KSI revealed heartbreaking reason why he is leaving Sidemen before announcement

He was open about it

The 32-year-old social media star confirmed through his team that he was leaving the YouTube collective, which includes Vikkstar123 (Vikram 'Vik' Singh Bar), Zerkaa (Joshua Bradley), Miniminter (Simon Minter), TBJZL (Tobi 'Tobi' Brown), Wroetoshaw/W2S (Harry Lewis) and Behzinga (Ethan Payne).

KSI, real name Olajide Olatunji, explained he had spent “months trying to figure out what the right thing to do is” before announcing his exit on 31 May.

His fans now have gone back to a recent stream which KSI did earlier in May, in which he appeared to reference reasons for his departure.

KSI has made videos with the Sidemen since 2013, with tens of millions of viewers.

However, it now appears that the Britain's Got Talent judge may have had too much going on to keep collaborating with the group.

KSI said he was “having the time of my life” but said “time wise I’m struggling”, as he opened up during a stream earlier last month.

“There’s a lot going on – obviously doing my channel, Sidemen, BGT, Baller League, then everything else,” he said. “You know, music, etc and yes, I’m working on music, guys, relax.

“And also then, still trying to find that work-life balance ‘cos, you know, I’ve got a missus, I’ve got a family and I need to find time for them.”

He called his calendar “disgusting” as he said people would question where he has “time to live” or “time to relax” with no holiday this year until the end of September.

“What really hit me was when I went to my mum’s 60th birthday party,” the star continued.

“And the fact that she’s 60 years of age and in the past 10 years, I can count how many times I’ve seen my parents. It just put a load of things into perspective.

“Because I can’t keep going on like this forever.”

“And I’ll look back, and be like, I did all this work, I made all this money but what do I have to show for it?” he said. “So yeah, I’m just working on making changes in my life.”

As he announced the news on YouTube, KSI said: “I've gone back and forth on this decision for a very long time.

“I've spent months trying to figure out what the right thing to do is.”

“But after a lot of thought, I've decided that I will no longer be doing Sidemen videos. Today, 31 May, will be my final Sidemen video.”

As he reflected the early days and the group’s growth, he added that “nothing bad has happened” between him and the others.

“This decision is completely my own”, he added.

“Over the last few years, I've felt myself being pulled in a lot of directions than ever before. Between everything else in my life, I feel like I've been running at full speed, at 100mph.”

Meanwhile, the group said they were “sad to share the news” that he had “decided not to continue”.

“We had an amazing time on this journey with him and we wish him all the best with his future endeavours”, they said.

“This came as a surprise to us and we know it will be an adjustment for you, but we've got lots of exciting stuff planned that we can't wait to share.”