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IN PICTURES: Selfie supremo Justin snaps all the stars

He's the king of the cameraphone, the selfie supremo – and Justin Hawthorne's collection of celebrity pics just keeps on growing.

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What started in the days long before the age of the mobile phone snaps has now mushroomed to become an album of impromptu shots with the rich and famous.

And Justin, who lives in Heath Hayes, Cannock, with wife Beci and daughters Olivia and Brooke, admits he just happens to be in the right place at the right time a lot – and that the celebs just seem to come to him.

Justin said: "I got a few pics when I was a kid with the likes of Tony Daley. Since then I've just asked celebs I've seen if they would mind having a picture with me. Nobody has really ever refused."

Among his most prized shots are pictures with a number of Villa's 1982 European Cup winning side including Gary Shaw, Tony Morley, Colin Gibson and Ken McNaught.

But his collection also includes former Wolves and Spurs star Jamie O'Hara and another with O'Hara's then wife, glamour model Danielle Lloyd.

Justin has also snapped a host of current football stars including Villa captain Ron Vlaar, former striker Darren Bent and Albion midfielder Chris Brunt – all of whom have become customers of the hot potato shop Ted's Potatoes that Justin runs with his brother Nick in Sutton Coldfield.

One of his most prized shots came with Ant McPartlin, one half of TV double act Ant & Dec.

"I went to their live show in Birmingham and they came running up and down the aisles at the start of the show," said Justin.

"It was lucky because we were on the end of the row of seats and I just leaned out and said 'Can I get a pic please?' and Ant said 'Of course mate.' It just came out really well, it's one of the best ones I've got."

"Bumble was brilliant," said Justin. "He's hilarious. I asked him for a picture and he said 'Oh, I hate these bloody things' but said okay then broke into a big smile."

Other times have not been so easy for Justin. "I nearly got run over by Bryan Small, who used to play for Villa, when he was a young player driving into Villa Park in his old Mini. I met him a few years later at the shop I told him about it and got a picture with him too!" Justin has also snapped a host of darts players, including former world champions Phil 'The Power' Taylor and 'Crafty Cockney' Eric Bristow.

And he also met actor Scott Adkins, who starred with Sylvester Stallone and Dolph Lundgren in Hollywood blockbuster The Expendables. "He came to the shop one day and I did a double take. Then I realised and asked him if he was in The Expendables. He's actually from Sutton and he told me about working out in the gym with Stallone and doing martial arts. He was a really nice bloke."

"He came over and asked if we could help him tax his car and we got talking and eventually became quite good friends.

"He invited me and my brother to the training ground at Bodymoor Heath once and we stood there watching the team train. Alpay introduced us to Graham Taylor and some of the lads.

"In the end, we were sat in the Villa canteen having lunch with Alpay ad Olof Mellberg. We couldn't believe it. My brother was a bit nervous about it and said 'We shouldn't be here but I just said 'Just enjoy it. This kind of stuff doesn't happen to people like us – just take it all in.'" And Justin added: "We became quite close with Alpay but he had that bust-up with Beckham in a World Cup qualifier between Turkey and England and I think he'd had a fall-out with John Gregory who'd taken over at Villa.

"I was standing with him on his drive when his phone rang one day and he answered it. He was talking to someone and eventually said, 'Hold on, speak to this man for me.'

"So I took the phone and it turned out to be his Turkish agent or lawyer. He read out a statement in broken English and asked if it sounded okay.

"He said 'no way, we'd have read it in the papers'. Sure enough, the next day it was on the back page of the paper. Alpay's shock transfer request!"

"But the one person I would like to get is Lionel Messi. I'm thinking about going to Barcelona later on in the year, so who knows?"

Can you top Justin's selfie collection? Email newsdesk@expressandstar.com.

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