If you have ever searched for Rhett and Link age, the short answer is that both members of the internet comedy duo are 48 in 2026. Rhett James McLaughlin was born on October 11, 1977, and Charles Lincoln “Link” Neal III was born on June 1, 1978. Rhett was born in Macon, Georgia. Wikipedia’s current entry lists Link’s birthplace as Durham, North Carolina, though older sources say Boone Trail, North Carolina, so it is worth knowing the record varies.
The two are best known as the hosts of the YouTube series Good Mythical Morning, which they have created and hosted since 2012. Rhett turns 49 on October 11, 2026, so the Rhett and Link age gap is only about eight months. This guide covers their childhood, education, career, families, finances and charity work.
Early Life and Family
- Rhett’s parents and roots. Rhett was born in Macon, Georgia, to Jim and Diane McLaughlin. The family lived in Macon until Rhett was about three, then moved to Thousand Oaks, California, and in 1984 to Buies Creek, North Carolina, where his father became a law professor at Campbell University. Reliable sources say little about his mother’s profession, so it is best left unstated.
- Rhett’s sibling. Rhett has one brother, Cole, who is three years older. Reports on this vary, and a few sites call Cole a younger brother, but the fan wiki figure of three years older is the most consistent. Any Rhett and Link age timeline should note that these early moves happened when both boys were very young.
- Link’s parents and roots. Link’s mother is Sue Capps and his father is Charles Lincoln Neal II, and his parents divorced when he was two. According to the fan-maintained Good Mythical Morning wiki, Sue later married her high-school sweetheart, Jimmy Capps, and the family moved to Buies Creek. Link’s father, Charles Neal, now lives in Myrtle Beach and co-hosted a podcast with Link, Dispatches from Myrtle Beach.
- The famous first-grade meeting. Rhett and Link met on September 4, 1984, the first day of first grade at Buies Creek Elementary School. Both were about six years old. Their teacher kept them in from recess for writing swear words on their desks and gave them mythical-beast coloring pages, which inspired the name Good Mythical Morning. Their Rhett and Link age at that meeting is a big part of why the friendship is called lifelong.
- Cultural influences. Both were evangelical Christians and joined a Christian punk rock band, the Wax Paper Dogz. Small-town North Carolina, church life and campus ministry shaped their humor, which mixes gentle absurdity with earnest storytelling.
- Early creative projects. At fourteen they wrote a screenplay called Gutless Wonders and shot a couple of scenes, and in high school they made a 25-minute parody of Oedipus Rex.
- Challenges. Neither grew up in the entertainment industry. Link’s parents divorced when he was very young, and both men later spoke openly about leaving the faith tradition they grew up in. Their Rhett and Link age was 28 or 27 when they left engineering and stepped into an uncertain career.
Summary table: Family and background
| Aspect | Details |
|---|---|
| Rhett’s full name and birth | Rhett James McLaughlin, October 11, 1977, Macon, Georgia |
| Link’s full name and birth | Charles Lincoln “Link” Neal III, June 1, 1978, Durham, NC (some sources: Boone Trail, NC) |
| Rhett’s parents | Jim and Diane McLaughlin (father a law professor at Campbell University) |
| Rhett’s sibling | Older brother, Cole |
| Link’s parents | Charles Neal and Sue Capps (stepfather Jimmy Capps, per fan wiki) |
| Hometown | Buies Creek, North Carolina |
| First meeting | September 4, 1984, first grade, both about age 6 |
| Current ages (Sept. 2026) | Both 48; Rhett turns 49 on Oct. 11, 2026 |
Education
- Schooling in Buies Creek. Both boys attended Buies Creek Elementary and later Harnett Central High School in North Carolina, where their sketch-comedy habit grew. The Rhett and Link age story here is that they were classmates from age six to eighteen.
- College. They started at North Carolina State University in 1996 and were roommates. Rhett was 18 and Link had just turned 18.
- Degrees. Link studied industrial engineering and Rhett studied civil engineering.
- Academic honors. Rhett graduated magna cum laude in December 2000, and Link graduated summa cum laude in May 2001. That makes Rhett about 23 at graduation and Link about 22, a small Rhett and Link age detail people often miss.
- First jobs. Link worked at IBM and Rhett at Black & Veatch.
- Extracurriculars. They made videos and performed comedy sketches for the campus ministry Cru, which helped them develop their duo style. That volunteer work was their real training ground.
Career
- Starting out (2001 to 2006). In 2001 they self-released a comedy album, Just Mail Us the Grammy, featuring “The Unibrow Song.” They began posting videos on YouTube in 2006. Rhett and Link were 28 and 27 at the time, and the Rhett and Link age at launch shows it was never a teenage viral story.
- Commercials and early TV. In 2009 they began “I Love Local Commercials,” making free ads for small businesses, and in 2011 their IFC series Commercial Kings premiered. A commercial made for Chuck Testa’s taxidermy shop spawned the “Nope! Chuck Testa” meme.
- Good Mythical Morning. GMM launched on January 9, 2012, with the “Wheel of Mythicality.” Rhett was 34 and Link 33. Its “Taste Test” and “Will It” series later became signature formats.
- Milestones and diversification. The 1000th episode aired in October 2016 and the 2000th in July 2021. The 3,000th episode aired March 13, 2026. Rhett was 48 and Link was 47 at that celebration, which shows the Rhett and Link age curve running alongside a career that is still active.
- Books, tours and TV. Rhett & Link’s Book of Mythicality reached The New York Times bestseller list in 2017, and their novel The Lost Causes of Bleak Creek reached No. 13 in 2019. They also starred in the YouTube Red series Buddy System and the Food Network show Inside Eats with Rhett & Link.
- Recognition. Their awards include a 2016 Streamy for Comedy, multiple People’s Voice Webbys, and 2025 Webby wins for Good Mythical Morning, including best creator. Forbes ranked them #5 on its 2026 Top Creators list.
- Recent developments. In October 2025 Rhett said he had undergone a heart ablation for atrial flutter and fibrillation, and launched a solo YouTube channel. Ear Biscuits was put on indefinite hiatus at the end of 2025. In March 2026 Chief Creative Officer Stevie Wynne Levine left after thirteen years.
Career timeline
| Year | Milestone | Description |
|---|---|---|
| 1984 | First meeting | They meet on the first day of first grade in Buies Creek |
| 1996 | College | Both enroll at NC State (Rhett civil, Link industrial engineering) |
| 2000–2001 | Graduation | Rhett graduates Dec. 2000, Link May 2001 |
| 2006 | YouTube begins | They start posting comedy and music videos |
| 2009 | Local commercials | “I Love Local Commercials” goes viral |
| 2011 | Commercial Kings | IFC series premieres; Chuck Testa ad becomes a meme |
| 2012 | GMM launches | Good Mythical Morning debuts Jan. 9 |
| 2013 | Ear Biscuits | Podcast launches Sept. 27 |
| 2016 | 1000th episode | GMM hits a milestone; Buddy System premieres |
| 2017 | Book and tour | Book of Mythicality published; theater tour |
| 2019 | Bleak Creek | Novel published; Mythical acquires Smosh |
| 2021 | 2000th episode | Also launched the R-rated Good Mythical Evening |
| 2024 | Wonderhole | Scripted series; Mythical joins First We Feast purchase |
| 2025 | Health update | Rhett’s heart procedure; Ear Biscuits hiatus begins |
| 2026 | 3,000th episode | Celebrated March 13; Forbes #5 Top Creator |
Relationships and Controversies
- Rhett’s marriage. Rhett married Jessie in 2001, and the couple has two children, Locke and Shepherd. Jessie sang a duet with Rhett on his 2022 solo single “Where We’re Going.” She generally keeps a lower profile than her husband.
- Link’s marriage. Link met Christy White at a roller-skating rink in his junior year of college, and they married in 2000. Link and Christy have two sons and a daughter. Most sources name the children as Lily, Lincoln (Charles Lincoln IV) and Lando, though public details vary and both families guard their privacy. Considering the Rhett and Link age for each marriage, both wed in their early twenties.
- Family life. Both families live in the La Crescenta-Montrose area of California, and the duo runs Mythical Entertainment from Burbank. Neither man has been at the center of a marriage scandal.
- Faith journey. In 2020 both described leaving evangelical Christianity on Ear Biscuits, with Rhett calling himself a “hopeful agnostic” and Link “an agnostic who wants to be hopeful.” Some longtime fans found this surprising because of their ministry past, but their tone stayed thoughtful.
- Early controversy. A 2009 local-commercial jingle for Redhouse Furniture drew controversy for its wording about race. The clip went viral for the wrong reasons and became part of their early story.
- Public perception. Fans see them as approachable, self-deprecating and consistent. Rolling Stone called them the second most influential creators of 2024. Whatever the current Rhett and Link age, their reputation rests on decades of steady output rather than shock tactics.
Net Worth
- Estimates vary widely. Celebrity Net Worth puts Rhett at $35 million, while another 2026 ranking lists the pair at roughly $40 to 50 million combined, and a third places their wealth at $20 million or more. These are informed guesses, not audited figures.
- Earnings. One source says they earned a combined $20 million in 2020 alone.
- Business structure. Their company, Mythical Entertainment, was founded as Rhett & Link, Inc. in 2009 and renamed in 2017.
- Income sources. Revenue comes from ad revenue, brand sponsorships, merchandise, books, tours, podcasts and investments.
- Growth over time. In 2010 the duo were making branded videos for individual clients. By 2026 they run a multi-channel company, which shows how a Rhett and Link age in their late 40s can coincide with peak business scale.
- Investments. In 2021 they launched a $5 million Mythical Accelerator Fund, and in December 2024 Mythical joined the group that bought First We Feast.
Net worth and income overview
| Category | Amount / Details |
|---|---|
| Combined estimate (2026 ranking) | About $40M–$50M |
| Rhett (one estimate) | About $35M |
| Reported 2020 combined earnings | About $20M |
| Forbes Top Creators 2026 | #5 |
| Accelerator Fund | $5M pool for creator investments |
| Smosh | Acquired 2019, majority sold back in June 2023 |
| First We Feast (Hot Ones) | Part of investor group, Dec. 2024 |
| Main income streams | Ads, sponsors, merch, books, tours, subscriptions |
Other Ventures
- Mythical channels. Their network includes Good Mythical More, Mythical Kitchen, Ear Biscuits and the original Rhett & Link channel. Wikipedia’s tally puts total channel views near 14.7 billion.
- Digital presence. Good Mythical Morning had about 19.5 million subscribers as of March 2026. The Rhett and Link age story is also a story of long-term consistency online.
- Brand collaborations. They have made sponsored content for Alka-Seltzer, McDonald’s, Wendy’s, Cadillac and others.
- Live events and speaking. Their 2017 Tour of Mythicality sold out every theater, and Good Mythical Evening in 2021 sold more than 70,000 tickets. They hit the road again with the Good Mythical Tour in 2024.
- Publishing and music. A children’s picture book, Spaghetti Head & Chicken Fingers, was scheduled for June 2026, and Rhett has released country music as James and the Shame.
- Entrepreneurial investing. Mythical also runs Mythical.com and the Mythical Society subscription.
Charitable Work
- Make-A-Wish. In 2017 they received the Chris Greicius Celebrity Award for their work granting wishes and serving as ambassadors.
- mothers2mothers. In October 2018 they featured this charity on the Wheel of Mythicality to raise awareness and funds for its HIV-related health work in Africa.
- St. Jude. They joined YouTube’s giving week campaign with St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital in 2018.
- Inner-City Arts. On November 19, 2020 they hosted an all-day livestream for Inner-City Arts, which they called their largest philanthropic undertaking.
- Wider giving. Mythical says it supports groups including the LA LGBT Center, NAACP and vote.org.
- Impact. For creators approaching their fifties, these efforts show that the Rhett and Link age milestone is less about slowing down than about giving back at scale.
Frequently Asked Questions
How old are Rhett and Link in 2026?
Both are 48. Rhett McLaughlin was born October 11, 1977, and turns 49 in a few weeks. Link Neal was born June 1, 1978. That is the simplest answer to any Rhett and Link age question.
Who are Rhett and Link married to?
Rhett is married to Jessie, and Link is married to Christy White. Rhett and Jessie married in 2001, and Link and Christy married in 2000.
What is Rhett and Link’s net worth?
No single figure is confirmed. Public estimates range from about $20 million per person to $40 to 50 million combined, depending on the source. Treat all such numbers as approximations.
What do Rhett and Link do for a living?
They are YouTube creators and entrepreneurs. They host Good Mythical Morning and run Mythical Entertainment, which produces shows, podcasts, books, tours and merchandise.
Do Rhett and Link have any children?
Yes. Rhett and Jessie have two sons, Locke and Shepherd. Link and Christy have two sons and a daughter, commonly reported as Lily, Lincoln and Lando.
Closing summary: From two first-graders coloring mythical beasts to running one of YouTube’s most durable companies, the Rhett and Link age story shows that creative friendship and steady effort can keep growing well into your late forties. Both are 48, and neither seems to be slowing down.