There is certainly no absence of talent among Gen Zers in Britain as far as this year’s Forbes 30 Under 30 list is concerned.
The 2026 roll call features an impressive cohort of up and coming sports stars, entertainment icons and self-driven business gurus, as young as 15 years old, and boasting a combined 291 million followers across their platforms.
In the Sports and Games category, familiar faces include Red Roses star and Rugby World Cup winner Ellie Kildunne as well as Arsenal scoring sensation Eberechi Eze.
Elsewhere, 20-year-old Sienna Spiro ranks among one of the youngest breakout stars in the Entertainment category, alongside 16-year-old Owen Cooper, who made history as the youngest male Emmy winner for his role in Adolescence.
I’m a Celeb and Loose Women star Grace Keeling, better known as GK Barry, also leads the pack among the Media and Marketing world, while Molly-Mae Hague became the first Love Island star to land a place on this year’s coveted list.
But how did these famous faces first get their big break and what’s in store for them next after cementing themselves as some of the most inspirational icons in the UK?
Ellie Kildunne, 26 – England rugby player
Scoring an impressive 45 tries and winning 55 out of her 57 games for her country, Ellie Kildunne is rightly considered one of the best players in the world.
She was a key figure in the Red Roses’ World Cup campaign, which saw them triumph in a convincing 33-13 final win against Canada last September.
The title win cemented the team’s place in the history books as the successful international side in Test history.
Since then, the 26-year-old has only gained more notoriety.
She broke more records in December by becoming the first female rugby player to be shortlisted for BBC’s Sports Personality of the Year award.
The fullback narrowly missed out on the top spot, coming runner-up in what was still a massive achievement in raising the profile of the female game.
‘The visibility and accessibility women’s rugby has now got is way higher than we could have ever thought. I just hope it keeps on this trajectory,’ she said in a recent interview.
Eberechi Eze, 27 – Arsenal midfielder
Renowned for his creativity, dribbling ability, and versatility, Eberechi Eze has not had the easiest rise to the top as some others on the list.
He began his senior career at Queens Park Rangers, before singing for Premier League side Crystal Palace in August 2020.
The attacking midfielder made over 150 appearances for the club, even scoring the winning goal in the 2025 FA Cup final.
It marked the club’s first ever major trophy and cemented Eze in the hearts and minds of thousands of fans even after his departure to Arsenal less than a year later.
He was hailed by fans following his return to the north London club for the 25/26 season, having once played there as a youth player.
The 27-year-old is now on the brink of helping secure the club’s first Premier League title win in over two decades.
Jack Draper, 24 – Tennis player
For 18 months, between the ages of 11 and 12-years-old, Jack Draper was part of the Academy with Chelsea FC – before deciding tennis was the sport for him.
He had his first experience of Centre Court when he watched Andy Murray lose the 2012 final to Roger Federer.
Just six years later, he graced the lawn himself aged 16, and went on to make the Wimbledon junior final, earning a top-500 ranking on the adult tour on the journey.
He is now considered to be the nearest thing to a long-term male successor to Sir Andy Murray when it comes to a British standard-bearer.
Draper has beaten some of the world’s current greatest players, including the likes of Carlos Alcaraz and Jannik Sinner, who he toppled in 2021 to make the quarter-finals of the Queen’s Club Championship in London.
The 24-year-old claimed another huge scalp earlier this year as he beat Novak Djokovic in a titanic 2-1 victory at the BNP Paribas Open in Indian Wells.
Sienna Spiro, 20 – Singer
With her emotive ballads and soulful vocals, Sienna Spiro first attracted attention sharing videos on social media platform TikTok.
She has since made waves in the music world, winning the appraisal of superstar fans such as singer Sam Smith who even took to the stage with her.
The London-born artist broke into the singles top ten for the first time in November with her song Die On This Hill.
And earlier this year she was announced as a nominee for the BRITs Critics’ Choice Awards, without even dropping a studio album.
She may have missed out on the award to Scottish singer Jacob Alon, but there is no doubt Sienna is one to watch out for in 2026.
Owen Cooper, 16 – Actor
Owen Cooper was just 14 – with zero acting experience – when he took on the role of a teen killer in Stephen Graham’s hit Netflix drama Adolescence.
His chilling portrayal of Jamie Miller has since landed him a role alongside Margot Robbie and Jacob Elordie in Emerald Fennell’s Wuthering Heights adaptation.
The Liverpudlian actor is now set to appear in fashion designer turned director Tom Ford’s next film Cry to Heaven.
Owen made history as the youngest male Emmy winner last September, and made it once again with his Critics Choice victory in January.
The star took home the gong for the Best Supporting Actor, beating his co-star Ashley Walters, 43.
Grace Keeling (GK Barry), 26 – Content creator
Grace Keeling, better known as GK Barry, rose to fame by making TikToks as a student at Nottingham University during the pandemic in which she shared funny anecdotes from her life.
Now an internet sensation, Grace boasts 4.5million followers across all social media platforms and is dating the Lioness striker, Ella Rutherford, 24.
GK finished in fifth place and was evicted on day 20 of the competition, while McFly’s Danny Jones went on to win the ITV show.
The social media star already has a bright future ahead of her. She is the youngest panellist on Loose Women.
She also hosts a podcast, Saving Grace, which boasts guests such as fellow ITV star Alison Hammond and Alan Carr.
Molly-Mae Hague, 26 – Entrepreneur
Since rising to fame on Love Island in 2019 alongside fiancé Tommy Fury, 26, Molly has built a social media following of more than 16 million across Instagram, YouTube and TikTok.
While she has made her name a reality TV star, having also featured in her own Amazon Prime Video docu-series Behind It All, the 26-year-old’s passion lies in entrepreneurship.
Molly began building her personal brand at just 17, launching a YouTube channel where she created beauty and fashion content for a growing young audience, years before her appearance on Love Island.
She left London’s Fashion Retail Academy to pursue her own path, going on to collaborate with brands such as PrettyLittleThing, which helped elevate her profile further.
Her most collaboration with Adidas, which sold out within minutes, saw her design two trainers with the global sportswear giant.
Following her Adidas launch last week, the star took to Instagram to describe the moment as career-defining, saying she was ‘incredibly overwhelmed’ by the achievement.
Molly shares daughter Bambi, three, with Tommy, and the couple are expecting their second child in the coming months.
Saaras Mehan, 26 – Entrepreneur
Once a former member of the England Chess team, Saaras Mehan is now renowned as one of the most popular AI recruiting startups.
A graduate of Cambridge, Saaras gained his first big break after completing Y Combinator, an American startup accelerator programme, which helped launched his first AI company Kular.ai.
He then went on to launch Jack and Jill with co founder Matthew Wilson in early 2025 in a bid to streamline the recruiting process for both companies and job-seekers.
It has since raised roughly $19 million from investors like Creandum and Entrepreneur First, all with fewer than 100 people working behind the scenes.
