“A guide to Andover: you won’t have heard of it, and you won’t know where it is. I’ve just got home, and I’ve already forgotten where I’ve come from.”

That’s how TikTok creator Phil Carr opened his video on the town, posted earlier this week.

The Surrey man posts satirical videos on TikTok, reviewing places, shops and venues.

Since joining the platform in 2020, he has racked up a following of more than 402,000 people who enjoy watching him travel around the area, usually making fun of places in comic 'reviews' as he goes.

The video of Andover, posted on Monday (July 25) saw Phil, whose TokTok username is @philc84, ‘guide’ viewers through the town, after it was ranked as the 30th worst place in the country to live by iLiveHer UK earlier this year.

READ MORE: Andover again ranked among worst places to live in UK

In the video, he said: “Just making it onto the list is probably Andover’s greatest ever achievement! I know there are people in Andover now, watching this TikTok, passing out and being brought round with smelling salts simply because somebody is bothering to make a video about them.”

He added that Andover makes up part of the country’s “blob of deceit” outside of London, where you “pay all the costs of living in the South but without any of the benefits”.

He continued: “As  I walked around, I felt like an explorer in the Amazon who’s come across an uncontacted tribe. I wasn’t sure how much to tell them about the outside world. I didn’t want to shock or scare them, and I  didn’t want to take their innocence in a weird sort of way.”

He went on to single out shops and restaurants including JenningsBet, Wimpy, Wetherspoon, Iceland, Lidl and Waitrose, and offer commentary as to what they say about the town.

Concluding the video, Phil said: “It’s completely unaware there’s an outside world, the outside world is completely unaware it exists, it’s beautiful in places but it also has a bingo hall!”

This was perhaps a sore spot for residents, as Mecca Bingo recently announced it will be closing in August.

READ MORE: Mecca Bingo Andover could close its doors in August following sale of site

Speaking to the Advertiser about the video, which has approximately 1.2 million times, Phil said: “I post about all sorts of places, attractions and shops and I mix up how I frame them but nearly always there is a high level of satire.

“Tiktok is a funny place as you have your hardened audience and dedicated followers who love the recurring jokes, but then occasionally you go out to a lot of people that have never seen you before which can cause chaos. I love it though!”

You can view the video at bit.ly/3vrp5cE.

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