He's a legend in these parts, but now Jimmy Nail has become an unlikely social media icon after becoming the subject of a bizarre and unexpected Twitter trend.
Days after Newcastle United keeper Nick Pope found Twitter stardom, thanks to the hijacking of a Burger King poll, which sparked the interest of fans and other big brands like Greggs and Domino's, Auf Wiedersehen Pet and Spender star Jimmy found himself as one of the options in a random poll by the Fake Showbiz News accent.
The author of the poll told Twitter users they could only save three out of Jimmy, the NHS, Lilt, Vienetta, singer Terence Trent D'Arby, the City of Preston, Paw Patrol, board game Hungry Hippos and TV presenter Lorraine Kelly. Now, while of course that is a very tough call to make, for some fans there 'ain't no doubt,' that Jimmy would be in their top three, with plenty citing his early 90s number 1 as the reason for choosing him.
While others of course mentioned legendary Geordie programme Auf Wiedersehen Pet and Jimmy's BBC 90s series Crocodile Shoes, for which he released a single of the same name, others sought definitive answers on why Jimmy was trending. Even Denise Welch, who has starred alongside him on screen in Spender and on stage in Sunday for Sammy got in on the act, sharing a picture of them from their Spender days and writing: "As #JimmyNail is trending thought I’d pop this on!! Mr & Mrs Spender 1991."
Other people jumping on the trend were quick to mention Jimmy's unlikely starring role alongside Madonna in the big screen remake of smash hit musical Evita and amongst the many other reactions was a tweet referencing Auf Wiedersehen Pet's famous theme tune. It read: "Jimmy Nail is trending but don’t worry, he’s living alright.."
Another Twitter user posted: "Jimmy Nail is trending and I would just like to say that Crocodile Shoes is a banging tune!," while a third tweeted: "Looking to see why Jimmy Nail is trending and it's just a load of people tweeting to ask why Jimmy Nail is trending."
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