In August 2014, a five-year-old boy at a small county fair in Pennsylvania grabbed a television reporter’s microphone and, without meaning to, created one of the most-watched local news clips of all time. That boy was Noah Lee Ritter, better known online as the “Apparently Kid.” More than a decade later, people are still curious who he is and where he ended up. His story says a lot about how fast an ordinary moment can turn into internet history.
Who Is Noah Lee Ritter?
Noah Lee Ritter was born on November 19, 2008, and grew up in Upper Pottsgrove Township, a small community in Montgomery County, Pennsylvania. He’s the son of Meggin Borowski and Matthew Ritter, though it was his summers in Wilkes-Barre with his grandparents that shaped his most famous moment. Today he’s a teenager who still makes headlines whenever people rediscover the clip that made him famous, or when he resurfaces with a follow-up story of his own.
It’s worth clearing up one common mix-up early: Noah Lee Ritter is not related to the late actor John Ritter of Three’s Company fame. The shared surname has led to some confused search results over the years, but the two have no family connection.
The Interview That Started It All
Ritter’s viral moment happened on August 1, 2014, the opening day of the 152nd Wayne County Fair in Honesdale, Pennsylvania. A reporter from WNEP-TV, the local ABC affiliate, was interviewing kids at the fair about their day when she got to five-year-old Noah. He had other plans.
Rather than giving a simple answer about the teacup ride, Ritter grabbed the microphone and launched into an excited, rambling monologue about being on television for the first time. He peppered his commentary with the word “apparently,” using it so often and so earnestly that it instantly became his catchphrase — and eventually his nickname. He described how dizzy one ride made him and how another had genuinely frightened him, all with the unfiltered enthusiasm only a five-year-old can pull off.
How “Apparently” Became a Nickname
The full interview was posted to YouTube a few days later, on August 4, 2014, and it exploded almost immediately — reportedly passing 300,000 views within 24 hours, 3 million within two days, and double that within three. By early 2025, the video had surpassed 70 million views, making it the most-watched video in WNEP’s history. Two hashtags, #NoahTheReporter and #ApparentlyKid, took off alongside it, and news outlets as far away as Europe and the Middle East picked up the story.
Family Background and Early Life
A big part of Ritter’s charm came from his grandfather, John “Grandpa Jack” Borowski, a retired bridge carpenter who played a major role in raising him. Jack had his own history with the Wayne County Fair, having shown cattle there as a kid, and he made a tradition of taking Noah every summer. That tradition is what put a five-year-old with a microphone in front of a camera in the first place.
As a young child, Ritter was reportedly fascinated by dinosaurs and talked about wanting to become a paleontologist — a small detail that gave a glimpse of the curious kid behind the viral clip.
From Local Clip to National Spotlight
Within days, Ritter was fielding requests from national media. He appeared on the Today show and Good Morning America, and ABC correspondent Gio Benitez interviewed him for ABC World News Tonight with Diane Sawyer. About a week after the video surfaced, the Gregory Brothers — known for their Schmoyoho YouTube channel — turned his rambling into an autotuned song that has since collected more than 13 million views on its own.
A month later, Ritter landed his first commercial gig, appearing in an ad for Freshpet pet food. Ellen DeGeneres brought him on her show multiple times that season, and through those appearances he met celebrities including Jim Carrey, Ariana Grande, Chris Pratt, and Sofía Vergara — a fairly wild run for a kindergartner who, months earlier, hadn’t even known what “apparently” meant.
A Turn as a TV Judge
Ritter’s time in the spotlight didn’t end with talk shows. In 2017, he took a more structured role as a child judge on the reality competition show The Toy Box, which had kids evaluate new toy inventions. He was the only judge from season one invited back for season two — a sign producers saw more staying power in him than a one-off viral moment.
Revisiting the Fair a Decade Later
On August 4, 2024, exactly ten years after his original interview, WNEP sent reporter and meteorologist Jeremy Lewan back to the Wayne County Fair for a follow-up. Lewan found Ritter and Grandpa Jack at the same spot where it all began and rode the teacup ride alongside them. Now a teenager, Ritter joked the ride felt noticeably less cramped than it had a decade earlier. The nostalgic reunion struck a chord online too, drawing more than 2.8 million views and becoming WNEP’s third most-watched video ever.
What Noah Lee Ritter Is Doing Now
Away from the cameras, Ritter’s life has looked like that of any other teenager. He attended Pottsgrove High School, played on the boys’ varsity football team, and largely stayed out of the tabloid spin cycle that sometimes follows child viral stars. He and Grandpa Jack now run a YouTube channel together, “theapparentlykid1968,” posting casual life updates for fans who’ve followed the story since 2014.
What stands out about his arc is how grounded it’s stayed. He didn’t chase the fame into a full-blown entertainment career, but he hasn’t vanished from it either — he resurfaces every so often, older and a little more self-aware, still tied to the same fairground where it all started.
Frequently Asked Questions
What made Noah Lee Ritter famous? He went viral in August 2014 after a WNEP-TV reporter interviewed him at the Wayne County Fair. His animated, rambling answer, full of the word “apparently,” turned him into an overnight sensation known as the “Apparently Kid.”
How old is Noah Lee Ritter now? He was born on November 19, 2008, making him 17 as of late 2026, with his 18th birthday coming that November.
Is Noah Lee Ritter related to actor John Ritter? No. Despite sharing a last name, he has no family connection to the late Three’s Company star. The similarity has caused some online confusion, but the two are unrelated.
What is Noah Lee Ritter doing today? He finished high school in Pennsylvania, played varsity football, and shares life updates with his grandfather on their YouTube channel, “theapparentlykid1968.”
Where can I watch the original interview? The clip, titled “Apparently” This Kid is Awesome, Steals the Show During Interview, is still on WNEP’s YouTube channel and remains the station’s most-watched video ever.
Conclusion
Noah Lee Ritter’s rise to fame started with nothing more than a microphone, a county fair, and a genuinely excited kid who couldn’t stop talking. What’s kept people interested in his story since isn’t just nostalgia for a funny clip — it’s the fact that he grew up largely offscreen, went to high school, played football, and stayed close to the grandfather who was there for the whole ride. A decade on, the “Apparently Kid” is still a small, feel-good reminder that viral fame doesn’t have to define a person’s whole life; sometimes it’s just the opening chapter.
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