BY: Walker
Published 4 years ago
Never underestimate the power of boredom and alcohol. While watching Céline Dion at home with a bottle of champagne, one 30-year-old Dion stan in the United Kingdom legally changed his name to Céline Dion.
via: New York Post
A Céline Dion superfan in the UK got drunk and legally changed his name to hers — then promptly forgot about it.
But it’s all coming back to him now.
The 30-year-old Céline Dion — né Thomas Dodd — told The Post that he came up with the idea while boozing it up and watching a TV concert by the 52-year-old Canadian crooner on Christmas Eve — because he loves her.
“She [is] my go-to person I listen to when I need cheering up,” he told The Post via Twitter.
He said he spent much of the pandemic watching concerts while at home, including one by Dion over the holiday that was accompanied by a magnum of Champagne given to him by a friend. “That’ll probably explain a lot!” he said.
While enjoying the show, he plunked down 89 pounds (about $122) and officially took her name via an online application. However, the details are a bit fuzzy.
“I honestly, hand on heart, don’t remember doing it!” he said. “I remember watching the concert and remember getting rather tipsy.”
Days later, he came home from work as a hospitality manager in Staffordshire, England, to find an envelope with documentation waiting for him.
“I wasn’t aware I had done it until I found that envelope in my post,” he explained. “Initially, I had to sit down as I couldn’t believe it — so I then checked my bank which confirmed it all.”
And why stop there?
“Once it sunk in, I signed it straightaway as I bloody love her!” he said.
He shared images of his “change of name deed” on Twitter — yes, he did update his social media name to reflect the side-splitting switch — which includes his old signature, plus a new one in a box marked “MR CELINE DION.”
https://twitter.com/ThomasDodd1/status/1344371858385338369?s=20
“Things have been pretty crazy over here since this morning” when his story took off Friday morning and garnered worldwide media attention. “I currently have paparazzi camped outside,” he said, adding a laughing-while-crying emoji.
And, he noted, his “inbox is full of Celine Dion fans asking me to record them a video message!”
He does, however, see one potential issue on the horizon. “I’ve just moved into a small village and haven’t spoken to many people,” he said. “It’ll cause quite a stir when I tell them my new name.”
However, one person who initially was not amused by the change was his mom.
“My mother wasn’t best pleased at first, but now she sees the funny side!” he said. “My friends have said they are not surprised! It was only a few week[s] back I hired an Elsa [from ‘Frozen’] tribute to perform on my driveway for me when I was drunk because I was bored! Anything is possible!”
He added that rather than revert to his birth name, at least for now his name change will go on — “As it stands – I’m keeping it!” he said — though he added that everything “depends [on] how difficult it makes my life!”
In the meantime, he said he is hoping to get a chance to eventually talk with or meet his namesake — whom he last saw in concert in 2019 — and is working with a UK radio station to see if that can happen.
But the power of love could be overwhelming for the nouveau Dion if that does.
“You might think I’m joking. I’ll need to be put on oxygen!” he said. “Just thinking about [it] is making my heart race and my eyes water. It would honestly mean the world and more.”
The original Dion’s representatives didn’t immediately reply when The Post reached out for comment Friday.
Who knew it was so easy to change your name? I thought there was a long process, or maybe things are different in the UK.