Unwitting Shropshire lookalike has something to Crowe about

But for Shropshire's Mark Bickerton, that unlikely wish became reality for a few glorious hours – after he was mistaken for Gladiator star Russell Crowe.

He was welcomed into the VIP area of a Monaco bar, showered with Champagne and asked to sign autographs by fans of the Australian actor.

Mr Bickerton, 44, said: "This guy started chatting to me and halfway through he stopped and looked at me and said 'I'm so sorry, I've only just realised who you are'. He said 'You're Russell Crowe, aren't you?'. We'd had a couple of drinks – a bit of Dutch courage – and it kind of spiralled from there."

For at least the next six hours, Mr Bickerton found himself posing for pictures, signing autographs – and answering awkward questions about the Gladiator blockbuster.

"People kept asking me to say lines from Gladiator, which I didn't know at all," he said.

"A woman asked me if I still had my outfit – I said I did. One guy even woke his PA up at 4am to speak to me. I don't have an Australian accent but after a few drinks there was definitely a little bit of an Australian twang coming through."

Bands playing at the party, the night before the Monaco Grand Prix in 2013, were even sent over to meet the "star" at the end of the night.

And when he looked concerned as his new group of admirers said they wanted to move the party on to an even more exclusive club, Mark was reassured that the venue would be delighted to entertain a star like Russell.

It all backfired later though when tweets from his new friends posing with "Russell Crowe" started appearing on Twitter. Outraged fans quickly pointed out he was not the actor at all.

"The next day was quite hard, getting back to the reality of my life and sitting in normal seats for the Grand Prix," said Mr Bickerton, who has founded two drinks companies.

"We were at a bar when someone tapped me on the shoulder – and for a second I thought 'here we go again'. But they just wanted me to take a picture!"