A dispute over the owner of a lathered torso in a US shower gel advert has been resolved after the manufacturer Dove confirmed the muscular man was the Conservative MP Johnny Mercer, not a personal trainer who claimed he had been a body double.
Last week it was revealed that Mercer, a former British army captain who was elected as MP for Plymouth Moor View in May, starred in the 15-second advert for Dove Men+Care currently airing in the US.
The advert shows a toned torso covered in suds in the shower, and later features a smiling Mercer showing off his strength, lifting his six-year-old daughter Amalie.
But on Tuesday, 30-year-old personal trainer Vince Ciolino told the Plymouth Herald he believed it was his body in the shower scene.
Ending the speculation, Dove said the torso was that of Mercer. “I can confirm that the person in the shower in this ad is Johnny Mercer,” a spokeswoman said. “It isn’t Vince.”
Speaking to the Guardian, 30-year-old Ciolino said he had been told his body would feature in the advert and had informed his personal training clients, adding that he believed it was obvious the topless shots were not of the MP.
“We filmed exactly the same scenes apart from the outdoor scene, because my three-year-old daughter wasn’t feeling well,” he said.
The Mercers applied for the role via a marketing agency that was looking for real-life military families to feature in a commercial. Ciolino, who spent 10 years in the British army before starting his fitness business, also responded to the callout.
The MP’s wife, Felicity, told the Plymouth Herald when the story first came to light that her husband had spent “hours in the shower” filming. “He was dressed from the waist down, which obviously you can’t see,” she said.
“They made him shave his chest for the shower scene so he spent the week itching which I don’t think he enjoyed.”
The MP acknowledged the doubts over his appearance in a Twitter exchange with Jessica Roberts, the sister-in-law of the personal trainer, but described Ciolino’s claim as “strange”.
The MP said the jokes had “been relentless” since the story came to light. “Hopefully the questions on this will now cease.”
Mercer has not declared any earnings from his 15 seconds of fame on the official register of members’ interests but there is no requirement for him to mention it because it was filmed in February 2014.
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