesota: Minnesota daycare owner pleads guilty to 2 fraud charges, July 9, 2026
Last updated October 29, 2026