Mystery surrounds news of plans for 8ft statue of Steps star
RESIDENTS of a South Wales town have been left wondering whether the news that H from Steps will be honoured with a statue is true or if it’s just a hoax.
Last week, a group calling itself Cultural Cowbridge unveiled the supposed plan for an 8ft statue in honour of pop star and local resident Ian “H” Watkins, who grew up in Cwmparc, Rhondda.
The group said it would be funded by private donations and designed by a local artist, and even released an artist’s impression of the statue, which they said would be installed outside the Bear Hotel in Cowbridge, Vale of Glamorgan, where he now lives.
They said it would acknowledge and commemorate the pop star, actor and broadcaster’s contribution to British music and his impact on Cowbridge itself.
The announcement was covered by news organisations across the UK.
Yet speculation is growing that it is a publicity stunt for comedian Joe Lycett’s upcoming show Late Night Lycett, which starts a new series on Channel 4 on Friday. The comedian was asked if he was behind it on Radio 2 and refused to say.
Lycett told Radio 2 that he had been seeding fake news over the past month and had had “loads of hits”.
Calling it a game, he said: “There is a lot of fake news around and a lot of it is polarising. I tried to think what can I do about that because I can’t change an entire media landscape. But what I realised I can do is be silly.
“For the last month I’ve been seeding silly fake news, ridiculous stories, stupid stories into the press to see if they can push out some of those polarising news story and take up that space and we’ve had loads of hits.
“There are multiple news stories, fake news stories in the news right now and over the last month that are fake.
“We’ve been in the Mail, the Sun, Independent, Metro, we’ve been on BBC News, ITV Sky News, loads more.
Nobody knows what those stories are.”
Asked by the interviewer, “is that H’s statue in Cowbridge?”, he replied: “I cannot possibly say but some stories in the news are me.”
We tried to contact Bethan Davies from Cultural Cowbridge for an interview but did not receive a reply.
Julia Horton lives around the corner from where the statue is proposed to be placed.
She said: “Everyone’s talking about it, it’s a really odd choice. I’m not against H, because I’ve met H and he has done tremendous stuff. Pride week he’s here and he does do great stuff. But I just think it’s a bit odd, isn’t it, for Cowbridge?”
Resident Jo Jack said there’s a shortage of statues of named women in the UK, and if there was to be a new statue in Cowbridge, she would want it to be of a woman.
Gareth Watkins, who lives in Cwmparc, said: “If it goes ahead – great. It’s nice to see him getting recognised for what he’s achieved.”
Julian Hitchcock, owner of the Bear Hotel, told the BBC the news “ruined my cereal” when he first heard rumours. “But the pavement outside the hotel is nothing to do with me,” he said. “So if the council see fit to deem H worthy of a statue, then so be it. H has done lots of good things for Cowbridge. As have lots of other people.”
Reacting to the news himself, H took to Instagram to proclaim: “Super proud of this! It’ll be a little strange seeing myself across the street when I pop into town! If little Ian from the Rhondda could see this, he would be blown away! Thanks to everyone for your wonderful messages!”
Cowbridge Town Council said in a post on Facebook that it has not received notification of any planning applications for the statue.