VIDEO + PICS: Female Doncaster Ant & Dec fan parades NAKED through London with stars' faces painted on body in bid to get on TV show

A Doncaster woman stripped nearly naked and paraded across London with TV stars Ant and Dec painted onto her body in a bid to land a place on their hit Saturday night show.
Claire Bull and son Shez with TV stars Ant and Dec.Claire Bull and son Shez with TV stars Ant and Dec.
Claire Bull and son Shez with TV stars Ant and Dec.

Mega fan Claire Bull stopped tourists in their tracks by strolling around near Buckingham Palace wearing just a skimpy top and shorts and with the Geordie presenting duo etched onto her skin in a bid to earn a place on the pair's Saturday Night Takeaway show.

Balby-based Claire, 43, hatched the madcap stunt for her son teenage son Shez, 17, who has autism and ADHD and who has been a fan of Ant and Dec and the show since the series began more than a decade ago.

Claire Bull and son Shez with TV stars Ant and Dec.Claire Bull and son Shez with TV stars Ant and Dec.
Claire Bull and son Shez with TV stars Ant and Dec.
Hide Ad
Hide Ad

And her efforts paid off - with the mother and son getting to meet the pair and landing a place in the audience of next year's series of the show.

She said: "Getting to meet them was incredible, a dream come true. We only saw them for 90 seconds but it was fantastic. They were impressed by the lengths I'd gone to."

Claire came up with the zany plan last week to help raise awareness of autism and ADHD - and the idea was actually hatched after a phone call with producers of the smash hit ITV show.

She said: "Shez has been a fan of the show since it started, but he's always been too young to be in the audience. People have to be 18 to go, so he is still too young.

Although he didn't get a place on the plane, Shez got to meet his TV heroes.Although he didn't get a place on the plane, Shez got to meet his TV heroes.
Although he didn't get a place on the plane, Shez got to meet his TV heroes.
Hide Ad
Hide Ad

"In this year's series, they have been giving away places on a plane to go to Florida and Shez was desperate to go, so I thought I'd do whatever I could to get him in that plane."

"I have tried all sorts of ways to get on the show in the past. Last week, I tried to get through to the producers and told them what if I ran around the studios naked, they'd let me on then."

That set charity worker Claire thinking and she contacted a London-based body painter who agreed to paint the faces of Ant and Dec onto her body ahead of last Saturday's show.

And so on Friday night, the pair headed for the capital and on Saturday morning, Claire and Shez headed to the artist's studios for the four hour makeover.

Claire Bull and son Shez with TV stars Ant and Dec.Claire Bull and son Shez with TV stars Ant and Dec.
Claire Bull and son Shez with TV stars Ant and Dec.
Hide Ad
Hide Ad

"It was absolutely freezing," said Claire. "I was shivering and shaking two hours in and wondering what I was doing."

By this stage, a national newspaper had got wind of the stunt and Claire and Shez were whisked to Trafalgar Square to reveal the finished creation to tourists.

"Because it is a family show, we didn't think it was appropriate for me to be naked, so instead I wore a very small top and shorts with Ant and Dec painted onto me."

The artwork drew the looks of shocked tourists in Trafalgar Square and later Buckingham Palace before the pair headed over to ITV's London Studios where they were met by security.

Although he didn't get a place on the plane, Shez got to meet his TV heroes.Although he didn't get a place on the plane, Shez got to meet his TV heroes.
Although he didn't get a place on the plane, Shez got to meet his TV heroes.
Hide Ad
Hide Ad

"I thought I was going to be in trouble she said, but they said Ant and Dec had heard about it themselves and loved it and wanted to meet us."

And so the pair managed to meet their heroes after the presenters took a brief break from rehearsals. And while they couldn't offer Shez a place on the plane to Florida, the pair have secured tickets to be in the audience for next year's series.

"They told us all the places had gone and there was just no way they could get us on.

"Shez was overwhelmed," she said. "We were booked to go on holiday to Florida last year but I was ill and we couldn't go and had to cancel," she added. "We might not be going to Florida just yet but we got to see Ant and Dec and that was incredible."

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

"I know it might seem extreme and a bit barmy, but when you have a child with autism and ADHD, you have to do things like this. Sometimes you have to go to extreme lengths and do things for them because no one else will.

"He burst into tears and said he was so proud of me for doing it for him."

Shez, whose real name is Sheridan, has his own Facebook blog where people can keep in touch with his activities.

You can visit it HERE