26-05-2025
What happened to the original stars of Faking It: A vicar became a car salesman and a lawyer trained as an MC in the cult noughties reality show
From a Cambridge-educated lawyer who became a garage MC to a naval officer who transformed into a drag queen, the cast of the cult reality show Faking It went through some incredible professional about-turns.
Aired from 2000 to 2006 on Channel 4, the six series saw people live and train with an expert in a completely different field - before competing against other experts in front of a panel of judges, who had to guess the 'faker'.
It was inspired by George Bernard Shaw's 1913 play Pygmalion, perhaps better known as its 1964 film adaptation My Fair Lady, starring Audrey Hepburn, about a Cockney flower seller trained to pass as a duchess.
And like Gogglebox, Race Across The World and The Traitors, also from production company Studio Lambert, Faking It was not just entertaining - but thoughtfully explored ideas of similarity and difference across British cultural divides.
Now the show has been rebooted on Channel 5, with the first episode airing on Tuesday, long-time fans of the show might be wondering what happened to the original cast: did they stick to their old lives or leave them far behind?
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But he eventually won the day, convincing two out of three experts on the final judging panel he was the real deal
George Lubega - lawyer to garage MC
In episode four of series four of Faking It, released in October 2002, Cambridge-educated lawyer George Lubega swapped his suit for a mic to train as a garage MC.
After four weeks of tutelage by MC Creed and Pay As You Go, the dispute resolution assistant at prestigious City firm Freshfield faced his biggest trial yet - by a jury of garage MC experts and ravers.
At the start of the episode, the suited and booted solicitor explained his lack of knowledge, saying: 'An MC is somebody who gets the crowd going effectively.
'But I don't know much more than that. Is it, is it somebody who raps and... is that right?'
His friends did not initially have much confidence in him either, with a fellow lawyer joking: 'Singing, dance, good fashion sense - you haven't got any of that.'
But George got stuck in, taking on dance classes, rhyming and lyric writing workshops, so-called 'reverse elocution lessons' and even a trip to Jamaica.
He did admittedly hit a hurdle when he took his new look - a shaved head, baggy trousers, gold jewellery and some new shapes to throw - to the Ministry of Sound club in London, where ravers were less than convinced.
But he eventually won the day, convincing two out of three experts on the final judging panel he was the real deal.
George told the Law Gazette shortly after competing that his legal skills helped him identify his mistakes and correct them systematically - but he had no plans to leave the courtroom.
He said at the time: 'I've had a couple of offers to do personal appearances but I could hardly claim to be a talented MC.'
And indeed, since appearing on Faking It, George has continued to fly as a successful lawyer.
A year after the show, he moved on to Pinsent Masons in 2003, before becoming partner in 2005.
He later became partner at Nabarro, heading up its Sheffield and Manchester commercial litigation teams as of 2021, after the firm merged with two others in 2017 - which saw a large portion of his work take place in the High Court.
He was also appointed an adjudicator for the Traffic Penalty Tribunal in 2013 - before taking on his biggest role to date in 2023, as a District Judge, based in Derby.
His MC mentor Creed has also since spoken out about the enjoyable filming experience, telling the Telegraph in 2020 about a particularly memorable moment when George's dance coach got him to try out some attitude out on the street.
MC Creed posted a throwback Facebook post in 2020 about their time on the show: 'We spoke for a little while after the experience but I don't think knocking about with us dodgy characters was gonna help his legal career so we eventually lost contact'
'He walked up to [some men on the street] and said, "Yeah, mate, do you know where this street is?".
'They told him and then he walked the opposite way from what he said.'
He also posted a throwback Facebook post in 2020 about their time on the show, saying: 'We spoke for a little while after the experience but I don't think knocking about with us dodgy characters was gonna help his legal career so we eventually lost contact.'
Gavin Freeborn - sheep farmer to hairdresser
Another episode, from November 2001, followed country boy Gavin Freeborn, then 22, who was born and bred on his father's farm in County Donegal in Ireland.
He swapped his sheep shearers for a pair of clippers as he made the journey to London, where his challenge was to pass as an up-and-coming hairdresser.
Gavin was trained up by Scottish celebrity hairdresser Trevor Sorbie, assisted by rising star stylist Zoe Irwin - who admitted squeezing a three-year hairdressing course into four weeks was 'pretty ambitious'.
Though the Irish sheep farmer gave it his best shot, he sadly failed the final test.
But it was not the end of Gavin's life transformation - as his career went on to look markedly different to his young adult life spent in the barn.
He had confessed while on Faking It that his dream was to become a photographer - which he eventually started doing in around 2005, four years after the show aired.
Since then, he has embarked on a range of photography projects, including more traditional wedding, events and portrait shoots as well as his less conventional so-called Freeborn Exchange project.
Starting in 2011, it saw him travel to around 20 countries, taking portrait photographs of people he met in exchange for food, hospitality, skills or objects - and become an exhibited artist.
Not only that, he gave a high-profile Ted talk about the endeavour, 'hoping to inspire others to explore their potential alternative currency in everyday life'.
Gavin is also now a qualified yoga and meditation teacher, having trained in the Indian city of Rishikesh.
Over the years, he has also taken on various university administration roles, including managing cultural partnerships at Leeds Beckett University, such as with Northern Ballet Theatre and the West Yorkshire Playhouse.
He worked in marketing and communications at the University of the Arts London, based out of Chelsea College of Arts - where he also taught social media part-time.
He now works in research communications at the University of Liverpool.
Nigel Done - vicar to car dealer
Wheeler dealing and the priesthood might not be thought to be compatible professions.
But the Reverend Nigel Done found it to be enlightening when he traded in his sleepy Somerset parish for working at a car dealership in Southend-on-Sea, Essex.
He told the Telegraph five years ago: 'I realised, in trying to fake it as a car dealer, that I'd already begun to fake it as a vicar.
'I had taken on some of the norms of what a vicar was like and had become a bit of a young fogey.
'I realised I didn't want to do that and that I'd go back with freedom and self-confidence.'
He was pretty successful too - two judges believed his smooth-talking act, while two others were not fooled.
When one of the judges who bought Nigel's act was told his real profession by the crew, he said, astounded: 'Really? He's a Somerset vicar?
'Well, I can't believe that, I can't believe that. If I hadn't known he was a vicar, yeah, we would have offered him a job! I'm going to go and eat my hat now.'
Despite his success, Nigel did not give up his dog collar.
He eventually left the parish he worked for at the time of the show, in the village of Croscombe, Somerset, for the Minster in nearby town Ilminster in 2012.
Nigel moved into a senior role in the diocese of Salisbury in 2018, to guide those exploring the idea of ordination and ministry, which he still has now.
He is also a keen painter, having created and gifted two abstract paintings to Salisbury theological institution Sarum College in 2022.
In a forgotten early job before he shot to fame, now BBC presenter - then wheeler dealer - Dominic Littlewood was charged with training Nigel up in the episode from 2001.
He has since become known for his journalistic and presenting work on consumer protection, on programmes like Fake Britain and Cowboy Builders.
Chris Sweeney - punk rocker to conductor
Along with George's turn as an MC, series four, released in 2002, also saw punk rocker Chris Sweeney pick up a conducting baton - and head up the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra.
Internationally renowned professional conductors Nicholas Kraemer and Richard Dickins joined forces to train up the lead singer of band The Dead Pets.
Asked at the start of the episode what he knew about classical music, Chris, boasting a red mohawk, laughed: 'Nothing at all! I know... I've seen Amadeus.'
And as to whether he read music, he joked: 'No! I don't even read.'
Before they embarked on the challenge, Nicholas predicted somewhat wryly: 'This is going to be the biggest success story there's ever been in music.'
But head banger Chris did seriously well and - in a circular moment, after admitting the Mozart biopic was his only classical experience - was even offered a spot on a trainee conductor scheme by the amateur Amadeus Orchestra.
His mentor Nicholas told the Manchester Evening News in 2004 he remembered very fondly the three weeks the young rocker spent training at his London family home.
Chris was a hit with Nicholas' four children, who at one point in the episode played the Rossini piece the punk had chosen, so he could practise conducting it.
The judges did eventually identify Chris as the newbie - because, he has since said, a musician in an orchestra he had practised with was a relative of one of the eventual judges, and let them in on the secret so they knew who to choose.
But despite this, Nicholas said he thought his student did extraordinarily well - and two of the judges even listed him as their favourite conductor of the competition.
But head banger Chris did seriously well and - in a circular moment, after admitting the Mozart biopic was his only classical experience - was even offered a spot on a trainee conductor scheme by the amateur Amadeus Orchestra
Chris is now a graphic designer and carpenter, working on scenery, props, signage and marketing, and living in the USA.
Alongside working in various theme parks and theatres, one of his biggest jobs has been his work at Walt Disney World and Epcot.
He now provides all his creative services via his own company Pop Media, which he has run since 2010.
Despite him choosing not to pursue music, Chris told the Telegraph in 2020 his appearance on the programme changed his life: 'Previously, I had always thought it was us and them, rich and poor.
'This gave me something most people don't have. I no longer walked into rooms intimidated. I'd walk in like, "Well, have you conducted the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra?".'
Spence Bowdler - naval officer to drag queen
Another episode of the show featured Chief Petty Officer Spencer Bowdler, who had freshly left the navy after winning medals for his service in Bosnia and the Gulf, the Guardian reports.
Spencer said he chose to undergo the transformation into a drag queen - using the name Britney Ferry - because he liked a challenge.
But even so, he admitted he was nervous, which was immediately visible when his mentor, veteran performer Dave Lynn, took him to his first ever gay bar as part of his training.
He soon rallied, though, undergoing a body wax and putting on a 'restraint gusset' before taking to the stage to perform a confident rendition of Ride Sally Ride in a sparkly orange dress
The naval officer soon threw himself right in though, even taking singing lessons from singing teacher Robert Bicknell - who has trained stars like Natalie Imbruglia.
The instructor tried to meet Spencer where he was at, creating the tongue twister warm-up phrase: 'Kickable penalty.'
Faced with donning a frock for the first time, he nearly backed down, with the cameras briefly stopping rolling.
He soon rallied, though, undergoing a body wax and putting on a 'restraint gusset' before taking to the stage to perform a confident rendition of Ride Sally Ride in a sparkly orange dress.
And not a single one of the judges suspected he was faking it, with one saying upon Spencer's identity being revealed: 'No! Well done. Now, that's amazing. My career's in tatters.'
Both the apprentice and the teacher seemed to get a lot out of the experience, learning from each other - and closed out the episode with a chummy duet of Stand By Your Man.
Having already left the navy after a decade in service when the show aired, Spencer soon changed directions career-wise, developing expertise in security, crisis and incident management and operations.
He has provided expertise at high-profile events such as the London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games, the 2015 Rugby World Cup and 2022's Commonwealth Games in Birmingham - and for big brands like EDF Energy and Heathrow Airport.
In one case, his work has even taken him abroad, to Djibouti in east Africa.
Spencer now works for the Sizewell C nuclear power station project.
Scottish physics student Kevin McMahon featured on Faking It in 2005 - and it changed his life forever.
After appearing on the show, where he was tasked with transforming into a magician, he threw in the towel on his PhD research at Edinburgh's Heriot-Watt University - to pursue a career in magic.
Performing magic tricks had been a long-time interest of Kevin, who had enjoyed fooling his siblings with a set he received when he was around ten years old.
Later forgotten amid his burgeoning interest in physics and maths, it was only when he featured on the Channel 4 reality show that he remembered his true passion.
On the judging panel of experts he had to convince was TV magician Paul Daniels - whose very magic set had first inspired Kevin all those years ago.
Despite other panellists spotting him ('I was woefully underprepared', Kevin later told the BBC), he managed to fool Paul - which he said felt like the true win: 'It was pretty euphoric.
Later forgotten amid his burgeoning interest in physics and maths, it was only when he featured on the Channel 4 reality show that he remembered his true passion
'I was jumping about with an expensive suit on, paid for by the production company, throwing champagne around.'
After filming finished, Kevin had every intention of finishing his PhD - but it occurred to him shortly after he could attempt a career in magic.
There was just the small matter of telling his parents: 'When you're already a scientist, it's the equivalent of running away to join the circus.'
He gave himself a year to make it happen - and he did, by the end of 2007, styling himself as Kevin Quantum, incorporating scientific elements into his tricks.
Since then, he has toured internationally, performed regularly at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival, broken Guinness World Records - and even made it to the Britain's Got Talent semi-final in 2020.
He said the production company of BGT had been asking him to appear on the show for years but he had always resisted, thinking magicians do not tend to 'come across well' on the show.
But he did incredibly well, making it to the final stages: 'BGT was a bit of a dream.'
Kevin now also has a magicians' member organisation, The Magic Circle, which mentors aspiring tricksters, and started a convention called MagicFest with his wife in 2010, which runs annually in Edinburgh.
As David Walliams described him on BGT: 'A mixture of science, magic and derring-do, you're like a sexy Doctor Who.'
