'Are you on the run?': Rylan denies attempted robbery as fans suggest he matches AI mugshot

By ITV News Producer Hannah Ward-Glenton

TV personality Rylan Clark has denied he attempted a robbery after fans suggested he was a good match for a computer-generated mugshot posted by Kent Police on Monday.

"Wasn't me," the former X Factor star posted on X, formerly Twitter, in a re-post of the appeal photo.

He told ITV’s This Morning: “I woke up yesterday to a lot of messages from people saying, ‘Are you on the run?’

“I didn’t know what was going on. I then saw the tweet so I decided to tweet ‘It wasn’t me’.”

Social media users had tagged the singer in the post, suggesting he had an uncanny likeness to the image, which showed a man donning a computer-generated beard, paintbrush-like brunette quiff, and blurry eyebrows. He was also sporting a brown hoodie.

One person didn't agree with the likeness, saying the AI image was "definitely not as handsome" as Rylan.

Another said the picture was much more similar to "a young Gary Barlow".

The photo was originally posted by Kent Police as part of an investigation into an attempted robbery in Maidstone on April 5.

Anybody with information as to the incident in Kent should contact Kent Police.

This isn't the first time a celebrity has been accused of wrongdoings after fans mismatched police images.

A CCTV image published by Blackpool Police in 2018 went viral as members of the public pointed out the suspect's likeness to 'Friends' actor David Schwimmer.

Schwimmer then posted a video to his Twitter account that showed him scurrying through a convenience store carrying a crate of beer before looking up furtively at a CCTV camera.

A "lookalike" of the Friends actor was then jailed for nine months for theft and fraud offences.

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