DUBBED an ‘evil mastermind’ and accused of exploiting his children by filming everything from births to tantrums, Jonathan Joly was behind one of YouTube’s earliest success stories, building up a following of 1.6 million subscribers and raking in £1m.
For a solid decade, the SacconeJoly channel was the nonstop, daily chronicle of Jonathan and partner Anna Saccone’s lives, their cross-country moves, and the lives of their four children: Emilia, 13, Edie, 11, Alessia, 8, and Andrea, 6 – until they suddenly disappeared.
Jonathan Joly welcomes fans back to the SacconeJoly channelCredit: youtube/@jonathanjoly
The SacconeJolys vlogged their lives for a solid decadeCredit: annasaccone/Instagram
Emilia is now 13 and fronting the channelCredit: youtube/@jonathanjoly
In 2020, the couple hit the vanish button on the SacconeJoly channel – leaving fans to wonder where they had gone.
However, five years on and the channel is back – reappearing on YouTube at Halloween.
The relaunch was trailed with the the blurb: “Voices you once watched are now grown-up, and a fresh generation is taking the reins.
“This channel is back, redesigned for 2025 and beyond: real life, no filter and driven by the young adults who grew up in front of the camera.”
And in a rare interview, Jonathan, 45, reveals the family put the brakes on the channel in 2020 as they were struggling to keep up with the more extreme parent vloggers because they were “too innocent”.
He tells me: “We reached that point in about 2018 when everything started to shift on social media and if you wanted to stay at the top, you needed to cross over a lot of the lines that we said we’d never do.
“We’re kind of boring people. You know, we’re not like . We’re not exciting, we don’t do cool, sexy, cool things. But in 2010, people were happy.
“I think we’re too innocent.”
Clearly their millions of followers never found them boring.
During their first 10 year run, nothing seemed to be off-limits, with the couple streaming the birth of Emilia, which garnered 5.6million views, and another revealing that their Eduardo, born a boy, was trans and would now be known as Edie – at the age of eight.
But Jonathan insists the videos are “tame” in comparison to what we see online today.
“You open up TikTok, there are thousands of British families sharing things that we would go, are you crazy? Why would you share that?” he says.
“But we’re from a different time. We’re 2010 YouTubers who walked away after 10 years because we were not willing to play the game that people need to play today. More drama, more dramatic, more exposure.
“In 2017, I made a video and I said, ‘Guys, Emilia is heading into upper primary school so there’s a shelf life coming up because that’s a period in your life where things can get a little bit tricky.”
I stated the obvious, asking whether he thought vlogging births and sharing an eight-year-old’s journey is in some ways “dramatic”.
Despite posting videos of Edie’s transition in 2022 on his own channel, he replied: “Well, we never put YouTube content about my daughter. We’re so private and conservative and people get that wrong all the time, because they assume, because we’re extroverted, and we’re really (into exposing everything). And we’re actually not.”
The couple also faced a backlash after allowing their child’s tearful plea about not wanting to be filmed to be broadcast in a 2019 documentary, with Anna, 38, snapping back: “Don’t you like going to private school? Don’t you like the things we’ve been able to afford because of this lifestyle?”
One “concerned” viewer posted in Reddit: “The kids are so blatantly being exploited. Seems like they get pretty much no privacy.”
Another wrote: “They (Jonathan and Anna) are highly problematic and it’s just getting worse. I deeply worry about these kids.”
Jonathan has previously denied allegations he exploited his kids – although he wasn’t keen to address the criticism in our chat.
“There are thousands of families live streaming their lives, filming every single moment, putting up the most outrageous content on the internet,” he said, claiming his family just happened to do it earlier-and he “walked away” to avoid his children being criticised and exposed further.
But while the SacconeJoly channel took a beat, Jonathan focused on building his own YouTube channel, featuring his three daughters.
The description reads: “Led by Jonathan Joly and featuring daughters Edie, Alessia, and Emilia — with occasional appearances from Andrea — this channel delivers high-impact, youth-focused content through scripted-style challenges, viral formats, and comedic episodes.”
I’m bigger than the SacconeJoly’s ever was…but with a different audience
Jonathan Joly
He also boasts 2.81 million subscribers and a whopping 14,000 videos.
“I’m bigger than the SacconeJoly’s ever was…but with a different audience,” he chuckles to me, over the phone.
So what is behind the family’s return to the spotlight?
Girls take control
Jonathan says it’s the choice of his three daughters to reopen the YouTube channel after Emilia turned 13. Children under that age need a supervised account set up by a parent to have their own YouTube channel, but Emilia can now take charge.
He adds: “It’s their channel. I do help them with the editing sometimes, but it’s their money, their business, their channel, their direction.”
And the youngest, Andrea? “He’s seven and doesn’t care at all.”
Jonathan claims he won’t be making much of an appearance on the SacconeJoly channel either. He says: “I like keeping things more scripted, more controlled and safe” as per his channel.
But the atmosphere sours when I ask the innocent question: “What can we expect from them?”
In the blink of an eye, Jonathan’s tone switches from relatively chatty to tetchy.
“You shouldn’t be watching. It’s not for you,” he growls.
Startled, I ask: “But if it’s out in a public place, anyone can watch it.”
The call goes silent for a second. Clearly disgusted, Jonathan replies: “I’m sorry… what?”
You shouldn’t be watching. It’s not for you
Jonathan Joly
He continues: “Well, yes, of course, it’s on YouTube. Are you trying to twist what I am saying? My daughter is of an age where she is allowed to be on platforms, so she is sharing for her peers.
“There are millions of young people sharing content on public platforms. And, you know, there’s no rule saying that you can’t watch it, but why would you? It’s not for you.”
Calmly, I tell Jonathan I appreciate him informing me of this, only to be interrupted once more by another bellow of “it’s not for you.”
Jonathan holding a Celebrity Dad Of the Year Award with his wife AnnaCredit: Instagram
The family appeared in a documentary with Stacey Dooley
I proceed to ask what other kinds of public reaction the “redesigned” channel has received.
Jonathan admitted people have been “confused,” as the video content isn’t “for them” anymore.
And this is because, “obviously” in Jonathan’s words, the content is now for his children’s peers.
According to Global Media Insight, as of February 2025, 87 percent of YouTube users fall between the ages of 18 and 65.
He added: “I’m 45 years old. I would be bored completely watching it because it’s not for me. I like farming content, engineering content.”
That being said, the “redesigned” channel thanks those who have “stuck with us” and encourages newbies to go back and watch the 5,000 videos you missed…
The ‘worst thing we ever did’
Edie was born as Eduardo and socially transitioned to being a girl in 2020Credit: youtube/@jonathanjoly
Fans watched the kids grow upCredit: annasaccone/Instagram
One aspect of the family’s life which continues to be controversial is the focus on his daughter Edie, who socially transitioned in 2020.
Jonathan insists the public obsession is “exhausting,” yet he gives the viewers exactly what they want.
“Everybody loves talking about my daughter because they think that’s the thing that brings in the clicks… and it does, it brings in the hate.”
His frustration and inner conflict appears to surface as he says: “The worst thing SacconeJoly, myself and Anna ever did was support our daughter. So that is literally the worst thing we ever did.”
He adds that he and Anna “tried to do everything we could to help her” and “did what we thought was right,” before declaring that Edie’s “position today is no one’s f***ing business.”
A fair point, but it’s hard to take the privacy stance seriously when he’s posting his daughter’s journey for views while complaining about the fallout.
For example, on October 18, 2022, Jonathan posted a video titled ‘Edie’s Story – from a BOY to a GIRL and how she feels now (transgender girl).’
Jonathan and Anna in hospital with baby Emilia
The birth was videoed and posted onlineCredit: Facebook
The birth vlog videos racked up thousands of viewsCredit: youtube/@jonathanjoly
In the description, Jonathan claimed this was because their video of Edie racked up over 20 million views.
Looking ahead, Jonathan is apparently building something “grander,” the “new version of YouTube… safe and secure… a better version of what I think is needed.”
He says he avoids and TikTok because of the “toxic comments” and poor comment management, yet he clearly knows how to manage a crowd.
According to him, some of the trolls who attacked him online were even charged – although he refused to go into detail.
Now, he insists everyone is “safe”, “positive”, and “happy”. And the SacconeJolys is just a “fresh start with my older teen daughter who just wants to tell her own story,” he claims, a far cry from the chaotic “winging it” of their pioneering first run…
Let’s see how this pans out.
Eze Chidiebere Paul
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