STRANGERS bullied this Southampton man, calling him “Rik Waller” after the Pop Idol singer.

But now he is proving them wrong by shifting the weight and resembling X Factor favourite Olly Murs.

Craig Cooper was taunted in the streets for being obese but since losing eight stone he is regularly mistaken for the famous singer and new X Factor co-host.

Morbidly obese Craig, 28, weighed 19st 7lb at his heaviest and hid his face with long, dark blond hair.

He was bullied so much that by the time he was 16, Craig has tried to take his own life twice.

But now with a new slimline look he feels completely transformed and weighs a healthy 11st 8lb.

The estate agent from Sholing, pictured below before the weight loss, said: "I was taunted. Kids at school and college would push me over, laugh at me and call me names like Mr Blobby, Rik Waller and Precious – suggesting I looked like a girl.”

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Craig said it was being unable to squeeze into a pair of 48-inch waist jeans in a Tesco changing room in 2007 which spurred him to lose eight stone in two years.

“The trigger came when I was in Tesco trying on jeans. The 48 inch jean size was their largest. I remember trying to put them on in front of my Mum and they just wouldn’t fit.

"It was awful. The shop was busy and people were watching. I cried and ran off. It was humiliating.”

Now Craig said he is inundated with attention from girls who think he looks like Olly Murs and his friends have even persuaded girls that he is the star’s twin.

“I don’t see it, but my friends seem to think I look like him and he is a good-looking guy so I am happy about that.

“It was difficult at school. I was bullied a lot about my weight and my asthma so I lost all confidence completely. Making friends was difficult and by the time I was in my late teens I was very large, did little exercise and ate very unhealthily.”

Daily Echo:

Olly Murs and Rik Waller

Craig said he was a chubby child, putting it down to laziness and greed and while his mother worked nights, he would scoff loaves of white bread and down whole pints of milk.

To make a change he joined the LighterLife Total Plan, a low-calorie diet where conventional food is replaced with four food packs a day, and attended weekly counselling sessions to help alter his mindset around eating.

Craig managed to shift four stone and three pounds in three months after joining LighterLife.

As the pounds began dropping off he noticed he had more energy and began doing more exercise and he now eats salads and has become a vegetarian.

He added: “It is remarkable really. I am confident and love life now. I enjoy music and performance but there is no chance I will ever become an Olly Murs tribute. I may look like him but I don’t fancy that.

"My weight loss has been great, I’m so much happier and more confident now. And I no longer have to worry about my weight harming my health.”