Ed Sheeran’s Doppelgänger Can’t Catch a Break

Ty Jones has been dealing with the unintended consequences of looking like a famous person for years. And the strikingly spot-on doppelgänger of redheaded British crooner Ed Sheeran says it hasn’t always been fun and games, Jones told the Mirror. As Sheeran’s popularity has skyrocketed — racking up Grammys and selling out stadium concerts — so, too, has the 21-year-old Jones’s struggle to remain anonymous while walking down the street. The Manchester native says he’s even caused a “riot” with eager fans.

“He’s such a big artist and I’m a massive fan of his but now it’s like I can’t escape it,” Jones said. “People go mad when they think they’re meeting Ed Sheeran.”

Still, Jones has managed to make some lemonade out of the situation: he’s appeared on multiple episodes of a “Lookalikes” TV show according to his Twitter and Instagram accounts, and he signed with a lookalikes agency to perform at gigs and attend events as Sheeran. He even got to meet Sheeran himself, who was “shocked” at their similarities. Jones said they’re planning a second rendezvous sometime soon.

Jones said that being mistaken for the Grammy-winning star hasn’t been great for his relationships, though: “When girls ask me for pictures in the streets it’s annoyed some of my girlfriends in the past and caused problems,” he told the Mirror.

As Sheeran has sung: “The worst things in life come free to us.”