A non-league goalkeeper is taking an unexpected career move by featuring on an American reality TV show.
Alexis Andre Jnr is currently between the sticks for National League side Dover Athletic but he is now set to appear on a new show across the pond fronted by Hollywood star Lindsay Lohan. The 24-year-old, who has also turned out for Bristol Rovers, will be one of the contestants who will appear in Amazon Prime’s forthcoming dating series ‘Lovestruck High’.
The concept throws 15 single British students together inside a fictional US-style high school and the trailer has recently been released. The programme is poised to premiere on May 18 and will be voiced by Lohan, presumably due to her performance in the 2004 film Mean Girls.
The 35-year-old rose to fame in the 1990s and 2000s, most notably featuring in The Parent Trap and Freaky Friday. She will now provide voiceover commentary as the singletons try to find love and secure a date for prom, with the hope of being crowned prom royalty. The eventual winner of the maiden edition of the reality show will claim a $100,000 (£76,000) prize at the end.
Andre only made a solitary appearance for the Gas, back in the 2017-18 campaign, and along with turning out regularly in the fifth tier he has a strong presence on social media.
He has a considerable following on TikTok (3.8m followers) and Instagram (534,000 followers), along with his work as a part-time model. There have also been rumours of an imminent appearance on the popular ITV dating series Love Island. The 24-year-old was signed by Rovers in July 2017 and experienced loan spells at Tiverton Town, Paulton Rovers, Yate Town, Truro City and Salisbury City after making his debut the same year as a second-half replacement in a 2-1 win over Walsall after Sam Slocombe had been sent off.
After the French-born stopper was granted new contracts in 2019 and 2020 under Graham Coughlan and then Ben Garner, he was released last summer before signing for Dover in the National League. Dover lost 3-0 last time out, to Notts County, with Andre playing a sixth straight game after recently coming into the side.
Dover boss Andy Hessenthaler explained the rationale behind his decision to bring in Alexis in favour of on-loan stopper Adam Parkes.
He said: “I had a good chat with Parkesy. He has been let go by Watford. With his agent, he is looking to get a club. I don’t believe the lad wants to play National League level - I believe he is better than that. I had a chat with him and said I want to look to the future in the last 10 games, and Alexis has come in and done well."
Already-relegated Dover are on zero points at present, with four games left of the season, after being docked 12 points for not fulfilling fixtures last season.
