Woman Mistaken For Louis Theroux In Self-Service Passport Machine Blunder

There are so many things that can go wrong at the airport: your bag's too heavy, you're at the wrong terminal, the self-service passport machine mistakes you for Louis Theroux.

Wait, what?

That was the awkward predicament Rachel Gordon found herself in after touching down at Paphos Airport in Cyprus yesterday (Wednesday 20 October).

The TV publicity manager naturally wanted to travel as comfortably as possible, so for the flight she opted for her oversized T-shirt adorned with the esteemed documentary maker - a garment that should be the envy of anyone in their right mind.

Rachel Gordon

However, the choice backfired when she reached the self-service passport scanner.

Speaking to LADbible, the 30-year-old said: "So I'm trying to make it work and the machine clearly is having a bit of difficulty picking up my face - I was wearing my glasses, which it didn't really like seemingly.

"I eventually positioned myself and it took the photo and I was thinking, 'yay, good it finally worked'.

"And it clearly picked up the T-shirt design and prints out the bloody form with Louis' face from my T-shirt."

Excellent stuff.

Rachel Gordon

Reflecting on the case of mistaken identity, Rachel isn't sure whether she should be flattered or offended; she was definitely amused, though.

She said: "A T-shirt was apparently easier to recognise than my actual face, which might be slightly insulting the more I think about it. Although it is a particularly fetching photo of Louis, so I shouldn't be too offended.

"Anyway, me and my pal Lindsay were howling but there were a few people waiting behind and I reckoned passport security might be a bit suspicious if I pitch up with a photo of a man claiming it's me.

"So I shoved it in my bag and took another one - I took my pal's jacket and covered my T-shirt with it so it wouldn't do it again. Thankfully it got my face the second time.

"But I do quite enjoy the fact that Cyprus Police probably do have a record of me entering the country with... Louis Theroux's face."

Rachel Gordon

Thankfully then, Rachel got through security without any further hitches and is now sunning it up in Cyprus... but Louis is still casting a shadow over her holiday.

She said: "There's a chain of hotels in Cyprus called 'Louis Hotels' and we're staying in one of them. So he's kind of haunting my whole holiday, actually."

Topics: Viral, Airport, Funny, louis theroux, Fail, Community, Holiday

Jake Massey

Jake Massey is a journalist at LADbible. He graduated from Newcastle University, where he learnt a bit about media and a lot about living without heating. After spending a few years in Australia and New Zealand, Jake secured a role at an obscure radio station in Norwich, inadvertently becoming a real-life Alan Partridge in the process. From there, Jake became a reporter at the Eastern Daily Press. Jake enjoys playing football, listening to music and writing about himself in the third person.

@jakesmassey