The Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) has admitted a personal trainer who appeared in a Universal Credit promotional video is also an actor.
Work and pensions secretary Amber Rudd tweeted the "Meet Charlie" video promoting the Universal Credit scheme.
READ MORE: Call to halt 'disastrous' Universal Credit roll-out as millions face losing £50 a week
In the video, Charlie Watson gives a glowing account of his time at the job centre and using the Universal Credit scheme stating that it helped him "somehow get a job" as a personal trainer.
However, the video was soon criticised after it was revealed that Mr Watson was an actor that had worked on a number of programmes and adverts.
👋 Meet Charlie
— Amber Rudd MP (@AmberRuddHR) January 28, 2019
🥊 Because of the personal support #UniversalCredit provides, Charlie started a personal training career
👌 Universal Credit is helping people into work and I am going to share these good stories with you
🎬 So don’t just take my word for it, take Charlie’s 👇 pic.twitter.com/rijoZCpwMA
Many claimed on social media that Mr Watson had been paid to appear in the Universal Credit promo, a claim which has been rebuffed by the DWP.
A spokesman for the DWP said: “Everything portrayed in the video is true, and the people speaking are not paid to do so. Charlie is a real Universal Credit claimant who has now moved into work and his work coach, shown in the video, still works at the jobcentre.
“Charlie was asked to speak about his Universal Credit experience and his responses were not scripted."
The DWP also confirmed that the video was filmed “three to four months ago”.
Mr Watson has featured on a Vodafone advert alongside footballer Mohamed Salah and will appear in a Sky Atlantic drama later on this year. He has also appeared on First Dates and worked for CBeebies.
His Twitter account describes himself as an actor and his Instagram account was soon shared on many social media platforms showing that he had travelled to many destinations in the last year.
Ms Rudd accused Alex Tiffin, a Universal Credit blogger who first drew attention to Mr Watson’s acting work, of promoting “conspiracy theories”.
Hi Alex,
— Amber Rudd MP (@AmberRuddHR) January 29, 2019
Glad you met Charlie.
Your scepticism and conspiracy theories are misplaced.
More than 1.6 million people claim UC, and they have a wide range of life experiences. No matter what work you’ve done, you can apply for UC.
Cynically exploiting people’s pasts doesn’t help https://t.co/RJ8HZzqbbL
Responding on social media, she wrote: “More than 1.6 million people claim UC, and they have a wide range of life experiences. No matter what work you’ve done, you can apply for UC. Cynically exploiting people’s pasts doesn’t help."
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