Ian ‘H’ Watkins is getting a giant statue version of himself(Picture: Joseph Okpako/WireImage)
Pop icon Ian ‘H’ Watkins will be immortalised with an eight foot tall statue in his honour in his hometown of Cowbridge, Wales.
In celebration of his contributions to music and the Glamorgan community, the Steps singer’s likeness will be installed outside The Bear Hotel.
The 47-year-old founded Cowbridge Pride in 2022 and is an active member of the town, working with Llanblethian Town Council.
Posting about the honour on Instagram, the Tragedy hitmaker shared: ‘SEEING DOUBLE!!! 👬 WOW! I mean! 🙌🏻.
‘Absolutely bowled over! Super proud of this! It’ll be a little strange seeing myself across the street when I pop into town! 🙌🏻’
H’s statue has been funded privately by donations and organised by action group Cowbridge Cultural with a local artist designing it.
The giant golden statue will be placed outside the Bear Hotel in Cowbridge(Picture: Cultural Cowbridge/Wales News Service)
He continued: ‘If little Ian, from the Rhondda could see this, he would be blown away! Thanks to everyone for your wonderful messages! 🙌🏻🙌🏻.’
‘When I got the email informing me, I fell off my chair,’ H said of the moment he found out about the statue.
‘This is one of my proudest moments – not bad for a Welsh lad lots of people think is as daft as a toilet brush.
‘I love calling Cowbridge my home and I’m very passionate about doing my bit to help make it a better, more inclusive, superb place to live.’
His cultural impact on the small town in Wales is being celebrated (Picture: Lorne Thomson/Redferns)
It’s thought the statue will be unveiled in June, coinciding with the annual pride festival in the town.
The 5,6,7,8 singer has landed over 14 chart topping songs as one fifth of Steps, alongside Claire Richards, Lee Latchford-Evans, Faye Tozer, and Lisa Scott-Lee.
Originally forming in 1997, the group has split and reformed a number of times as well as pursuing solo projects.
H has worked extensively on London’s West End in shows like Fame and Chitty Bang Bang, as well as his own radio show.
Steps stormed the charts with 14 top five hits (Picture: Piers Allardyce/Shutterstock)
In 2020, the star made TV history by being one half of the first ever same-sex couples to perform on ITV’s Dancing On Ice.
Bethan Davies, from Cultural Cowbridge, said: ‘We can think of nobody more deserving of this fantastic initiative than Ian H Watkins, and look forward to installing the statue pride of place in the centre of Cowbridge.
‘When we discreetly began to seek private investment to realise this dream, we were overwhelmed at the response – 5, 6, 7, even 8 people immediately came forward with very generous donations.’
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