Two British TikTok stars who have spent much of 2026 road-tripping across Michigan are pulling into Novi next week for a free meet-and-greet, complete with photos, giveaways and a shot at Detroit sports tickets. Josh Cauldwell-Clarke and Jason Riley, the duo behind wildly popular travel channels built around reaction videos, will greet fans at a Planet Fitness location on Adell Center Drive from 1 to 3 p.m. on Friday.
The event, open to both Planet Fitness members and non-members, is the latest stop in a Michigan relationship that has turned two Nottingham, England, natives into something like honorary Michiganders. According to WHMI, raffle prizes at the free Novi gathering will include tickets to the Detroit Lions' September 13 game, along with Detroit Tigers and Detroit Pistons tickets and gift cards. The first 100 people in line are also promised Josh and Jase t-shirts, as part of a partnership the pair struck with Planet Fitness for the fan event, according to MLive.
A Summer Tour Built on Coneys and Selfies
Cauldwell-Clarke and Riley — known online as The Accent Guy and Josh From England, with a combined following approaching 10 million — kicked off their summer Michigan tour by landing in Metro Detroit on July 24. Their first stop, per WZZM 13, was American Coney Island, where Riley ordered a classic coney dog and Cauldwell-Clarke went for a loaded gyro. Days later, on July 27, they posed for photos in downtown Detroit, per MLive, part of a road trip that has since carried them to Saugatuck, Kalamazoo, Grand Rapids, Traverse City, Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore, the Upper Peninsula and Mackinac Island.
This is not their first swing through the state. The pair returned to Michigan this summer at the invitation of tourism officials after Riley attended the 20th Anniversary Pure Michigan Governor's Conference on Tourism in Traverse City in April, where Governor Gretchen Whitmer personally welcomed the duo to the state, according to MIRS News. Michigan is not the only state courting them: the pair were previously named Louisiana Ambassadors in 2025 by Louisiana Lieutenant Governor Billy Nungesser, part of a pattern of official state recognition documented by Wilcox Newspapers.
From a Bedroom Twinkie Review to State Tourism Partner
Their entire American travel obsession traces back to 2021, when Josh posted a bedroom video tasting an American Twinkie, a clip that sparked curiosity about U.S. regional food and culture that eventually grew into full state-spanning road trips, the same Wilcox Newspapers report notes. According to MLive, the duo has also launched the Josh & Jase Mail Club, sending personalized monthly letters about their travel adventures; this month's stickers honor their Michigan road trip with images of Mighty Mac and an apple blossom, and each envelope includes two custom stickers. One pen pal a month is entered to win a golden-seal envelope and a trip to the United Kingdom to spend time with the pair, per the same outlet.
MLive also reports that the two have used their platform to amplify a fundraiser for Hospice of Michigan and to defend the state against negative comments, while praising what they've called Midwest nice. Their charitable footprint in Michigan dates back to their initial three-week winter tour in January 2026, when they raised more than $40,000 for Mel Trotter Ministries, a Grand Rapids homeless shelter organization, according to a report featured by MLive on Facebook. That same trip brought them to DeVos Fieldhouse in Holland, where they attempted halftime half-court shots during an Adrian College versus Hope College basketball game and drew a large crowd seeking selfies, per WZZM 13.
Not Every Michigan Moment Has Been Smooth
The winter trip wasn't without trouble. In February, Cauldwell-Clarke disclosed that hospital employees had unlawfully accessed his electronic health records on January 18 and 19 without a medical reason while he sought care during the tour, prompting a formal HIPAA breach notification letter from the hospital, as Hoodline previously reported. Federal HIPAA law requires hospitals to notify patients when unauthorized staff view their medical files.
MLive notes the duo has also addressed fan feedback during their summer road trip, suggesting they've stayed responsive to their Michigan audience even as the tour has grown. Marketing experts at Western Michigan University told MIRS News in July that tourism campaigns like Pure Michigan are increasingly leaning on social media travel influencers rather than traditional Hollywood-style celebrity endorsers to reach digital audiences — a shift that helps explain why a state tourism office and a national gym chain are both eager to put Josh and Jase in front of a crowd in Novi.
