He’s faking it ’till he makes it — or doesn’t.
A New Zealand man has amassed a real fan following for pretending to be famous on Instagram, where he posts photoshopped pictures of himself splashed on the front pages of famed outlets like Page Six and Vogue.
“These days, everyone is living doctored lives on social [media] anyways, so I am just kind of doing the same thing – but maybe with just a little more drama,” Duncan Killick told The Post from his apartment in Central London.
Killick, 28 – who “lives off the drama of celebrity culture” – was inspired to create an Instagram account on which he would pretend to be a “cooked-out celeb” after seeing a candid photo his friend took of him in 2019.
“I zoomed in [on the photo] and was like, ‘Oh my God, it looks like I’ve been papp-ed!’” the Auckland native said.
In that moment, “I was like, ‘F–k it, let’s be famous,’” he continued.
One of Killick’s recent posts on Instagram, under the handle @whoshotduncan, is a photoshopped picture of him being swarmed with paparazzi under the headline “#FreeDuncan: Understanding the fan-led movement,” on a fake cover of Rolling Stone.
“FreeBritney was a movement, and I’m still obsessed with how deeply her fans care that she’s out of that harrowing situation. I hope my fans will do the same for me,” Killick joked.
With nearly 7,500 Instagram followers, Killick is torn between dubbing them “Duncanators” or “Duncan’s Donuts,” he said with a laugh.
Although Killick has initially been mistaken as a real celebrity by a few — “before they’ve Googled me and found absolutely nothing,” he said — most of his followers are onto his fake celebrity business, and play into it.
“Duncan, can I have your autograph please?” one Instagram user commented on a recent post.
“I fully support you Duncan I’m your biggest fan,” another one wrote.
The public relations freelancer creates his posts with the help of a couple of photographer friends, who snap “paparazzi-style” pictures of him. He then makes up headlines based on what’s trending in celebrity news.
“I’m always just obsessed with 90s celebs. I think their paparazzi vibes, in particular, were immaculate,” Killick said, and name-dropped Paris Hilton and Macaulay Culkin as a couple of his favorites.
“I think there’s a really interesting obsession with that satirical look at celebrities, and lifestyles of the rich and famous…Which is why I think people enjoy looking at my account, maybe because it’s [an] over-the-top, ridiculous take on something that we all consume every day,” Killick said of his success.
“I think people love to hate [celebrity culture] – but everyone still f–king loves it,” he added.
But the rising social media star doesn’t necessarily desire the fame and fortune he projects – he just wants to have fun with it.
“It was never the ambition of the page to get famous – it was more [about] me having a side hobby and just posting photos of myself.
“It’s just such a vibe, it’s so interesting to be going on this little journey, so I guess I’ll kind of just keep rolling with it and see what happens,” Killick said.
