A Boy George impersonator has told how he spent £16,000 on cosmetic surgery to not look like comedian and chat show host Alan Carr. Singer Liam Halewood shed light on his changed appearance on the James Whale Unleashed show on TalkTV.
Appearing as a panellist alongside former WAG Lizzie Cundy, the ex-wife of former Tottenham Hotspur player Jason Cundy, he explained that he had previously looked like the TV funny man. But now Liam, who has performed for years in clubs across Manchester, specialises as a Boy George tribute.
James said: "You have spent £16,000 on plastic surgery having yourself changed to look like Boy George." But Liam corrected: "It wasn't £16,000 to look like Boy George, it was £16,000 not to look like Alan Carr."
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He explained "that was my previous lookalike gig" before continuing: "I'm not against aesthetics but I just want to get the message across that I've just filmed a show about body positivity and being yourself and the rules and regulations around getting aesthetics like your Botox and fillers."
Lizzie then cut in to make a jokey dig at former Countdown host Carol Vorderman as she insisted she paid money to not look like the former Countdown star. She joked: "Listen, I spent around £16,000 not to look like Carol Vorderman!"
When asked by James about having a bum lift, Liam said: "I haven't had a bum lift." And Lizzie set the record straight by adding: "Can I just say live on air, I have NOT had a bum lift," before explaining that she had "little pricks" in her bottom.
Liam, 36, from Liverpool, recently told the Mirror that he underwent cosmetic procedures in a bid to help him break into showbiz and called for tighter regulation in the aesthetics industry. At 28 he got into serious debt after undergoing Botox, fillers in his face and lips, non-surgical jaw alignment and hair transplants, as well as eyebrow shaping, regular facials and skin peels in just a year.
Now filler-free, he believes more should be done for the wellbeing of patients before and after procedures. Liam is also calling for filtered pictures on social media to be marked up as edited so as not to sell a 'false dream' to young and impressionable followers.
Liam, who auditioned for The X Factor in 2015, previously told the Manchester Evening News that his new look was kick-started by E4 programme BodyFixers in 2017, which stripped him of his resemblance to the Chatty Man comic. But that only spurred him on to go for more extreme procedures, and the upkeep of his new appearance proved costly.
Liam, who stopped having work done at the end of 2018, said: "It wasn't just the botox and fillers that cost a lot - I spent thousands on hotels so I could go to all the best parties and mingle with the right people, and didn't think twice about the £10 drinks I was buying everyone.
"I even spent £550 on a pair of Vivienne Westwood jeans which I don't even have anymore. Looking back, I'm shocked at how much I spent."
Liam has been performing since he was 18. He trained to be a carer for the elderly after his gigs were cancelled during the Covid-19 pandemic, singing as himself to help brighten the days of those in his care.
He was one of the 'Bargain Brits' featured in the money-saving show Bargain Brits on Benefits which celebrated the savvy folk that made little money go far during the pandemic. One way was turning to fakeaways, rather than takeaways, which saved him £100 a week after teaching himself to cook.
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