'I'm an Ed Sheeran lookalike - I can't go to the shops without being stopped'

When Ed Sheeran first hit the UK charts in 2011, his life wasn't the only one that changed.

The pop star's rise to international fame also transformed the life of Ty Jones - at the time a teenager growing up in Sale. Bearing an uncanny resemblance to the 'Shape of You' singer, Ty has since built a career around his celebrity doppelganger, making cameo appearances and posting videos to TikTok.

Ty, 29, now lives in Sale with his daughter Cherry and fiancee Amanda - and despite it being more than a decade after he was first likened to Ed, the full-time lookalike is still constantly stopped in public by shocked shoppers asking for a picture.

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"It was back when everyone was using Blackberrys," Ty said, recalling the first time he came across Ed Sheeran. "I wore the jeans and hoodie and I had long ginger hair. My mates said they'd found my alter ego, and asked me if I played guitar and sang.

"I said no, why? Then I remember them showing me a video of Ed Sheeran on MTV on their Blackberrys. I was like, no way, this guy really does look like me!

"I went from being the lonely ginger kid in school to the most popular."

Ty decided to make a living out of his likeness, and is now a full-time lookalike, making videos for TikTok and cameo appearances at fan's requests. But because of his doppelganger, he says he can't even go to the shop without getting stopped.

"I get recognised all the time," he told the Manchester Evening News. "Even when I try to cover up - I'll put a hat and sunglasses on and people will still stop me."

On his TikTok channel, Ty recently posted a video of his daughter Cherry mistaking a picture of Ed Sheeran for her