Francis Bourgeois hits back at claims that he's not real after unearthed photos go viral

17 December 2021, 17:57

Joe Jonas goes trainspotting with Francis Bourgeois

By Jazmin Duribe

"Struggling to come to terms with roadman Francis Bourgeois."

Francis Bourgeois is currently trending on social media because people are questioning if his passion for trains is real or if he's just playing a character.

In case you didn't know, Francis is a UK-based TikTok star whose wholesome content and enthusiasm for locomotives has earned him almost 2 million followers on the platform. The University of Nottingham student can often be seen sitting on train platforms with a GoPro on his head and excitedly waving at incoming trains.

However, fans are now starting to doubt if Francis is real or if his personality and passion for trains is all part of a carefully orchestrated online persona.

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Is Francis Bourgeois real?

People first started to doubt how real Francis Bourgeois was after The Tab uncovered that Francis Bourgeois is not actually his real name. Francis' real name is Luke Nicholson and he is listed as the sole director of Francis Bourgeois Limited, Companies House records show.

Then, people managed to unearth photos of Francis where he wasn't dressed in his usual attire, instead sporting a beanie, silver chains and a Burberry shirt. Other things that internet investigators have found that don't add up to them is that Francis is a signed model, he's attended raves at Manchester's Warehouse Project and then Mixmag found he had written an electronic song called 'Whatley Quarry' which can be found on Spotify.

Francis has never denied his love of electronic music, though, telling The Face: "I feel like there’s a lot of connection between my passion for trains and my love for music, especially electronic music, with industrial sounds similar to big diesel engines and [the] clickety clackety of the rails!"

So just because of this, it doesn't mean Francis' love of trains isn't real. In fact, he addressed the claims in a TikTok video. "Recently I've seen a lot of comments saying that I'm just a character or that I don't really like trains," Francis explained.

"Well, I'm going to take you back to where it all started. Where my passion for trains was founded – Willesden Junction. Here me and my dad used to sit at the platform at the weekends and as I got older I got my own model train set and slowly built up an epic diorama."

He added: "Fast forward 15 years I've met awesome people like Brian and even have my own authentic '80s conductor and train driver uniform. I love to show you guys how awesome trains can be as well as try and make you smile, laugh and just try and bring joy. And as well as trainspotting I love doing other things in my life like going to festivals with my friends and having fun."

Francis has uploaded another TikTok video clarifying his story

In the video posted on Dec 17, Francis addresses the rumours about his TikTok persona being fake.

In the video, he begins by saying that his passion for trains began when he was a young boy. Then he claims that after experiencing feelings of loneliness after starting secondary school, he tried to fit in with the other kids at his school by gelling his hair up and decided to sell his model railway kit to fund his gym membership.

He says he, "even wore roadman clothes but it wasn't me and it wasn't making me happy at all".

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A post shared by Francis Bourgeois (@francis_bourgeois43)

Francis says it was because of the pandemic and going into lockdown that he grew his hair out and rediscovered his love for trains through his TikTok videos.

"Life is so much more pure now that I've reconnected with my passion", he adds.

So there you have it! Francis is just a multidimensional KING.