A Swindon bricklayer's spur-of-the-moment decision to film part of his workday has led to unexpected fame online.
Marco Mazzotta has racked up millions of views and hundreds of thousands of likes on TikTok by filming snapshots of his time on construction sites.
Brief clips of the 27-year-old skilfully spreading mortar over bricks with a trowel or joking around with his colleagues have gained him a following of fans.
@bricklayermaz Bosh #fyo #foryou #bricklayer #bricklaying ♬ original sound - Marco Mazzotta
Marco said: "I took a little video at work last year and told my boss 'watch me go viral'. I was joking - but then the clip got a million views in one day, which was really exciting, so I carried on posting.
"I don't want people to get bored so I try to think of something different and post once a day. You need consistency and variety to do well online.
"People don't have a clue what work is like on a building site, there aren't many videos of this out there, so hopefully what I've posted gives them a good interesting insight."
Born in Swindon and now living in Highworth, Marco started on this career path after leaving school without a clear idea of what he wanted to do and taking a bricklaying course while at college to follow in his father's footsteps.
After a few years of part-time jobs, he started working as a labourer for his dad's company and is now working on a housing development in Carterton.
@bricklayermaz A day in the life #fyp #foryou #bricktok #bricklayer #foryoupage ♬ original sound - Marco Mazzotta
Marco added: "I wanted to make Dad proud.
"People from all over the world say they want to work with me and have asked questions.
"Young lads have told me they have started a course after watching my videos and want to do this as a job too, or that what I post helps them and they copy what I do."
@bricklayermaz 🤞 #fyp #foryou #bricktok #bricklayer #foryoupage ♬ original sound - Marco Mazzotta
Is there a knack to it?
He said: "My boss told me that I'm a gifted natural on the trowel. Some people do it too slowly or drop it, or don't hold or spread it properly, I can just do it easily, it's like writing.
"People say it's satisfying to watch over and over - or they want to eat the mud, which isn't a good idea.
"You get some comments like 'Why have you done that? You should have done this' but I think if you don't have anything nice to say, don't bother.
"I just want to keep going and think of more ideas."
@bricklayermaz Am i right or wrong #fyp #foryou #bricktok #bricklayer #foryoupage ♬ This Is How We Do It - Montell Jordan
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