It was like looking in a mirror for Chuckle Brother Paul when he met his bus driving doppelganger.
John Simpson has been being compared to the ChuckleVision star for years, and even gets stopped in the street for photos.
The 58-year-old was first likened to the kids’ TV legend about five years ago, and not a day goes by without someone commenting on his likeness.
The bus driver from Gainford, County Durham, met Paul Elliott at the Fishburn Live festival in County Durham last month where the latter was doing a DJ set.
“My wife saw the advert for Fishburn Live and treated me as an early birthday present. Paul was on last with his DJ set.
“I’d tweeted him to say I’d be there but it wasn’t planned to meet him.
“I was at the front of the crowd and the compere spotted me straight away.
“One person came up and asked me when I was on!
“We went around backstage – it was brilliant.
“We were talking a little about Barry. He was saying how he still misses him, I said ‘he wasn’t just part of your double act he was your brother’.
“I was over the moon because last time I saw him we didn’t have much time.
John has met Paul, 76, before when he and late brother Barry performed in pantomime at the then-Civic Theatre in Darlington in 2014. But back then no one had clocked the resemblance and the pair parted ways without anyone batting an eye.
This time the pair posed for a photo, both showing off their spiked hair and bushy moustaches.
John is so like Paul that even comic Bernie Clifton mistook him for the Chuckle Brother, and one elderly lady sat down on his lap after asking him for a photo.
Last week a ITV’s This Morning showed side-by-side comparison of Paul and John with host Alison Hammond amazed by their likeness.
“It started off with my bus passengers. Then a friend of mine put a photo of Paul laughing next to a photo of me and it went from there,” John added.
Recommended reading:
- EXCLUSIVE | Teen whose head struck pole in Aycliffe motorbike crash thanks passersby who helped
- All the Carpetright stores closing across the North East as firm taken over
- The County Durham shop that's gone viral with unique 'Fizzy Chug Challenge'
Get more from The Northern Echo with a digital subscription. Get access for 4 months for just £4, or get 40% off an annual subscription with our latest offer. Click here.
“I don’t know if I’ve just got more like him as I’ve got older.
“Barry’s birthday is on the same day as our wedding anniversary. I would have loved him to have been around while this was happening.”
The Chuckle Brothers guest edited The Northern Echo’s Christmas Eve edition in 2013. Barry died in August 2018.
Comments: Our rules
We want our comments to be a lively and valuable part of our community - a place where readers can debate and engage with the most important local issues. The ability to comment on our stories is a privilege, not a right, however, and that privilege may be withdrawn if it is abused or misused.
Please report any comments that break our rules.
Read the rules here