The ‘four lads in jeans’ from the viral meme of Birmingham friends posing before a night out have praised the statue which has immortalised the memorable photo in the exact same spot.
The bronze statue of the "four lads in jeans" is now standing tall in Birmingham, three years on from when the group went viral.
It's been erected in the exact same spot friends Connor Humpage, Jamie Philips, Alex Lacey and Kevin Rooney took the well-known snap, which was shared and edited millions of times.
The four men appeared on Good Morning Britain on Monday morning standing in the centre of the city alongside their statue, moulded by artist Tat Vision.
The men spoke with Charlotte Hawkins and Sean Fletcher in the studio about their thoughts on the sculpture, which was made from women mannequins in tight clothing with added paper-mâché and PVA glue covered in bronze paint.
Alex first said: “I can’t really complain if someone’s honoured us to do a statue of us,” before Kevin added alongside him: “It’s light-hearted. I think a lot of people look deep into it, but it’s light-hearted and it’s a bit of fun. It’s been an honour for us.”
The artist said his artwork was inspired by the style of the likes of the infamous 'Ronaldo statue' and 'Boulton, Watt and Murdoch' near the library.
Standing in their duplicate line-up order, Jamie joked that his statue “looked miserable” before adding: “He’s got the tan right for some reason.”
Connor finally concluded: “It's like looking in a mirror. I can’t see any difference. The women's shoes – the foot size is a little small, but apart from that.”
Artist Tat Vision said he wanted to immortalise the "lads", Birmingham Live reports.
He said: “I shipped the idea of doing it for the Commonwealth Games but it was too late. Fortunately I was put in contact with Birmingham Big Weekender and had the go-ahead from them. The statue will be there all weekend as part of an event.
“It took me a few weeks, on-and-off, to make. I used four women's mannequins, which I covered in tight-fitting ladies jeans and tops.
“The heads are made from papier-mâché and all of it was painted to have a nice, shiny bronze effect.
“I'm happy with the way it looks, just the heads to attach. Hope they don't fall off.”
Tat Vision explained he loved the tightness of the groups trousers and muscular upper-half, adding: “I first saw the Sea Shanty one and was perplexed and very amused.
“I got obsessed with it when I found out it was Birmingham-based.
“I love the proportions of their muscular upper-half, and the tightness of their trousers. It's like they're being squeezed out of them. They all seem really lovely guys.”
