Celeb lookalike contests are more than good looks and big egos

There is something quite bold about telling people you look like someone famous – especially if your supposed doppelganger is one of the world’s biggest heartthrobs.

But that hasn’t put off the hundreds of men in the UK and US who have taken part in a recent craze for lookalike competitions.

It all started with the Timothée Chalamet competition in New York three weeks ago, which even attracted the real actor himself.

Since then, similar contests have attracted crowds of young people hoping to get a glimpse of someone who vaguely resembles Harry Styles, Dev Patel or Paul Mescal.

With eternal bragging rights, five minutes of fame and (paltry) cash prizes up for grabs, the winners and organisers explain why these events have taken off.

Our fascination with celebrity lookalikes is nothing particularly new – Stars in Their Eyes, a show in which amateur lookalikes impersonate singers, ran on ITV for 16 years. The format was revived as Starstruck in 2022.

But the latest competitions all have one thing in common: the celebrities are all young, attractive and male.

Avani Johnson, who was at the Timothée Chalamet contest, says she believes the latest trend has taken off because “women are relishing the opportunity to objectify men in a complete switch in power dynamics”.

She adds that it also gives us a chance “to laugh at the absurdity of pageantry”.

Miles Mitchell, a 20-year-old student, picked up the prize for the best Timothée Chalamet lookalike last month at the competition that set this trend alight.

Miles was first told he looked like Chalamet when studying in South Korea.

“I was there at the time Dune was released, so people kept asking me in shops and restaurants if I was Timothée on a press tour.”

He says he was drawn to the competition because, as a university student in New York, “socialising can be really expensive so my friends and I loved the fact this was a free and fun event”.

“It was also just something a bit different and wacky that I wanted to be part of.”

The event took social media by storm, with one person commenting on X it was “a historic pop culture moment”, while another said the competition “shows that the people yearn for weird town events”.

Although the real Timothée turned up and took pictures with some of the lookalikes, Miles didn’t get a chance to meet the American actor.

“He arrived at the same time the police did to shut down the event so I had already moved to the secondary location for the event. I’m gutted I didn’t get to meet him.”

Oscar Journeaux, a 22-year-old musician, recently won a Harry Styles lookalike competition in central London and admits he entered “for publicity”.

“I thought I could get a bit of fame and promo for my music and the industry is so hard to break into, you really have to get yourself out there.”

Oscar, who says he once missed his train because an insistent fan made him sign an autograph, adds: “People want to think there’s a deeper meaning to these events, but really we’re all just bored millennials and Gen Z looking for something to do.”

Keenan Gregor, who entered as a blond Harry, says he went along because he “wanted to be part of something that could go viral”.

Journalist Katrina Mirpuri says she organised the lookalike contest because “people need to have some fun after all the dreary news we’re having”.

Despite worrying that “no-one would turn up”, she says half of Soho Square was packed with lookalikes and fans.

Even though most of the contestants didn’t quite look like Harry, “the girls were screaming for each man as they got up to twirl, so they were doing something right”.

“Really it wasn’t about who looked most like Harry,” Katrina explains. “It was a way for people to just be positive and celebratory about each other, which is what we need when everyone is so nasty and negative on social media.”

She has now got her eye on hosting another competition but this time “for someone older, like Hugh Grant”.

Jaipreet Hundal had a pretty good weekend when he was crowned the most convincing Dev Patel lookalike in San Francisco.

“The best bit was that when I turned up, some people thought I was the real Dev Patel and they were so excited that he had come to the event,” he tells the BBC.

The 25-year-old says looking like the Slumdog Millionaire actor has “given him a glimpse of what it’s like to be a celebrity”.

He explains that the trend is popular now because “it’s a great way to get people together to have a wholesome time”.

Sudev Namboodiri, who drove hours to enter the competition and gets told he looks like Dev on an almost daily basis, says it “wasn’t about winning”.

“It’s nice to meet new people and it was cool that hundreds of young people decided to turn up and hang out.”

After the recent all-consuming election in the US, “people really need to disconnect from everything and have a bit of fun”, he adds.

Julyus Odreman has spent a decade being mistaken for Zayn Malik, but cannot see it himself because he says he is “nowhere near as handsome”.

Julyus, from Venezuela, says his friends think he looks so much like Zayn that “people don’t even call me by my real name any more”.

The resemblance to the former One Direction star means he often gets “stopped by groups of girls on the subway or the street”.

He also once had to pretend to be the British singer when he met his friend’s four-year-old son, who was “so insistent that I was really him”.

“I didn’t want to burst his bubble because he was so excited to meet a celebrity, so I just went with it.”

He’ll be channelling Zayn on Saturday at a lookalike competition in New York, organised by Jaz Arnold, who was inspired by the Timothée Chalamet contest.

“Zayn is super hot and it’s hard to imagine we can find someone as beautiful as him,” she says.

She adds that it’s “hilarious and brave” that lots of people think they look as good as Zayn and she can’t wait to see who shows up.

For Jaz, the competition is also about bringing people together.

“In big cities, it’s hard to feel part of a community so I wanted to do something fun that is welcoming and accepting.”

She also says young people “are so tired of social media and the state of the world” that a silly event like this “is pure escapism, even if it is just for an hour or two”.