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Rio Ferdinand lookalike offered £11k to double as Utd icon

 

A Rio Ferdinand lookalike has received offers of up to £11,000 to double as the former Manchester United and England defender and once appeared in a TV advert.

Baz Ahmed, from Halesowen, starred alongside Liverpool legend John Barnes in an advert for Lucozade prior to the 2014 World Cup after a friend put him forward for the role.

The 32-year-old, who owns Anatolia Pizza and Kebab House in Kidderminster, now receives offers every couple of weeks to appear as Ferdinand at events.

He was even once offered £11,000 to fly to Spain for three days to appear as Ferdinand at a party.

The job offer would have seen Ahmed pose as the BT Sport pundit at a party and hand out drinks to revellers.

However, Ahmed has revealed he turned down that particular job offer, despite the £11,000 fee for just three days work.

Manchester United icon Rio Ferdinand

“I had to say no to that sadly as it was giving out alcohol and my mum wouldn’t have liked it,” he told Birmingham Live.

The offer is just one of many since Ahmed first appeared as Ferdinand in a Lucozade advert as part of a campaign for the 2014 World Cup.

He had been put forward for the role by a friend who had noticed a striking resemblance between himself and the six-time Premier League champion.

“My boss at the time took a secret photo of me and sent it off to the people doing the advert,” he explained.

“I knew nothing about it and he took me for a haircut, which ended up being the same as Rio’s style, and said we had to do an event in London.

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“When we got there, he’d bought the England kit with him and it ended up being for an advert. I was alongside lookalikes for David Beckham, John Terry, Jermaine Defoe and Peter Crouch and we had to chase chickens around a room, it was bizarre.

“The best thing was that I got to spend some time with John Barnes and he told me that I looked just like Rio, which was amazing to hear from him. I got paid £8K to do that advert too.”

Ahmed also revealed that he now gets calls from lookalike companies every other week due to their only being a handful of Ferdinand lookalikes in the country.

 

 

 

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