Gowna man is Piers Morgan's 'Chippendouble'

It took a Gowna man to shake up the judges on the recent Britain's Got Talent show when he appeared in the live semi-finals as Piers Morgan for the 'Chippendoubles' act. Noel McNaboe, who left his native townland of Mulrick in Gowna in 1985 at the age of 19 years, is a son of Eileen McNaboe who still resides in Mulrick. Little did Noel think back then that he would be walking out in front of 12 million people on Britain's most-watched television programme 25 years later. Well that's what he did in the recent BGT lives shows and he brought the house down as he strode onto the stage with an Amanda Holden lookalike to join the rest of the Chippendoubles. The Chippendoubles act is a take on the Chippendales - the surprise twist being that all the members are celebrity lookalikes. Noel (aka Piers) was joined on stage by dead ringers for Simon Cowell, David Beckham, Gordon Ramsay, Daniel Craig, B.A. Baracus, Will Smith and Ricky Gervais. Since Piers Morgan from Wales became a household name, Noel says he's regularly mistaken for the celebrity and finds people in the street taking long looks in his direction and even stopping him to make remarks about it. Noel comes from a family of six brothers and three sisters. He ran the 'New Inn' pub in Brentford in West London for 17 years and it was sold a few months ago. It was the home to the West London Celtic supporters club. Noel travelled the world for a few years before going to Ealing and then settled in Brentford. In the light of so many people remarking on his amazing resemblance to Morgan, it was decided to send in some pictures to a 'Look Alike Agency' in London. "No sooner had we done that, than the Chippendoubles (who had secured a place on the live semi-finals) were on the phone seeking to meet me immediately and the next thing my life turned into a whirlwind and I was rehearsing for the most popular show on television," said Noel. The Chippendoubles enthralled the audience in the last of the semi finals but unfortunately did not make it into the final. Noel quipped that his new found fame has not translated into pound notes as yet. "But seriously, it was only a bit of craic. I met Piers Morgan after the show and he loved the act and I got my picture taken with him," he said.