What happened to Ronnie Pickering as family responds to 'disgusting' death rumours
Despite online rumours saying otherwise, internet sensation Ronnie Pickering is still alive and kicking.
It was claimed that the Hull resident, who is best known for going ballistic at a moped driver back in September 2015, had sadly passed away a few days ago.
Social media sites quickly became flooded with tributes to the grandad, given the imprint that the legendary footage of him behind the wheel of a red Citroën Xsara Picasso left on British culture.
However, his relatives have since set the record straight about his alleged passing and insisted reports of his demise were 'fake news'.
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Although I'm sure you can immediately recognise this viral star from his memorable moniker alone, let's have a quick refresher on who the infamous Ronnie Pickering actually is.
More than a decade ago, he was driving through Bransholme when he encountered a bloke on a moped, and he really wasn't a fan of how this fella was navigating the roads.
Take a look at this:
The pair ended up becoming embroiled in a vicious road rage spat on the streets of Hull and the entirety of this was captured on the moped driver's GoPro.
In the footage which subsequently went viral, Ronnie repeatedly asked his foe: "Do you know who I am? I'm Ronnie Pickering!"
This meant absolutely nothing to the man on the moped, who asked if he was 'someone famous' before Ronnie offered him out for a 'bare knuckle' brawl.
"I'm going to knock you out," Ronnie comedically said. "Let's have a bare knuckle fight then. I'll f**king show you who I am!"
Given that Ronnie subsequently became something of a national treasure in wake of his viral meltdown, people were stunned when rumours of his death started swirling.
For some strange reason, claims began circulating online about his alleged death last Friday (10 April).
Ronnie's loved ones were quick to put these to bed once they got wind of them though, as one relative spoke out to slam people for pedalling 'fake news' about his passing.
"People believing this fake news and making a laugh and joke about it are disgusting and disrespectful," one family member fumed, as per Yorkshire Live.
"He's a lot more than just an internet meme. I'm not just gonna have people disrespect a member of my family to this extent."
I think that fighting talk - which is eerily reminiscent of Ronnie's road rage rant - is proof enough that this person is related to him.
A few years ago, Ronnie revealed how the footage of his outburst being uploaded to YouTube changed his life.
"There have been millions of videos featuring me which have been viewed," the dad said.
"It just feels bizarre to me. I don’t understand it. I can’t believe it is still going after all this time and has been seen all around the world."
Ronnie previously told Hull Live that he had 'no idea' the fiery interaction was being filmed and was informed it had been shared online by a friend.
"People have rows like that all the time but they are not always filmed," he went on. "The guy wanted a reaction and he got one. The video was heavily edited. The footage of him winding me up wasn’t there at all.
"To be honest, I was just spouting a lot of gobbledegook. I said things I wouldn’t normally say. I now wish I had never said all that, but what can you do?"
He confessed that the moped driver had managed to wind him up and dubbed him an 'irritating fella'.
However, it's all water under the bridge for Ronnie, who added: "I have no bad feelings towards him now.
"I imagine he made some money from the video. I’d like to think he donated it to charity but I doubt it. I certainly never made a penny."
Topics: UK News, Viral, Social Media, Weird, Driving
Olivia Burke