Coronation Street Jack P Shephard looked stunned as he came face-to-face with himself - albeit as his famous character David Platt. The actor, famed for playing the troublesome teen turned stressed dad in the ITV soap, ditched Manchester on Thursday (October 20) for a special trip to Blackpool.
Jack, who has been entertaining viewers for more than 20 years, has officially been immortalised in wax at the seaside resort's Madame Tussauds and it was the soap star who got to personally unveiling the new figure.
The 34-year-old came face to face with his wax version for the first time as artists made the final touches, adding those all-important freckles, skin texture, and all the tiny details that make the figures so unbelievably lifelike.
And in taking residence at Madame Tussauds on Blackpool’s famous promenade, the new “David Platt” joins some of the most iconic characters from Coronation Street, including Jack and Vera, Bet Lynch, Deirdre and Ken, and Michelle Connor.
After seeing his wax figure for the first time, Jack said: "Seeing the figure face-to-face was incredibly surreal, it looks so much like me and really captures the essence of David Platt’s character! It’s a massive honour to have my figure appear alongside some of the Street’s most iconic characters and all of the other amazing figures at Madame Tussauds Blackpool."
Pictures from the unveiling showed Jack open-mouthed as he was greeted by his own waxwork for the first time. His mum Janet also looked shocked by what she was saying, with one image showing her almost looking emotional with her head in her hands as Jack laughed and his girlfriend Hanni Treweek placed a supportive hand on her back.
Kyle Woodcock, senior attractions manager at Madame Tussauds Blackpool, added: "It was an honour to have Jack at Madame Tussauds Blackpool to unveil the new David Platt wax figure. Seeing him side-by-side the wax version of himself really was uncanny. I am sure his loyal Corrie fanbase – and lots of other people too - will jump at the chance to come and see it."
Jack's very own figure of David is one of 2,000 wax figures on display around the world, with roughly 150kg of clay used to sculpt each figure equating to 23 stone, the average weight of a tiger. Madame Tussauds Blackpool recently unveiled its first ever UK drag queen figure, Ru Paul, as well as a new figure of Boris Johnson, complete with the former Prime Minister’s trademark untameable hair, together with social media megastar KSI.
Jack revealed the news of his waxwork last week. He shared a video originally posted to Madame Tussauds Blackpool's Instagram page. It showed Jack meeting the team before getting stuck into being measured - from his height to his feet - having photos taken, and getting his handprints.
"It's a real honour actually to be asked to be a waxwork," he says in the clip. "[I'm] really pleased. It's going to be weird but it's going to be amazing." Jack, who joined Corrie in 2000 at the age 12, reshared the announcement post with his own thousands of followers and put a response in the comments section. " I’ve sat on this gossip for over a year" he said before adding: "Can’t wait. Very very exciting."
His girlfriend, Hanni, who works behind the scenes on Corrie and is a bit of a social media influencer, was also quick to show her support. She said: "I’m so proud of you!!! it’s been so amazing to see how excited you’ve been throughout the process - such an incredible, talented team @mtblackpool @madametussauds huge congratulations to all of you."
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