A lifelong He-Man fan has been left red-faced after naked pictures of him riding a life-sized replica of Battle Cat appeared on the internet.
The 31-year-old was snapped riding the replica model of the cartoon cat in Northampton town centre late on Saturday night.
Friends then posted the image on the internet and within just a few hours it had been seen by thousands of people.
The Northampton man, who said He-Man was his “favourite cartoon ever, as a child”, admitted the prank had caused him some embarrassment, but insisted it had all been meant as a bit of fun.
He said: “I was out having a drink with a few friends and I think I got a bit tipsy.
“I remember walking past the Battle Cat statue and thinking how awesome it was and one thing just led to another.
“I don’t know why I stripped off, to be honest. It was just meant as a bit of fun and I really didn’t want to offend anybody. I’m not that sort of person at all.”
The cat statue is in Northampton as part of the Go Safari art project, which features statues of a variety of wild animals placed all over the centre of town.
The Battle Cat sculpture is designed to replicate the character from the children’s cartoon, He-Man, which reached its peak of popularity during the 1980s.
Reacting to his unexpected internet fame, Northampton’s very own He-Man said: “I got in from work and was doing the dishes when I started getting phone calls from people saying they’d seen my picture.
“Then the phone was ringing all night. It is a bit embarrassing, but I think most people just saw it as a bit of fun.”
In a separate incident, the Battle Cat sculpture was also attacked earlier in the week. It is thought vandals pulled two horns off the model sometime on Friday night.
Go Safari begins – p47
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