A Boy George tribute act has spent £20,000 on surgery to look like his idol. Liam Halewood, 36, has had 10 different facial surgeries to make himself resemble the singer - including botox, fillers, hair transplants and chin surgery.
He's also had eyebrow shaping, skin peels, fillers in his face and lips, non-surgical jaw alignment and hair transplants. The performer from Blackpool has appeared on numerous reality TV shows including E4's Bodyfixers, The Extreme Diet Hotel and ITV's the X Factor.
As a gay man, he said he looks to the singer as a role model who “paved the way” for stage acts like himself. And Liam’s attention hasn’t gone unnoticed - the Karma Chameleon singer, who follows him on social media, has even wished him happy birthday.
But despite running up credit card debts for his transformation, Liam has since decided he doesn’t need to go to such extreme lengths to resemble his idol. The singer has since called for tighter regulation on people having access to procedures.
He is now filler-free and hasn’t gone under the knife since 2018. Liam said: “Boy George is iconic - the GBTQ+ community wouldn't be where we are today if it wasn't for people like Boy George coming out.
“For all of his musical success, he also paved the way for people like me to appear on stage - he’s up there alongside Elton John, Freddy Mercury and George Michael. I just want to show him my appreciation.
“As a child, I used to sit in my nan’s living room in Liverpool and listen to Boy George. I would look at the album cover and think ‘I wish I could look like him and get away with it’. And now look at me!
“I went through a phase of getting surgery because I wanted to create a flawless look for myself and get into show business. But I stopped in 2018 because I realised I get booked for gigs for the way I sing, not the way I look. I can make myself look close enough to Boy George by putting on my makeup and hat.
I went down the wrong route, but then I thought, Boy George didn’t change himself to fit the mould of society, he moulded society to accept him. He’s not flawless, so why should I be."
