Yahoo Lifestyle Harry Styles Doubles Gather in London in Latest Lookalike Contest: ‘He’s Out Here Being Iconic, Why Can’t We All?’
Harry Styles doppelgangers flocked to London’s Soho Square on Saturday to show off their best impressions of the “Watermelon Sugar” singer — for a grand prize of £50.
It’s the most recent in a string of so-called lookalike contests, which kicked off with Timothée Chalamet in New York (where the actor himself made a surprise appearance) and continued this week with a Paul Mescal event in Dublin, Ireland.
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There were 12 total Styles lookalikes that entered the contest, which was organized by journalist Katrina Mirpuri and started making the rounds on social media on Thursday. After the news got picked up by popular X account PopCrave, Mirpuri knew people would show up — but she didn’t expect it to attract such a big crowd, which amounted to at least 100 spectators and consisted mostly of young women.
“I saw [the Chalamet contest] happening in New York and I thought, ‘Wow, that is so cool, people look like they had such a good time.’ And Paul Mescal in Dublin, I was like, ‘OK, buzzing, hilarious,'” Mirpuri told Variety. “But London, come on, we gotta one-up them. And I just took it upon myself.”
The Harrys were judged by an esteemed panel in four categories: best style, hair, overall lookalike and worst lookalike. Though the grand prize was £50, beer and wine were awarded to the other categories, and the best hair winner received haircare products from the brand Wavy to keep up their curls.
Despite sharing some similarities, the Styles clones covered a broad spectrum of what looking like the singer could mean — there was a blonde Harry, an older man nicknamed “Daddy Harry” and three non-male competitors in the mix. As the contest was gearing up to begin, a lookalike donning a mask, pink beanie and hooded sweatshirt snuck through the crowd, leading some to believe that it was Styles himself — alas, it was another copycat dressed as the singer hiding from paparazzi. There were also entrants who simply did not resemble Styles one bit. But the contest was all in good fun, as Styles’ hits like “Watermelon Sugar” and “As It Was” prompted singalongs throughout the square.
Keenan Gregor, 32 — also known as blonde Harry — had just flown into London from Toronto when he heard about the contest from his girlfriend. “My whole life I’ve been told I look like Harry,” he said, adding: “My natural hair color is more brown.”
The judges and crowd did not necessarily agree, as he was not among the winners. However, Gregor — who works in the film industry and is also a musician — said what was most important to him was the community aspect of the contest.
“He’s out here being iconic, why can’t we all?” he said. “I love how he approaches music so fearlessly.”
Daddy Harry, aka 36-year-old Andy Bradley, earned some of the biggest cheers from the crowd. “As long as there’s no boos, that’s the main thing,” he said with a laugh.
Bradley used to work at the London storefront of Styles’ brand Pleasing, and would get “bombarded” with people asking for photos and telling him he looks like a mix of Styles and One Direction bandmate Louis Tomlinson. Despite not winning a prize, Bradley is walking away with a renewed sense of “love for Harry,” he said. “I love his music, I’m a fan and I’m looking forward to his new album.”
As the contest went on, two clear frontrunners emerged — Oscar Journeaux, who went for a “cozy” Styles look in a brown leather jacket and scarf, and Mitch Rothwell, who was full red-carpet glam with a red tweed jacket and pearls. Both possessed Styles’ messy curls, doe-like eyes and charming dimples. Rothwell was declared the runner-up, while Journeaux claimed his victory as the ultimate Styles lookalike.
Speaking to Variety after his win, Journeaux said when he had longer hair, he would get told he looked like Styles “every day.”
“I missed a train once because somebody made me give them an autograph,” he said. “I tried to convince him I wasn’t [Styles], but he wasn’t having it.”
Journeaux’s plan for the prize money is to buy a new guitar pedal. He’s the co-frontman of the band Parlay, and unashamedly admitted that part of his strategy for showing up to the contest was to get the word out about his own music.
“That was part of my ambition here,” Journeaux said. “I hope it works!”
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