‘I met Les Dennis’: Twitter prankster inadvertently creates viral meme

Comedian Les Dennis became the unexpected star of Twitter after a prankster falsely accused him of swearing at a two-year-old boy.

The bizarre trend was triggered after the former Coronation Street actor responded to a man who jokingly claimed: “Met @LesDennis today in the Brewers Fayre in Warrington. What a disappointment!!!! Refused to have a picture with me and swore at my 2 year old son. #Disappointed.”

Dennis responded: “No you didn’t. I am at home and have been all day. Don’t lie.”

The denial unwittingly sparked a host of comedic copycat tweets, with others imagining unlikely scenarios in which they had met the actor.

Call The Midwife actor Stephen McGann wrote: “Looked through my telescope in the garden last night. I saw Les Dennis doing a spacewalk in orbit, trying to divert an asteroid so it would collide with Earth. Very disappointed.”

EastEnders’ Nitin Ganatra responded: “I was in Tescos today in Isle of Wight….Where Les Dennis lives…In the world food section… that’s where lives. He refused to show me where to find cheap chickpea tins.”

Many others simply took the opportunity to say how much they had enjoyed their real-life encounters with Dennis.

Journalist and presenter Samira Ahmed tweeted: “I saw @LesDennis on stage and told him he was amazing. Next thing he was acting with the Royal Shakespeare Company.”

“We found him absolutely charming when he visited Nottingham,” wrote Sue Jennings.

Dennis appeared taken aback by the furore, eventually tweeting: “All the I met Les Dennis posts are making me laugh out loud.

“You’re all making me see that Twitter can be a great place despite the odd idiot. Thank you all.”