A man who won a Danny Dyer lookalike contest has revealed that he believes the runner-up was “robbed”.
Mike Street, 51, from Southampton, admitted his defeated rival Richard Gooch, 58, was a “dead-ringer” for the former EastEnders star.
Mike, who is the vice president of an aerospace metals company and a hardcore Danny Dyer fan, put his victory down to channelling the “spirit of Danny Dyer”.
He said his beaten rival was just a “two-bit Danny” because he lacked the Dyer “attitude” and couldn’t “woo the crowd”.
The contest took place at Shoreditch’s Hoxton Square on Wednesday and was set up to promote the upcoming season 2 of Dyer’s ‘Mr Bigstuff’ TV Show.
Mike says he came across the competition while going on a trip to the National History Museum with his family – and was was watching from the sidelines when his 19-year-old daughter, Lucie, pushed him to take part.
At first there were 12 contestants but ultimately it came down to Mike and Richard.
After a hard-fought competition, Mike ended up being crowned ‘The Best Danny’ and meeting his idol.
But when videos of the event were posted on social media, an avalanche of comments claimed the first place prize had been robbed off of Richard – who bore a remarkable resemblance to the actor.
Mr Gooch, who is from Norwich, ended up coming in second place.
“I felt so sorry for him. He was a dead, dead ringer,” Mike said
“Backstage, everybody was congratulating him before we even went out.
“The poor lad was just so nervous and failed to woo the crowd, to be honest.
“He was a two-bit Danny. He didn’t have the swagger, which is where apparently I came into my own. It was definitely the persona of Danny that got me through.”
Speaking of how he got involved, he added: “We just went to see all the lookalikes and hoped maybe we would spot the legend himself.
“There was no question of me ever taking part.
“It was only when we were looking and somebody approached me and said: ‘You should enter that my daughter’ that my Lucie was like: ‘You do need to do it, Dad, you need to do it.
“When we got there, I got roped into taking part and eventually won. It was an insane day – a mad, mad day.”
Mr Gooch, 58, who makes stained glass windows, told SWNS he is up for a rematch and “would like to beat Mike next time”.
He vowed to work on his Dyer attitude before a possible future showdown, saying: “I’ll give him his dues… he had the swagger – the Dyer confidence.”
According to Mike, it is not the first time that he has been told that he has something of a “Danny Dyer spirit”.
He says his likeness to the actor has caused him to be stopped before at football matches, with fans coming up to him to say: “Bloody hell, you remind me of Danny Dyer!”
But he puts that down to his attitude – not his appearance.
“I’d always reply: Nice one geezer – and not think anything more of it!” he said.
“I don’t personally think I look like him… all my mates and my wife keep saying that I’ve got a lot of similarities, but I think it’s more about my persona and how I engulf the Danny Dyer image and his personality.”
Mike, who says his favourite movie is Dyer’s 1999 ‘Human Traffic’, said: “I’ve grown up with him. I’ve watched all his movies.
“They just capture a way of life back in the 90s very similar to my own sort of growing up lifestyle.”
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