A lad who dressed up as a Just Stop Oil protestor this Halloween has revealed that he had to assure his dad that he wasn't an actual protestor.
Gus Lee-Dolphin, 28, from Surbiton, and his friends found viral fame thanks to their Halloween costumes, which were inspired by the recent high profile Just Stop Oil protests around the UK.
He shared a video of himself and his friends' innovative costumes on TikTok yesterday (30 October), and it's already been viewed almost 900K times.
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Now, he tells LADbible that his costume, which was worn on a night out in London, was so good that his friend Jack Burchill had to assure his dad that he wasn't actually a protestor.
Gus explained that Jack was filmed DJing in the outfit and 'had a number of videos taken of him that found their way to his dad.'
"His dad called up rather concerned that he had joined Just Stop Oil when [he'd] told [him that he] was pursuing his music career in London."
Gus said that he got the idea for the outfits when he thought about what would 'haunt me more than a ghost or monster.'
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"I saw all the protests going on for Just Stop Oil, and I thought being stuck in a car due to their protests or them spraying soup/orange liquid over your business would haunt me more than a ghost or monster," he revealed.
"Then I remembered when the guy at Everton tied himself to the goal post.
"In every group chat I was being sent 'is that you?' as a joke, as he looked a bit like me mainly due to the hair, so I thought it was the perfect opportunity to dress up as him with the t-shirt and glasses."
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Gus said it was 'one of the easiest Halloween costumes' he's ever had to do and 'just required a high vis and a black marker pen.'
But it wasn't just Jack's dad who thought the lads were actually protestors - so too did other revellers on their Halloween night out.
"Some people thought we were being serious," Gus revealed. "Some people got started on a few times. Resulting in some rather funny interactions [when I had to] explain it's fancy dress."
Others saw the funny side to the costumes, and Gus said they were told they had 'won' Halloween.
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Gus said of Just Stop Oil: "I think taking the Just Eat branding was smart. But I don't think people like their style of protesting, even if they might agree with [the] cause."
However, he's of the opinion that no one can lose from the lads' Halloween costumes, as they've given Just Stop Oil more publicity and 'everyone else has a laugh'.
Emma Guinness