A former star of The Apprentice has posed naked for a billboard in Manchester - inspired by 1970s pinup Burt Reynolds.
The American actor was famously photographed in the nude for an iconic centrefold in Cosmopolitan magazine.
Now Lewis Ellis, from Tameside, has recreated the shot - complete with hairy chest and tash - for a billboard on the Mancunian Way.
The businessman, who was a candidate on The Apprentice in 2019, said his aim was to create 'the sexiest billboard in Manchester'.
Describing the inspiration behind his publicity stunt, the 30-year-old said: "I always say to my clients 'You don't have to get naked on a billboard to disrupt things...then I thought 'I wonder if you can do this?' I thought 'I wonder if I can make the sexiest billboard in Manchester?'"
He said his idea then turned into a 'bit of a dare'.
"It's (about) making people laugh, it's just funny," he added.
Lewis said he was more nervous about posing for the photoshoot than he was for the big unveiling of the billboard.
"I was in a studio, it was a funny situation, I wasn't looking my best.
"I've put on a bit of weight and felt like a potato rolling round the floor", he said.
But there's no reason for Lewis to be disheartened - the billboard has generated a lot of positive feedback on social media, he said.
He has had 'hundreds of compliments' and said he has 'unlocked many people's kinks'.
Lewis starred in The Apprentice in 2019.
He began working for an agency in February last year, but lost his job shortly after due to the financial impact of the pandemic.
Determined not to let his job loss defeat him, he decided to create his own business.
He launched marketing agency Hussel Marketing in June.
Lewis said the stunt is very much in character - in 2016 he took a dip in the Trafford Centre pool for a prank.
"Over the years I have done a lot of weird and wonderful things.
"I'm not going to do things like everybody else. I refuse to conform.
"If you watch back (the footage of me swimming in the Trafford Centre pool) you think 'what an idiot'.
"I realise what I was doing back then is what I'm doing now - but I'm channelling my energy into something that has a purpose'", he said.
