Florida man becomes overnight TikTok star with home repair video hacks

‘When I was young, you had to get out and learn something,’ TikTok handyman says

A Tallahassee, Florida, native has gone viral on TikTok for his helpful home repair hacks.

On his popular TikTok account, a man who goes by Gator (@jmg8tor) has posted hundreds of home repair videos, giving out tips on everything from plumbing to pool care. His videos have garnered over 50 million likes and three million followers on the platform.

“I’m gonna show you how to adjust your cabinet doors with just a screwdriver. I get this question all the time, so let’s dive right into it!” Gator said in one of his videos. Gator always ends his videos with his signature catchphrase, “NEXT!”

Gator revealed to Fox that his signature catchphrase was something that he began to randomly say at the end of an early video, and added that he didn’t give it much thought at the time. Looking back on his beginnings on the platform, he noted that it never would have occurred to him that “NEXT!” would become one of his trademarks.

“It was totally just nothing,” he told the outlet. “And the next few videos I did, I didn’t say that, and people were asking what happened to the next? And I was like what are y’all talking about? So then I started saying next, and it gradually transpired into what it is today, you know?”

He explained that his son inspired him to create these videos. “[My son] posted a couple silly videos… and they did really well, close to a million [views],” he explained. “And I was like, ‘Well, let me just get that app.’ And then I actually started posting videos.”

Initially, the videos Gator primarily posted were lighthearted and funny, but around the time he reached 200,000 followers, someone suggested that he share his home repair expertise during a livestream.

“Just one day somebody asked me about doing a home repair, which I’ve already been doing my whole life, I said I don’t know why I’ve never made that content,” Gator continued to the outlet. “I made one video on how to do a little hack on measuring a board and it did 20 million views in two days.”

The reaction to his video floored Gator. “The whole comment section was just like, ‘Can you show me how to do another tape measure hack?’ ‘How do you use a drill?’ ‘Can you fix a toilet, do you fix a door?’” He recalled, “And I was like, this is crazy.”

He reportedly began to learn basic home repair skills at the age of 18, while he was working on houses. He told the outlet that he believes the demand for home repair content has to do with young people not being taught these basic skills when they’re younger.

“When I was young, you had to get out and learn something,” he said. “With social media and the technology, people are getting different jobs that don’t require them being out there working to learn anything.”

For the past two years, he’s grown his platform to the point that he can make a sizeable income off of his videos. After he posted a video using WD-40 products, he was able to land a sponsorship deal with the company.