“AS I settled down in my cinema seat in December 2013, the man in the row behind tapped me on the shoulder. ‘Is that you?’ he asked, pointing to the screen.
“Glancing up, I watched my seven-year-old self step onto a Yellow Pages book to kiss a girl under the mistletoe. It’s been 25 years since that Christmas advert first aired, but I’m still recognized all the time.
Dean Cook, 32, runs his own upholstery business and lives in Essex with his fiancée Kelly, 29, a sign language interpreter.
“When I made the commercial back in 1992, I had no idea how iconic it would become. I was six when my mum Carol, now 54, signed me up to a casting agency after she saw how much I enjoyed being on stage on holiday in Spain. Incredibly, my first audition was for the Yellow Pages advert just a few months later.
“I could barely contain my excitement as Mum took me to London to try out for the role. The audition only lasted three minutes. I was asked to repeat the action of stepping on to the directory and pretending to kiss someone. I felt silly kissing thin air, but I enjoyed myself. “Waiting to hear back felt like forever, but the following week I got the call saying I’d landed the part.
“I was so ecstatic and told everyone at primary school that I was going to be on TV.