Art Attack presenter Neil Buchanan has responded to rumours circulating that he is Banksy.
Over the weekend, social media was flooded with talk that the true identity of the hooded guerrilla artist Banksy could be the children’s entertainment legend.
However, the TV presenter has now issued a statement stating he is categorically not Banksy.
The statement says: "Neil Buchanan is NOT Banksy.
"We have been inundated with enquiries over the weekend regarding the current social media story.
"Unfortunately this website does not have the infrastructure to answer all these enquiries individually, however we can confirm that there is no truth in the rumour whatsoever.
"Neil spent Lockdown with vulnerable members of his family and is now preparing to launch his new art collection in 2021.
"Thank you and please stay safe."
As reported by the Manchester Evening News, on Friday a Twitter user fanned the flames by writing: “Just heard that it's rumoured Neil Buchanan is Banksy.
"If true, it's the funniest s*** ever. Aintree's finest.”
Explaining the theory further they added: “He's a musician and art has followed in the cities of shows he's done allegedly.”
And they added this was enough to convince them, saying: “This is straight in the believe without question category.”
Another Twitter user replied: “In the late nineties/early noughties, someone pointed Banksy out to me at the Notting Hill Arts Club.
"I also saw him doing a stencil outside my flat in Hoxton at around the same time (hood up).
"Could I pick him out of a line-up? Absolutely not."
The rumour delighted many fans of Art Attack presenter Neil, who shot to fame in the 80s as a host on the Saturday morning show No. 73, later renamed 7T3.
"Art Attack’s Neil Buchanan is Banksy? I don’t even need to look more into that. That’s my truth from now on and you can’t tell me otherwise," tweeted one.
Another Twitter user suggested Banksy is actually Nicholas Lyndhurst of Only Fools and Horses fame.
Others made a link in Neil's heavy metal rock band Marseille.
The band performed at the Garage in Glasgow in 2010 and a Banksy artwork was found on a wall on Sauchiehall Street near the music venue.
The band also played at the famous the Roundhouse in Camden, London, near another Banksy work.
Neil, 58, presented the CITV programme Art Attack from 1990 to 2007. He also presented the game show Finders Keepers from 1991 to 1996
