A Leonardo DiCaprio lookalike has told how the Covid pandemic wrecked his dreams of stardom.
Roman Burtsev, 39, found fame in 2016 over his resemblance to the Hollywood superstar.
The doppelganger started getting work as a model, including an advert where he posed as Leo and gave interviews to the press about his newfound fame.
But now he says the coronavirus pandemic has thwarted his plans for international fame.
He said: "The problems began with the introduction of restrictions in April 2020 and now people have forgotten about me."
Previously, Roman would get flocked by fans of the actor while visiting large cities, but he says the pandemic had put an end to all that.
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Having to wear a face mask impede people's ability to spot the likeness between the Hollywood star and his Russian counterpart.
And Roman, who currently lives in a two-room flat with his parents and cats, had advertisers pull out of deals with him after he was unable to lose weight.
But he says that he is on the right path again, adding: "I tried many methods for weight loss before finding my own and am now in the process of losing weight."
Roman, who is not currently in a relationship, says that he plans to reach his target weight so he will be "on top" by the new year.
He added that his plans for the future are simple and can be summed up as "family, children, home."
Previously, Roman appeared in various adverts, including one for Five Lakes vodka, before he started working in cryptocurrency.
The DiCaprio lookalike, who has a background in IT, had to quit his crypto gig because his boss was unhappy with his requests for time off so he could go on photoshoots and advert shoots.
Now he says he dreams of being able to afford a house in Crimea and he currently earns just RUB 50,000 (£515) a month.
His family sold a three-room apartment they once owned in the Tula region in western Russia and moved into a two-room council flat in Podolsk, which is an industrial city on the outskirts of the capital Moscow.
Burtsev lives in one of the rooms, while his parents live in the other room, but he hopes to soon buy a house now that his sister has started university.
