YouTuber LadBaby has said he is “speechless and lost for words” after claiming the Christmas number one for 2018 in a shock victory.
The “dad blogger” – real name Mark Hoyle – fought off competition from pop stars Ariana Grande and Ava Max.
He took the top spot with novelty song We Built This City which riffs on the 1985 Starship track while adding a sausage roll-themed twist.
Hoyle stole the crown from Grande’s Thank You, Next and Max’s Sweet But Psycho, which had been tipped to win after taking a mid-week lead.
In a message to his fans, Hoyle told OfficialCharts.com: “Thank you everybody in the UK who has got [the song] to the top. I can’t thank you enough, not only for downloading the song but for raising money for such an incredible charity.
“I’m honestly speechless and lost for words. Thank you so much. Yes mate!”
The 31-year-old recorded the ode to sausage rolls, as opposed to the original rock and roll, with his wife Roxanne and their two sons. Proceeds from the single will go to The Trussell Trust, which supplies food banks.
According to the Official Charts Company, We Built This City sold 75,000 combined sales in the last week, of which 93% were downloads.
This meant it finished 18,500 units ahead of Max’s Sweet But Psycho, which claimed runner-up s[pt.
The track is the first novelty song to become Christmas number one since Bob The Builder’s Can We Fix It? in 2000.
Thank You, Next – last weekend’s number one – was forced into third place.
Outside of the pitched battle for number one, Mariah Carey’s festive hit All I Want For Christmas Is You took fourth place – as it did last year. Halsey’s Without You placed fifth.
Last Christmas by Wham! reentered at seven while Grande featured again as her most recent single Imagine entered at number eight.
The Pogues’ Fairytale Of New York sat at 11, Band Aid’s Do They Know It’s Christmas? took 13 and Michael Buble’s It’s Beginning To Look A Lot Like Christmas claimed 16.
Over on the Christmas albums chart, the cast recording of The Greatest Showman scored a festive number one with its strongest week of sales since its release in December last year.
It sold 69,000 combined units to claim its 23rd non-consecutive week at number one.
The recording has not exited the top five once this year and went five times platinum this week, according to the British Phonographic Industry (BPI).
It fought off competition from Michael Buble’s Love, which took second place, and George Ezra’s Staying At Tamara’s, which took third.
