Why are celebrity lookalike contests suddenly everywhere?

There has never been a better time to have a showbiz doppelganger...

That's because in an unexpected turn of events, celebrity lookalike contests of the internet's favourite 'it' boys such as Timothee Chalamet, Harry Styles, Paul Mescal, Dev Patel, Zayn Malik and Jeremy Allen White have been popping up all over the place in recent weeks.

All of the different contests have been going viral on social media, with viewers giving their verdicts on which contests resemble the star the most.

And as well as winning the coveted title, there are also other prizes up for grabs.

Where did the celebrity lookalike contest craze start?

It all began when a New York City-based contest was launched to find a Timothee Chalamet lookalike, with a Partiful invite going viral online along with posters being put up across the city.

We have YouTuber Anthony Po to thank who organised the contest which had a $50 cash prize and crown for the winner.

The contest took place near Washington Square Park on October 27 which drew in a large crowd of people eager to see if any of the contestants were the spitting image of the Dune actor.

Chalamet himself even made a surprise appearance, while the winner of the contest was Miles Mitchell, a 20-year-old student.

Videos from the Timothee Chalamet lookalike quickly went viral on social media and inspired others to organise their own lookalike contests for their favourite celeb.

Here's all the ones we know about so far:

The Harry Styles lookalike contest in London

London was calling for anyone who looked like former One Direction singer Harry Styles in a contest that was organised by Journalist Katrina Mirpuri who told the BBC the reason why she started it was because "people need to have some fun after all the dreary news we're having".

The contest took place in Soho Square on November 9, and Oscar Journeaux, a 22-year-old musician, was crowned the winner and won the £50 grand prize.

Beer and wine were awarded to the other categories, and haircare products from the brand Wavy were awarded to the best hair winner.

The Paul Mescal lookalike contest in Dublin

He's an Irish national treasure, so it's no surprise that there was a Paul Mescal lookalike contest in Dublin on November 7, organised by Marcus O’Laoire.

Contests were required to recite the famous line of dialogue from the actor's breakout role in the series Normal People (“You look really well”).

In the end, the winner was Jack Wall O’Reilly who won the crowd over with his impression as well as his 'Earbuds Paul' outfit and was handed a giant cheque made out for €20 “or three pints".

And the contest even got the attention of the Gladiator II star, as Mescal revealed in an interview with Absolute Radio "I found out about this while I was in Dublin," when he was shown the contestants.

The Dev Patel lookalike contest in San Francisco

Hundreds gathered at Dolores Park in San Franciso on November 10 to attend and see the hopefuls at the Dev Patel lookalike contest.

Organised by friends Sitara Bellam, Tasnim Khandakar and Sahana Rangarajan, they created a social media flyer with Patel’s face and a QR code linking to an invitation to the event on the party planning app Partiful.

In the end, Jaipreet Hundal, a 25-year-old from San Jose was announced as the winner who most resembled the Oscar winner and won $50, flowers and a small monkey statue - a reference to Patel’s directorial debut film Monkey Man.

The Zayn Malik lookalike contest in New York

Another former One Direction lookalike contest was hosted over the weekend, this time for Zayn Malik in the Bushwick neighbourhood of Brooklyn, organised by Jaz Arnold who was inspired by the viral Timothée Chalamet contest.

Shiv Patel was named the winner of the contest and won a free tattoo. Upon winning, he said he had been "waiting for this moment since high school," Metro.co.uk reported.

Though when asked what his favourite One Direction song was, Patel dodged the question saying how could he "possibly choose".

The Jeremy Allen White lookalike contest in Chicago

There were over 50 contestants who turned up to a Jeremy Allen White lookalike contest in Chicago on Saturday (November 16) - the city is also where Allen's latest role in the TV series “The Bear" is set.

The prizes included $50 and a pack of cigarettes in homage to White's character Carmen “Carmy” Berzatto in the show.

In the end, the winner was 37-year-old mental health therapist Ben Shabad, the Chicago Sun-Timesreported.

Could we see more celebrity lookalike contests in the future? Given how popular they've been it's a case of not if, but when.

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