Express & Star

Harry lookalike has 1D fans in a whirl

Screaming fans flag him down on the street desperate to have their photograph taken with him.

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This 23-year-old waiter from the Black Country is all but living the celebrity dream – thanks to his uncanny resemblance to One Direction star Harry Styles.

With millions of adoring fans, the pop star is one of the most in-demand musicians on the planet. And with strikingly similar boyish good looks, Nathan Land, from Walsall, is stopped by groups of girls on a daily basis thinking they have struck gold and stumbled upon their hero.

They all want the holy grail for One Direction fans – a selfie with Harry, a bandmate of Wolverhampton's Liam Payne.

And though they are sometimes disappointed to discover he is not the man himself, Nathan is happy to pose for pictures and says he is enjoying the attention.

Nathan looks a lot like 1D star Harry in this selfie.

He said: "I am always stopped when I am out and about, with people asking me for a photo.

"Younger fans get really excited and I can see them tapping their mum of the shoulder and asking if they can have a picture with Harry. I think it is quite funny."

Although Nathan admits they have similar dress sense, he insists he does not try to look like Harry.

But he often wears white T-shirts and skinny jeans just like the stylish megastar.

Nathan said: "I have naturally curly hair, which is Harry's most famous feature – some people think I have had a perm, but it is all real."

The part-time waiter is often asked to make appearances at children's birthday parties. And Nathan was once given a £20 tip for serenading one of his customer's daughters with One Direction's cover of the Blondie song One Way or Another.

The real deal – Harry Styles from One Direction.

Nathan said: 'She really wanted to surprise her daughter, so she tipped me so I would sing to her – it was really cringey but I still did it and the girl loved it.'

But it's not all adoring fans – the Harry lookalike has said he has had men pick fights with him on nights out. Nathan said: "A lot of guys hate Harry Styles because their girlfriends like him, so I have had the odd punch thrown at me – but it's just part and parcel of it."

Nathan admits that looking like Harry Styles does help him attract the opposite sex, although it's not always worked to his advantage. He said: "I was with a girl in Starbucks one time, and everything was going well. Then a middle-aged man who was on his own came over and told me he was having a selfie with me.

"He pushed the camera in front of us, took the pictures and then walked off laughing. It wasn't the best timing." He is now hoping to do more professional lookalike work.

"If I can get the work, I would be happy to make more appearances," he said.

The only drawback is Nathan admits he isn't the biggest fan of the band.

But he said: "My life has got better because of them, so I can't really complain."

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