Gareth Southgate lookalike says ‘journey has run its course’ and shaves beard

Gareth Southgate’s leading lookalike is hanging up his boots. Pilot Neil Rowe will be impacted more than most following the England manager’s resignation on Monday.

Speaking to the Daily Star, waistcoat-wearing Neil reflected on one hell of a run as a Southgate doppelgänger which has seen him star on the likes of ITV’s This Morning and Loose Women.

From ad campaigns to publicity stunts, the 49-year-old from Surrey has enjoyed a whirlwind of media attention and fan love since Gary Lineker commented on his likeness on Match of the Day in 2018. But his resemblance to the football hero was first clocked by pals at Warwick University in 1994, when Southgate burst onto the scene as a Crystal Palace youngster.

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Now, though, Neil has accepted his fun in the limelight is over and has even ditched his beard and hair dye as he closes the wild chapter in his life.

He told the Daily Star: “I think mine, and Gareth’s journeys have run their course, for now.”

With the hunt for Southgate’s replacement well and truly on, Neil admits he hasn’t fully ruled out a U-turn from the FA and outgoing boss.

“You never know, we might be recalled in six months but I hope it doesn’t come to that,” he said.

Reacting to the bombshell news, Neil made a video of him packing away his double life from his knitted M&S white polo shirt to the suit that saw him go viral in 2016. He also takes the plunge by shaving, finally setting himself apart from the main man’s current look.

“My Mum and a few others got quite emotional watching it,” Neil said. Pulling the curtains on the unexpected career, he added: “That’s it… time to give them [family] a break.”

He captioned the clip: “#thankyou for everything #gareth Re-discovered our #pride in #Englandfootball, picked-us up, took us forward, gave us #belief again, and what an eight years it’s been.

“Two #eurofinals and a #worldcup #semifinal & #quarterfinal and #finemargins in all of them. #whatnighthavebeen but many fabulous #memories. History will remember you fondly. One of our greats, a #truegent and a #topbloke (and obviously devilishly #goodlooking

“It didn’t come home, but goodness, it was close! #allthebest for the future (Sorry, I fancied a #shave! …)”

It was Gareth’s first tournament as England’s manager in 2018 when Neil first felt inspired to pick up a replica waistcoat from M&S and wear it to the England vs Sweden game in Russia “for a laugh”. Pundit Gary Neville, 49, even mistook him for the real deal live on air during the tournament.

“At halftime, back home on the telly, Gary Lineker said in the commentary, ‘There’s Gareth Southgate hanging out with the fans’. It zoomed in on me and he said, ‘It can’t be’,” Neil recalled.

“I went viral after that. A BBC journalist interviewed me and it suddenly took off.” Neil did his first lookalike job in 2018 and has experienced some pretty incredible moments since then. “I’ve just been in a music video with John Barnes. He was a hero of mine as a kid, so to meet him was incredible,” Neil said of the former manager.

Neil has a wardrobe full of matching outfits for jobs, including Southgate’s polka dot tie and cream polo neck. “I only bring them out for Gareth moments,” Neil told the Mirror before the Euros

“I was dressed up at Wembley the other day and lots of dads wanted me to have photos with their kids. They were bewildered that Southgate was there 45 minutes before kick-off.”

But his spitting image doesn’t always come with perks – in Russia in 2018, Neil was escorted out of the Red Square by tourist police after he was mistaken for the real Southgate.

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