‘I can’t escape it, the feeling like I’m supposed to be there’
American TikToker Eli Quivey said he had the ‘best time of my life’ whilst visiting Manchester(Image: Eli Quivey)
An American TikTok star has said he was ‘born in the wrong country’ after sharing his admiration for Manchester in a viral video.
Eli Quivey, who has more than 25,000 followers on the social media platform, recently visited the city as part of a trip to the UK where he got to stop by some local venues and tourist spots to soak up the atmosphere.
In the clip, Eli, who is originally from Indianapolis but now lives in Texas, talks to the audience mid-way through watching a clip of popular YouTube star Only Scrans as they review some of the best food spots in Manchester.
The clip has now been seen close to 470,000 times and has received thousands of comments in response. “**** man, I can’t escape wanting to live in England,” Eli starts in the video.
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Eli went viral on TikTok for his video longing to be back in Manchester(Image: Eli Quivey)
“When I was in Manchester, I had the best time of my life and I felt so connected to the city.”
Eli said, amongst the places he visited were Turtle Bay on Oldham Street (“Shout out to the bartender, she hooked me up with a bunch of free drinks to pre at”), Old Trafford and the Northern Quarter during his whistle-stop tour of the city. He also had a night out at The Warehouse Project.
“I’m supposed to be in Manchester or London, I swear to God,” he said in frustration in the viral clip. “Look at the vibes. I need to be there so bad. It’s just like the rain. Oh, get me to the Northern Quarter, man. Get me a pint in my hand on the street, maybe a drunk cig, talking about the footie.”
He added: “Just **** man, what I would do to be there. I can’t escape it, the feeling like I’m supposed to be there. When I was there, I was supposed to be there.”
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The video sparked thousands of comments in response, with one person saying: “As a Brit, this is so funny.” Another said: “I’ve never seen someone so passionate about Manchester.”
Another commented: ““Like the rain” never in my life did I think someone would romanticise British weather, especially Manny.” One other wrote: “Never thought I’d hear northern quarter in an American accent.”
Some viewers also enjoyed Eli’s specific mention of Turtle Bay. One person said: “Feeling nostalgic for Turtle Bay is so funny.” Another wrote: ““I got drinks at Turtle Bay!” Too cute.” One other commented: “Romanticising turtle bay in Manchester is a new one for me.”
Speaking to the Manchester Evening News, Eli said he had no idea the video would resonate with viewers so much. “It’s been insane,” he laughs. “It just really blew up. I can’t keep on top of all the messages and DMs because there’s just so many.”
Eli said ‘England is absolutely unbelievable to me'(Image: Eli Quivey)
Asked why he loves Manchester so much, Eli says he has a number of reasons. “I’ve been to Manchester two times now,” he explains. “It was my childhood dream to come to Old Trafford. It was basically like the only thing on my bucket list and I’ve ticked it off now.
“I got to discover Manchester more and I just fell in love with it. The people that I met there took care of me and I just had an amazing night out. Everybody was so nice to me, it was just such a friendly environment.”
“Manchester has some great architecture and it’s also a pretty chilled out city. But it also has some amazing pubs and bars, and nights out. I was blown away by The Warehouse Project and just how big it was. We have a thing called The Concourse Project and this was like four times the size of that.”
Eli, who is big into football and works as an account manager outside of his content creation, said he doesn’t understand the criticism that is often aimed towards the country and says he received nothing but love from the people here whilst visiting.
Eli will be back in Manchester at the weekend, where he’ll be heading to the Sammy Virji Curates WHP event at Warehouse Project(Image: Sienna Lorraine Gray)
“As an American, it seems that England does get ****ed on a fair bit,” he says. “People say the weather is bad, there’s nothing to do. And you see lots of people moaning about wanting to get out of England.
“But, dude, England is absolutely unbelievable to me. My only experience of English people has been that they are very good through-and-through. There’s a few things you can always count on in England: People always want to have a good time, whether that’s having a pint and talking. In American culture, that’s just not a thing. People are too busy.
“There’s also a big football scene. Football is my entire life, I grew up playing the sport, my dad played, so it’s in my blood. Another thing, for me, is going to see house DJs and I feel like in England, there’s so much creativity here. The music scene is just unbelievable.”
In fact, Eli will be returning back to Manchester in just a matter of days – with an action-packed weekend lined up.
American TikToker Eli Quivey said he had the ‘best time of my life’ whilst visiting Manchester(Image: Eli Quivey)
“I’m a bit of an adrenaline junkie so I’m going to be buzzing,” he explains. “I’ll arrive in London on Friday, then I’ll be taking a train to Manchester and starting my journey there. I’m going to the Warehouse Project again, then I’ll be going to Old Trafford on Saturday.
“On Sunday, I’ll be going to Oldham Athletic to see the Oldham and Salford game, and then I’ll be going to Toby Carvery. One of my best mates lives in Barnsley, so we’ll be heading there for a roast!”
Eli says he’ll also squeeze in time in Newcastle, and the Lake District, whilst in the country. In an ideal world, he says he would love to make a permanent relocation here.
“I really want to get noticed by some of the big sports companies so that they can sponsor me, and so I can work for them in the UK,” he says. “I’m trying to move there full-time, man. I can’t get enough of it.”
You can follow Eli on TikTok here.
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