Nelk Boys | Full Send, Happy Dad & YouTube Profile 2026

Nelk, stylized as NELK and widely known as the Nelk Boys, is a Canadian-American YouTube channel and entertainment company founded in 2010 by Kyle Forgeard. What began as a college-prank channel has expanded into one of the most commercially successful creator enterprises in YouTube history, spanning a trademarked lifestyle brand, a top-five hard seltzer, a podcast that has hosted Elon Musk, Donald Trump, and Mike Tyson, and a merchandise operation generating close to $100 million annually.

ContentNewsNow covers Nelk as a defining case study in creator economy scaling. Their trajectory from shock-prank videos to a full-stack consumer goods and media company represents one of the most complete brand pivots in the history of digital content. Their current base of operations is Miami, Florida.

Nelk Boys by the Numbers | 2026 Channel Stats

Nelk operates a multi-channel network under the Full Send Entertainment umbrella. The main NELK channel remains the flagship, but significant audience is distributed across vertical extensions covering podcasting, MMA, golf, and individual member channels.

• Main YouTube channel (NELK): 8.4 million subscribers
• Full Send Podcast YouTube: 2.17 million subscribers
• Total YouTube views (main channel): 1.9 billion+
• Most-viewed video: Coke Prank on Cops (49 million views)
• Most-viewed podcast: Elon Musk episode (22.9 million views)
• Full Send apparel revenue: ~$100 million annually
• Happy Dad Hard Seltzer ranking: Top 5 hard seltzer brand in the US (2023, IRI data)
• Founded: 2010
• Headquarters: Miami, Florida

The Founding | Kyle Forgeard and the Origins of Full Send

Kyle Forgeard created the NELK YouTube channel in 2010 in Mississauga, Ontario, Canada, originally under the name NelkFilmz alongside early members Lucas Gasparini, Elliot Slater, and Nick Porter. The channel posted prank content throughout the early 2010s with moderate growth.

The pivotal moment came in August 2014, when Forgeard met Jesse Sebastiani at an MTV Canada conference. The two uploaded their first video together on August 26, 2014, and the combination of Forgeard's instincts and Sebastiani's on-camera energy accelerated the channel significantly. Sebastiani was a co-founder of the group before departing in 2022 to launch his own brand, Sunday.

The phrase Full Send, which Forgeard defined as giving any activity your absolute best effort, became the group's trademark term and eventually a registered trademark. It now serves as the name for their clothing brand, podcast, and parent company.

Content Style | Pranks, Lifestyle, and the Full Send Ethos

Nelk's content is built around three pillars: prank videos, lifestyle vlogs, and the Full Send ethos, a documented commitment to living without restraint. Their videos combine public pranks, party footage, travel, and spontaneous confrontations that generate strong viewer reactions. The content skews toward a young male audience steeped in North American college culture.

Their most-watched video, Coke Prank on Cops from January 2015, in which members told LAPD officers they had coke in the car while showing bottles of Coca-Cola, accumulated 49 million views and is broadly credited as the video that established their global reach. The stunt drew a formal warning from the LAPD and a public statement, which amplified the video's spread significantly.

In addition to prank content, Nelk popularized a distinct vocabulary including Full Send, Rona Season (a reference to their constant consumption of Corona beer), and various bits of what Sebastiani called Canadian-influenced slang. These phrases became identity signals for their fanbase and reinforced brand cohesion across merch drops.

The Members | Who Is in Nelk Boys in 2026

Nelk has always operated as an ensemble with a rotating cast of contributors around a consistent core. Current and recurring members as of 2026 include:

• Kyle Forgeard (Mississauga, Ontario) — Co-Founder, owner, lead podcast host, Forbes 30 Under 30 (2022)
• Stephen "SteveWillDoIt" Deleonardis (Oviedo, Florida) — Member, CEO of SteveWillDoIt LLC
• Salim "Salim the Dream" Sirur (San Jose, California) — Member, CEO of SalimTheDream
• Aaron "Steiny" Steinberg (Denver, Colorado) — Co-host of Full Send Podcast
• Jason "905shooter" Pagaduan (Mississauga, Ontario) — Member, photographer and videographer
• Arthur "Jimmy Gambles" Kulik (Mississauga, Ontario) — Content creator
• Jordan "Cousin Jay" Nwanne (Sacramento, California) — Content creator

Full Send Business Empire | Apparel, Happy Dad & the Podcast

Nelk's commercial transformation from prank channel to entertainment company is one of the most studied in the creator economy. Their revenue now comes primarily from sources that did not exist when the channel launched:

• Full Send Apparel: Clothing sold in limited Supreme-style drops. Once a style sells out it is gone permanently. Nelk sells close to $100 million in apparel annually.
• Happy Dad Hard Seltzer: Launched June 2021 in partnership with the Shahidi brothers, Happy Dad became a top-five hard seltzer brand in the United States by 2023 (IRI data). Available at Total Wine, grocery chains, and convenience stores nationally.
• Full Send Podcast: Launched August 2021, hosted by Forgeard and Steinberg. The Elon Musk episode has 22.9 million YouTube views. The Trump episode briefly made it the second most popular podcast on Spotify before YouTube removed it for policy violations.
• Full Send MMA, Golf, Supplements: Vertical brand extensions into combat sports, golf lifestyle, and health products.

Nelk and Politics | The Full Send Podcast's Political Turn

Nelk's political associations became a defining feature of their brand from 2020 onward. Members met President Donald Trump on Air Force One in October 2020 and were seen dancing with him onstage to Y.M.C.A. following his rally. Trump appeared on the Full Send Podcast in March 2022. In July 2025, Forgeard and Steinberg interviewed Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on the podcast. Backlash followed when it emerged the pair had been supplied with scripted questions from Netanyahu's staff. Steinberg publicly acknowledged he regretted not being more critical and noted the group had never claimed to be journalists.

Channel Positioning | Nelk vs the Lifestyle Field

Creator	Primary Format	Subscribers	Key Business
Nelk Boys	Pranks, lifestyle, podcast	8.4M	Happy Dad, Full Send apparel
FaZe Clan	Gaming, lifestyle	9M+	FaZe brand, esports
David Dobrik	Vlog, stunts	18M	Dispo (divested)
Yes Theory	Adventure, lifestyle	10M+	Seek Discomfort apparel

Controversies | The Price of Full Send

Nelk's career has generated a consistent stream of legal and platform disputes. Key incidents: a January 2015 Coke prank on LAPD officers that prompted a formal department statement; a 2019 arrest of Jesse Sebastiani during a Barnes and Noble fake-blood prank in Columbus, Ohio; a September 2020 campus party at Illinois State University violating COVID regulations, which led YouTube to fully demonetize the channel; a 1,500-person gathering at a New Jersey shore house the same month; and an arrest warrant against Forgeard in Texas in March 2021. The group has consistently used controversy as accelerant, typically seeing audience growth following each incident.

Frequently Asked Questions

Who founded Nelk Boys? Kyle Forgeard founded the channel in 2010 in Mississauga, Ontario, Canada. Jesse Sebastiani became a co-founder in August 2014 and departed in 2022.

How many subscribers does Nelk have? The main NELK YouTube channel has 8.4 million subscribers as of June 2026. The Full Send Podcast channel has 2.17 million. Total main channel views exceed 1.9 billion.

What is Happy Dad Hard Seltzer? A hard seltzer brand launched by Nelk and the Shahidi brothers in June 2021. It became a top-five hard seltzer brand in the United States by 2023 and is available at major national retailers.

What is Full Send? Full Send is Nelk's trademarked phrase meaning giving any activity your absolute best effort. It is now the name of their parent brand, clothing line, podcast, and multiple vertical channels.

Who are the current Nelk Boys members? Kyle Forgeard, SteveWillDoIt, Salim the Dream, Steiny, 905shooter, Jimmy Gambles, and Cousin Jay as of 2026.

What was Nelk's most watched podcast episode? The Elon Musk episode with 22.9 million YouTube views. The Donald Trump episode briefly made the Full Send Podcast the second most popular podcast on Spotify before YouTube removed it.