A woman who looks so much like Kate Moss she tricked half of Manchester into believing the supermodel was shopping in the Ancoats Aldi has gone on to actual fashion stardom.
The stunner has just this week made a surprise appearance on the runway at Paris Fashion Week, walking for French designer Marine Serre.
And it’s not the first time she’s hit headlines – although the first time, it was a case of mistaken identity.
Denise Ohnona, from Ormskirk, who is a complete doppelganger for supermodel Kate Moss, was booked by Aldi for a very clever publicity stunt when Manchester was in the grips of Chanel fever.
Wearing dark sunglasses, a long leather coat and heeled boots, she managed to trick the public and several press outlets (not us though, we hasten to add) into believing fashion royalty was having a brew outside a Northern Quarter coffee shop.
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Which was obviously not the case.
Denise said people have often told her she looks like Kate Moss but didn’t think much of it until she was approached by a lookalike agency.
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She said: “It’s one thing to be hired as a ‘Lookalike’ to attend a store opening or red carpet event, where everyone knows it’s not actually the celebrity, it’s just for a bit of fun, but it’s another thing when a company like Aldi comes to you with a PR stunt, where they want to fool not only the public, but the press.
“These sort of jobs always come with slight anxiety, because you think to yourself, will people know who I’m supposed to be? Will people really believe it’s Kate Moss?
“Well thankfully they did and Aldi caused quite the controversy, with all the major papers running the story.
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“I guess I should thank my Mum and Dad for these cheek bones. And although I’m a stay at home mum, who’s life is anything but glamorous, it’s always nice to put on some heels and shades for a day and put a smile on people’s faces”
And now Denise has struck fame once again after her appearance at Paris Fashion Week.
The 43-year-old appeared on This Morning yesterday to discuss her whirlwind journey.
She said that she’s naturally a shy person and when her agent initially asked her about a job in Paris she said no.
But after being persuaded by a friend, she was suddenly on the catwalk at the world’s most famous fashion event.
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Denise said: “I didn’t release how big it was. The models and the whole production and everything. I was like a little girl who got to play dress up for the day and be one of the catwalk models. So it was fun but scary.
“I’m so glad I did it. ‘If it scares you do it anyway,’ that’s what I tell my kids. “
Mancs wanted to test their willpower in the wilderness for ‘life-changing’ cash prize in new TV show
Emily Sergeant
Mancs who are willing to put their willpower to the test in a bid to win a ‘life-changing’ cash prize are wanted for a new TV show.
Are you prepared to take on the ultimate test of willpower? Channel 4 is currently casting for the potential next series of the smash-hit show, Tempting Fortune, and is calling on brave people from across Greater Manchester to apply to take part.
Tempting Fortune is described as being a ‘groundbreaking social experiment’.
Filmed in a distant paradise, this epic series full of twists and turns – which ended its gripping second season last Sunday (6 April) – gives a group of regular people the chance to take part in an adventure ‘with a twist’ and earn a ‘substantial cash reward’ at the end of it.
Mancs willing to test their willpower in the wilderness are wanted for a new TV show / Credit: Channel 4
But what stands in the way of that cash prize is the wilderness, and contestants will be tasked with grappling with the elements, the terrain, and their own willpower along the way.
A casting call for the potential upcoming next series of the show on the Channel 4 website reads: “We are casting for fun, diverse individuals from all different backgrounds.
“We are looking for applicants who are excited by the challenge of embarking on a new adventure that will test them both physically and mentally.”
Find out more and apply on the Channel 4 website here.
Featured Image – Channel 4
TV & Showbiz
Stockport’s Aimee Lou Wood slams SNL for ‘mean and unfunny’ White Lotus sketch
Danny Jones
Stopfordian White Lotus star, Aimee Lou Wood, has fired back at Saturday Night Live (SNL) following a new skit that has been equally slammed by others on social media for mocking her.
Wood was the subject of a recent skit on SNL entitled ‘The White Potus’, in which her physical appearance and voice were heavily parodied.
The Bramhall-born actor is best known for her roles in Netflix’s Sex Education, Daddy Issues – the BBC Three comedy filmed in Stockport – and now the hit HBO show, White Lotus, becoming an increasingly household name both in Britain and in the US.
Unfortunately, it is her increasingly recognisable face that the long-running sketch comedy show seemingly targeted as one of their jokes last week, and now Aimee Lou Wood has commented on the controversy, confessing that she was left hurt by the jokes.
Replying to an Instagram post which read, “YOU ARE STUNNING. PERIOD”, a first response to what has been labelled an ‘insensitive’ sketch was coaxed out of her, with Wood writing: “Whilst in honest mode – I did find the SNL thing mean and unfunny.”
The 31-year-old has since gone on to continue discussing the matter in multiple IG stories, reiterating that while she is not “thin-skinned”, understands the show and has enjoyed it even of late, she would have liked something done in a “more nuanced, less cheap way.”
She went on to say: “On a positive note, everyone is agreeing with me about it, so I’m glad I said something instead of going in on myself.”
The Greater Manchester native has been hit with a wave of support online, with many pointing out that everyone else parodied was a political figure except her, as Wood also noted that the rest of the sketch was “punching up” until it came to her teeth and Mancunian accent.
Wood insisted that she didn’t take issue with the SNL cast member who played her, Sarah Sherman, but more the content of the joke, adding that the joke was about fluoride (i.e. toothpaste) and that she has “big teeth not bad teeth.” She also qualified that claims about her treatment by HBO were false.
Credit: Screenshots via IG
Wood has since revealed that SNL – which is aired by US network NBC – have now sent their apologies, though she hasn’t detailed exactly what message(s) received state.
It looks like the SK local is now hoping to draw a line under the whole thing, but she is still being met with an outpouring of love and support from her followers and fellow famous names.
One of those who came to her defence is former Channel 4 presenter and The Good Place star Jameela Jamil, who wrote: “I hate this so much. It’s the least interesting or memorable thing about this brilliant actor. Our next Olivia Coleman…
“We make fun of the assimilation of women, then mercilessly obsess over anyone with any slightly alternative features […] I also think she’s so f***ing beatiful and love her face so much and wouldn’t want her to look any different.”
Daisy Jackson -
8th March 2024 
