The cleaner whose videos are watched by millions

Hampshire-based cleaner Ann Russell has gained millions of followers on social media

A Hampshire cleaner has amassed a global following of 2.5 million people on TikTok after she began posting videos of her day job online.

Ann Russell, 60, from the New Forest, has worked as a cleaner for more than 20 years.

Over that time, the mother-of-four has picked up a few tips and tricks on how to clean effectively on a budget.

Ms Russell first joined TikTok in November 2020 to follow her niece on social media but quickly became an agony aunt to an audience of millions.

Ms Russell said she wanted to help others who struggle to keep a clean home and juggle family life

She describes herself as a "mad, old, very English bag" who "started making little videos of nothing much in particular, then one blew up when someone asked me to explain what a bay leaf did".

The self-employed cleaner said she started getting questions about cleaning and her following grew from there.

Ms Russell said she does not pay attention to the numbers but admitted: "I think when I got to around 50,000 followers, I thought that's quite a lot of people, I should probably stop swearing so much."

She told the BBC her children are "baffled" by her social media success and "concerned why people want to listen to their mother" but she said they were supportive.

Ms Russell has now written books on cleaning

Ms Russell said life was "utter chaos" when she was a young mother trying to raise four children, doing "the best I could".

"I had spent a lifetime managing on very little money," she said.

"I still don't like cleaning my own house but cleaning someone else's house, you can go into absolute chaos, you can tidy it, clean it, you can render it beautiful and then you can leave and somebody says 'thank you'.

"When it is your own house, just when you are getting to the end of it, somebody drops a bottle of squash and throws a pair of socks on the floor. It's disheartening and it's never-ending."

Ms Russell also opened up on TikTok about her experience of living with cancer

The cleaning professional said she thinks social media can put unrealistic expectations on what a clean house looks like: "Most of those houses have been curated for the shot.

"Young mothers don't need to see that when they are trying to look after children."

She advised: "Don't listen to your mother's voice in your head.

"Be clean enough to be healthy - and dirty enough to be happy."

Ms Russell said she does not like to use the "cleanfluencer" title, saying it "makes me sound like I should have much better teeth and a nice suntan".

In February 2023, she was forced to stop working after being diagnosed with cancer diagnosis but said her TikTok popularity has helped by providing her with an income while she undergoes treatment.

She has also written books on cleaning and offers videos on topics that mean a lot to her, for example, her experience living with cancer.

She said: "I thought by just talking about something, it might be helpful for people."