Split Screen: There Goes My Childhood

The Seven Super Girls channel is now a phenomenon and its tween creators are overnight sensations.

The girls meet with thousands of adoring fans, pose for photoshoots and start going on group trips. There, the girls have a chance to connect with one another and finally meet the man behind the channel – in person.

But with their success, a slowly tightening grip forms around the girls. Manager Ian Rylett introduces bizarre rules governing everything from their body hair and clothing size, to their communications with each other.

Hear all episodes of Split Screen: There Goes My Childhood, early and ad-free, on CBC Stories Premium on Apple Podcasts.

As YouTube rapidly revolutionizes the entertainment industry in the late 2000s, one channel made for and by girls takes off: Seven Super Girls. The girls’ daily videos gain billions of views, millions of fans… and more money than a child knows what to do with.

But behind their skyrocketing success is something darker. What’s the cost of living their childhood in a digital spotlight? And who’s the man behind the channel and what are his real intentions?

Can’t wait for next week’s episode? Hear all episodes of Split Screen: There Goes My Childhood now, ad-free, on CBC Stories Premium on Apple Podcasts.

What ever happened to the first kids to grow up – and blow up – on the internet?

Now old enough to tell their own stories for the first time, stars of one of YouTube's earliest and most popular kid-fluencer channels for girls share their experiences with fame, fortune, online predators… and the manager who controlled their lives for years, until he was put behind bars.

Four episodes, releasing weekly starting Monday, November 9.

’I Wanna Marry Harry’ makes its prime time debut. Things do not go as planned. Scott begins to question what we really mean when we call something “reality” TV?

As filming wraps, the girls fly back home, and the producers have a surprise waiting for them when they land. As surprises go, this isn’t exactly a great one.