Luke Bellamy is the new Mr Coventry… even though he lives 90 miles away in Sheffield!
The 22 year old is celebrating winning the prestigious title with his girlfriend Katie Oldknow who won a category in the Miss Coventry contest.
Katie won the Miss Coventry Popularity Vote and lives with Luke in South Yorkshire. Neither of them has lived near Coventry, the town which they now represent in the battle for the Mr and Miss England crowns.
The couple’s victories have led to a row over whether people from outside the city should be allowed to represent Coventry.
Katie, 20, said: “When we came down for the competition day it was so much fun meeting all the contestants – but I don’t think hardly any of them were from Coventry.
“They were from Nuneaton and a couple of them were from Devon. I definitely thought it was odd. We thought: ‘Is this fair because we’re not from Coventry?’
“Then we spoke to people and realised everyone was from wherever. Then we weren’t that bothered.”
Mr Coventry contestant for the last two years , Johnny Rickard, said: “We’re supposed to be representing Coventry but we’ve got a Mr Coventry that lives miles away. I don’t know how they got in to the competition in the first place. It’s just bizarre.”
The DJ at Hillz FM added: “We asked Luke who Lady Godiva was and he thought she was a singer.”
However, the overall winner of Miss Coventry was Coventry local Natalia Leigh who is the competition’s youngest ever winner at just 16 years old.
Luke does work for a company with an office in Coventry and comes to Coventry once a fortnight: “The rules are you have to have lived near there, been born there or worked there. Obviously I’m happy to represent any city.”