A Balham pub hosted a Claudia Winkleman lookalike competition ahead of the Celebrity Traitors finale.
More than 250 people gathered at the Regent to watch 15 lookalikes compete for a £250 bar tab, followed by a live screening of the finale on Friday 30 October.
A mass of fringes, fake tan and fingerless gloves descended on the pub as contestants travelled across London to compete for the title.
Ellie Granger, marketing manager for The Regent, said events like these bring people together and give London a sense of community.
She said: “So many people came when we screened The Traitors in January, which kept us going through a quiet month and new taxes on hospitality.
“When we were screening this season, I thought, ‘what can we do to make this bigger?’”
Alongside the bar tab and ‘bragging rights for the whole year’, a bucket of wine and a bottle of Head and Shoulders shampoo were also up for grabs.
Each doppelgänger took to the stage to show off their outfit, perform a short impression and unleash their best Claudia Winkleman stare on the audience.
The winner was decided by an Applause-O-Meter, with the title going to the contestant who won the loudest cheers from the crowd.
Rosie Devine, the second contestant on stage, achieved her look by applying 100 layers of bronzer and a whole stick of eyeliner.
She even tracked down the exact gloves Winkleman wore on The Traitors, paying £30 for the pair on Amazon.
While every contestant was faithful to Winkleman’s iconic look, Sophie Ruth was crowned the eventual winner.
Ruth said: “I hope I’ve done Claudia proud.
“I went as Claudia Winkleman last year but no one else was dressed up and it was pretty embarrassing.
“The secret to the look is doing my eyeliner like I woke up in a skip and lots of bronzer.”
When asked what she would do with the prize money, she said: “Spend it tonight and drink as much as we can.”
Although contestants got creative, no one used Winkleman’s unique hack of using gravy granules or tea bags as a fake tan substitute.
Lookalike competitions have become a craze in London, with Jude Bellingham, Ali G and Dev Patel lookalike competitions all drawing hundreds of spectators this year.
Some celebs, like Timothée Chalamet, have even turned up to their own contests.
It is no surprise that Claudia Winkleman was the next muse, with more than 15 million people streaming the first episode of this year’s Celebrity Traitors.
The BBC has confirmed that The Traitors will return to our screens in 2027.
Featured image credit: Ellen Spencer
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