Hugh do you look like?

3:10pm Thursday 9th October 2008

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GETTING the best service in hotels and restaurants and being asked for autographs and pictures is all part of a typical day for north Hampshire actor Allen Watts.

However, the professional artist is not being recognised for his own work – it’s just that people genuinely believe he is the eco-friendly chef Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall.

“I get approached on an almost-daily basis by people wanting autographs or pictures because they think I’m Hugh,” Mr Allen explained.

“I am very polite about it and just tell people I’m not him – but I have had very good service in restaurants and hotels until people realise I’m not Hugh!”

Mr Watts, who is the principal of Stagecoach Theatre Arts Basingstoke West branch, recently met Mr Fearnley-Whittingstall – famed for his River Cottage project, which focuses on self-sufficiency, food integrity and the consumption of local, seasonal produce – at a special River Cottage event.

“He was very nice but really surprised by how similar we look,” he said.

Mr Watts added he has been a big fan of the pioneering chef for a long time, and even grows his own vegetables and rears his own chickens at his home in Andover.

“I am a big advocate of all he stands for, like ethical farming, so it’s quite flattering really”.

Mr Fearnley-Whittingstall moved to the original River Cottage, in Dorset, in 1998, to start growing and rearing some of his own food. The project has since grown and has been featured in several programmes shown on Channel 4.

Mr Allen, 33, has sent photographs of himself to a look-a-like agency but, as yet, has not had any bookings.