Beauty and the Geek Australia star Mike has finally addressed rumours he was an actor planted on the show to be a fake Geek.

ICYMI, Mike was the first contestant to win a makeover on Beauty and the Geek and his new look was a far cry from the geeky Batman-fanatic persona he brought to the show. In fact, it was giving Hollywood.

So when eagle-eyed fans found a photo of Mike at a halloween party where he looked pretty similar to his makeover — and confident AF to boot — people began to theorise that he faked being a Geek for the show.

Mike from Beauty and the Geek in a ghost busters costume.
This could be a picture of literally any man I shared classes with at uni. Image source: Instagram @mikegambaro

“[The rumour] literally is the biggest compliment, I was so happy to hear that,’ Mike told Who magazine in response to the acting claims.

He also clarified why he his beard looked so different in the picture.

“I was sweating so much. I’m in Queensland, and I’m in that big Ghostbusters costume… so the beard looks a lot shorter in the photo,” he said.

“That actually is just because I’m so drenched in sweat.”

Hmmm. While I do genuinely believe Mike isn’t an actor, I’m pretty sure that beard doesn’t just look short because of sweat — it is short. And what about the perfectly styled hair? Is it truly wild to assume perhaps he used to be a regular-looking dude but grew out his locks for a more dramatic makeover?

mike batg
Try and convince me this isn’t totally put on, I dare you. Image source: Nine

It’s for this reason there’s another conspiracy going around that the stars of the show are asked to play up their nerdiness for the sake of good television. Which isn’t really helped by the fact that quite a few of this year’s Geeks have pics of themselves clean-shaven and beardless on Instagram.

Like Michael, for example. Our deep-dive into which Geeks are fake uncovered pictures of the contestant clean-shaven and looking cute at a festival.

But THIS is what he looks like in Beauty and the Geek?

Interesting.

Though honestly, with how wholesome this show is, I don’t care if they play up the geekiness. It more than redeems itself IMO.

More Stuff From PEDESTRIAN.TV

Image: Nine / Instagram @mikegambaro