A Jurgen Klopp lookalike who duped an ITV reporter into believing that he was the real Liverpool manager is a multi-millionaire property developer who supports Millwall, MailOnline can reveal.
Ray Cornwell, 61, dressed up in full Liverpool training kit to join excited fans outside Wembley stadium ahead of England’s match against Germany, drinking and singing with them.
He was approached by ITV reporter Jonathan Swain who failed to realise that the figure was not the Reds boss, and proudly told Lorraine Kelly that he had ‘caught up’ with Klopp before the game, saying the German was a ‘great sport’ and a ‘tremendous chap’.
Mr Swain said live on TV on Wednesday morning, following England’s historic victory: ‘As I was going into the stadium last night, I caught up with Jurgen Klopp as well, the Liverpool manager, of course he is German.’
A Jurgen Klopp lookalike who duped an ITV reporter into believing that he was the real Liverpool manager is a multi-millionaire property developer who supports Millwall, MailOnline can reveal. Pictured: Ray Cornwell, the German manager’s lookalike
Football fans were left in stitches at the howler, but Mr Cornwell told MailOnline that he had nothing but sympathy for the reporter, revealing that German television also attempted to interview him outside Wembley thinking that he was the real Klopp.
Mr Cornwell said: ‘The ITV reporter thought I was the real Jurgen Klopp and that just shows how good I am. I have nothing but sympathy for him because around 60% of the people I meet when I’m doing my Klopp routine really believe it’s him.
He added: ‘A German television crew came up to me outside Wembley asking to interview me. They started speaking to me in German and I had to tell them that I’m not Jurgen Kopp but I’m “Cheeky Jurgen”.
‘If they could be mistaken that I was really him then I totally understand how a British person could too. I completely fool people all the time.’
Ray Cornwell (left), 61, duped the ITV reporter into believing he was Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp (right) when he dressed up in full training kit to join excited fans outside Wembley stadium ahead of England’s match against Germany
ITV reporter Johnathan Swain said live on TV on Wednesday morning, following England’s historic victory: ‘As I was going into the stadium last night, I caught up with Jurgen Klopp as well, the Liverpool manager, of course he is German’
After being mobbed by fans and journalists outside Wembley, he watched the game in a pub with England fans.
Mr Cornwell, a divorcee and father-of-three, runs a successful property development company in Bloomsbury, central London which also has extensive interests abroad.
He also owns a hotel in France and Morocco, runs a chain of Mexican restaurants in the UK and a prestige classic car hire business.
He said: ‘I’m a self-made man who came from very humble beginnings in South East London. You could say that I’m very successful but what gives me great joy and satisfaction is being Cheeky Jurgen. I just love it.’
Given his humble beginnings in South East London he is a lifelong Millwall fan and regularly attends their home matches – although he now also describes himself as an ‘honorary Liverpool fan.’
MailOnline can reveal Mr Cornwell, a divorcee and father-of-three, runs a successful property development company in Bloomsbury, central London which also has extensive interests abroad
Given his humble beginnings in South East London Mr Cornwell is a lifelong Millwall fan and regularly attends their home matches – although he now also describes himself as an ‘honorary Liverpool fan’
Mr Cornwell revealed that the idea of becoming a Klopp look alike came from his granddaughter Annabella, 7 who kept asking him why he was always on television when a Liverpool match was being broadcast.
He revealed: ‘Every time Liverpool were on TV, she would point at it and say, “why is grandpa on television?”
‘Over the last few years, I have always been getting comments from people on how similar I looked to the real Jurgen. But Annabella said it the most and I thought if my granddaughter really thinks I’m him then maybe I should do something about it.’
Around 18 months ago he went out to buy some Liverpool training kit, started practising speaking English in a German accent like the real Klopp and came up with the moniker ‘Cheeky Jurgen’.
Mr Cornwell also learnt some basic German and even bought blue contact lenses to match the colour of the real Klopp’s eyes.
After being mobbed by fans and journalists outside Wembley, Mr Cornwell watched the game in a pub with England fans
He has hired an agent and set up a website and social media accounts to advertise his services as a professional lookalike of the Liverpool manager.
He said: ‘I was on the verge of launching big time but then the coronavirus pandemic struck and that really ruined my plans. But now that things are slowly opening up, I’m gearing up for a lot of work.
‘It’s uncanny how similar I look to the real Klopp and there is going to be a lot of demand for my services, I’m convinced of that. I’m not his doppelganger, I’m a “Kloppelganger”.’
But even in his everyday life when he is not in the guise of Klopp, Mr Cornwell revealed that he gets mistaken for the Liverpool manager.
He added: ‘When I’m out and about people ask to have their picture taken with me or for autographs and for some reason it mainly seems to be cabbies, builders and school kids.
Mr Cornwell even went on an Anfield stadium tour ahead of the game, dressed as Klopp and posing for pictures in the famous ground
‘I’m always happy to oblige but I’m very honest and tell people that I’m not the real Klopp. But it doesn’t seem to bother them, they still like to go away thinking they have met him.’
Towards the end of last season, Mr Cornwell attended Liverpool’s final Premier League fixture, spending two days in the city in the guise of Jurgen Klopp.
He also went on an Anfield stadium tour ahead of the game, dressed as Klopp and posing for pictures in the famous ground.
He recalled: ‘The reaction was unbelievable. Fans were buying me drinks, queueing up for pictures and autographs and going absolutely mental. They honestly believed that they were in the present of the real Klopp. It blew me away.
‘During my visit to Liverpool I only spoke English in a German accent and by the end of it, I was completely confused as to who I was.’
Mr Cornwell said that he had never met the real Klopp but looks forward to that happening in the near future.
When asked what he would say to him, he responded in his best Klopp accent: ‘I look more like you than you do. Are you sure you’re not an impostor? Who exactly is the real Jurgen Klopp?’