Hair-raising imposter fooled salon staff that he's Joe Longthorne
He's entertained audiences across the world as a singer and impressionist. So staff at a hair salon in Wolverhampton were stunned when a customer who turned up for a short back and sides announced he was showbiz star Joe Longthorne.
But the hairdressers were less than impressed when it turned out they had been fooled – and their customer was actually an imposter.
It is the latest in a string of similar incidents across the Midlands involving someone pretending to be the singer, who has a career spanning more than 30 years.
Staff at the Wolverhampton College-run Academy in King Street were told that he was preparing for an upcoming show in the city. The singer is, in fact, performing in Wolverhampton in the autumn.
Donning grey hair and a beard he put his change in appearance down to recent illness and not dying his hair. Mr Longthorne himself has battled leukaemia and the imposter said steroids had made him put on weight.
But it later transpired that this was not Mr Longthorne, who shot to fame on Des O'Connor's TV show in the 1980s. Workers said that within minutes of walking in, he said he was Mr Longthorne, after being turned away from the Francesco salon in Bilston Street which was too busy.
Excited staff said they were delighted to be in the presence of a celebrity – and gave him a short back and sides, which he paid for.
But they have since been disappointed to discover he was not the singer he pretended to be.
This latest incident is said to have baffled the performer, who wants to find out who is pretending to be him.
College lecturer Jackie Weaver said: "He walked in and said 'I don't really look like my photos because of the steroids', and then he said who he was.
"I wasn't sure so I did Google him and have a look at the pictures but their heights were the same and he told me he usually bleaches his hair."
Mr Longthorne's agent Nigel Lee said: "Joe has built up a career impersonating other people. Now it's the other way round.
"There have been a couple of incidents like this where someone pretended to be Joe over the last year, including one in Birmingham. One time I think the man was wearing a flat cap, which Joe does sometimes.
"It could just be a fan or someone who thinks that Joe isn't as well-known as he used to be and that he could exploit this and grab his five minutes of fame and get some attention."
Mr Longthorne, who received an MBE for services to charity in 2012, is performing at Wolverhampton Civic Hall on October 11.
