Who is Andrew Tate and why has he been arrested?

Andrew Tate has been arrested in Romania as part of a human trafficking and rape investigation.

Tate, 36, was detained in Bucharest on Thursday along with his brother Tristan, the BBC has confirmed.

Tate has been arrested on suspicion of human trafficking, rape and forming an organised crime group, prosecutors have said.

The former world champion kickboxer and self-styled 'king of toxic masculinity' rose to fame with his controversial views on social media. But who is he?

Here's all you need to know about Tate.

Who is Andrew Tate?

Tate was born on December 14, 1986, in Washington D.C, USA, and grew up in Luton, England.

His American father Emory Tate was a chess International Master, while his English mother Eileen Ashleigh worked as a catering assistant.

After his parents divorced when he was young, Tate moved with his mother and brother to England.

He reportedly moved from the UK to Romania in 2017.

Why is he famous?

Tate is famous for several reasons. He initially gained fame in the world of combat sports, having taken up boxing and other martial arts in 2005.

He would later pursue a career in kickboxing and claims to have reigned as a four-time world champion, retiring with a professional record of 43-9.

Tate appeared on Big Brother in 2016 but was removed from the British TV show over a video that appeared to show him hitting a woman with a belt.

He denied assaulting the woman and claimed the clip was edited, calling it "a total lie trying to make me look bad".

He would go on to gain further notoriety with his controversial views on social media after leaving the show, most notably about women – with his critics accusing him of misogyny and toxic masculinity.

Tate was able to gain millions of followers with these views while also promoting an ultra-masculine and ultra-luxurious lifestyle before he was eventually banned by several platforms.

Why was he banned from social media?

Tate was banned from Facebook and Instagram in August for violating parent company Meta's policies on "dangerous individuals".

Before his Instagram account was deleted, Tate had amassed 4.7 million followers on the platform.

Tate was later banned from YouTube and TikTok but content featuring Tate continues to be posted on both platforms.

According to Sky News, in November - analysis by the Center for Countering Digital Hate (CCDH) identified more than 100 TikTok accounts that frequently promote Tate's content, with a total of 250 million video views and 5.7 million followers.

Tate was also banned by Twitter in 2017 but his account was recently reinstated, following Elon Musk's takeover of the company.

Tate's row with Greta Thunberg explained

Earlier this week, Tate caused controversy by directing a tweet at climate activist Thunberg in which he boasted of his fleet of luxury cars.

"Hello @GretaThunberg. I have 33 cars. My Bugatti has a w16 8.0L quad turbo. My TWO Ferrari 812 competizione have 6.5L v12s. This is just the start," tweeted Tate.

"Please provide your email address so I can send a complete list of my car collection and their respective enormous emissions."

Thunberg later replied: "Yes, please do enlighten me. email me at smalld***[email protected]."

Tate subsequently responded with a video criticising Thunberg - telling her to also "get a life". In the clip, Tate is seen wearing a bath robe, smoking cigars and holding branded pizza boxes.

Speculation has circulated on social media whether Romanian police had been able to identify Tate's location in the country as a result of the pizza box branding. However, the BBC claim that this is not the case.

Why has he been arrested?

Tate was arrested on Thursday on suspicion of human trafficking, rape and forming an organised crime group.

Both he and his brother Tristan were detained on Thursday for an initial 24 hours along with two Romanian suspects.

The Tate brothers had been under criminal investigation since April, prosecutors from Romania's anti organised-crime unit confirmed.

"The four suspects ... appear to have created an organised crime group with the purpose of recruiting, housing and exploiting women by forcing them to create pornographic content meant to be seen on specialised websites for a cost," prosecutors said in a statement on Thursday, as reported by Reuters.

The two brothers declined to comment on Thursday but Tate took to social media on Friday to post a cryptic update.

"The matrix sent their agents," he posted on Twitter.

Romanian prosecutors have now asked a Bucharest court to extend the detention of Tate, his brother and the two other suspects for a further 30 days.