Viral TikTok trainspotter Francis Bourgeois hits back at claims he\u2019s \u201cfaking it\u201d TikTok: Francis BourgeoisViral TikToker and avid trainspotter Francis Bourgeois has come out swinging against accusations he\u2019s \u201cfaking\u201d his overjoyed act to get more clicks on the social media app after old images of the star resurfaced this month. The internet\u2019s most wholesome TikTok star, English trainspotting aficionado Francis Bourgeois, has moved to derail recent suggestions he\u2019s a \u201cfake.\u201d Bourgeois, whose real name is actually Luke Nicholson, barreled into internet stardom earlier this year via an infectious laugh and head-mounted camera, with the star uploading TikTok videos of himself watching carriages, trains, and steam engines from bridges, stations, and even farmyards. The star\u2019s overjoyed attitude to trains and hilarious TikTok antics earned him a huge following on the social app \u2014 1.9 million, to be exact \u2014 with many calling him \u201cthe most wholesome man in England.\u201d Recently, however, he\u2019s been dubbed a \u201cfake.\u201d The recent TikTok accusations, which Bourgeois denies, have arisen after old images of Nicholson dressed as a roadman emerged on Twitter in mid-December. In an Instagram video, noticeably filmed from a regular height and angle, Nicholson addressed claims he is simply playing a character, and that the whole trainspotting TikTok account is a long-drawn-out parody. \u201cI\u2019ve seen many doubting my authenticity,\u201d he said. \u201cI believe these came from images from when I was younger. I\u2019d like to take you back to that time. I started a new school in Year 7, and my favorite thing to do was to come home and play with my model railway. But I realized I was experiencing feelings of loneliness, so I decided to try and fit in more at school. \u201cI gelled my hair,\u201d he said, sharing images of his childhood, \u201cand decided to sell my model railway to fund my gym membership. I even wore roadman clothes, but it wasn\u2019t me and it wasn\u2019t making me happy. \u201cLockdown happened, my hair grew out and I reclaimed my love for trains. And honestly, chasing trains really feels like the shackles are off and I\u2019m totally free.\u201d Watch the TikTok video here if it fails to load. Nicholson\u2019s real name may not be Francis Bourgeois, but the 20-year-old is adamant Bourgeois is \u201cnot just some character\u201d he\u2019s playing. The only real forgery is the pseudonym, which comes from one of King George III\u2019s court painters. The accusations were sparked online after images of Nicholson wearing a beanie, \u201croadman\u201d attire, and silver chains were uncovered. Fans also claimed he was a fake due to the fact he attended raves at Manchester\u2019s Warehouse Project and has a Spotify song called \u201cWhatley Quarry.\u201d He concluded: \u201cI love showing you guys how awesome trains can be. And, as well as trainspotting, I love doing other things, like going to festivals and having fun.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Viral TikTok trainspotter Francis Bourgeois hits back at claims he\u2019s \u201cfaking it\u201d TikTok: Francis BourgeoisViral TikToker and avid trainspotter Francis Bourgeois has come out swinging against accusations he\u2019s \u201cfaking\u201d his overjoyed act to get more clicks on the social media app after old images of the star resurfaced this month. The internet\u2019s most wholesome TikTok […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-63577","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dejan.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/63577","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/dejan.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/dejan.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dejan.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dejan.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=63577"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/dejan.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/63577\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dejan.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=63577"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dejan.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=63577"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dejan.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=63577"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}