BERLIN, July 17 — Fans of British singer-songwriter Ed Sheeran could not believe their eyes when they came to the unveiling of his wax figure in Berlin’s Madame Tussauds and saw him — or at least what they believed to be him — emerging from a limousine.

The waxwork museum had Nico Eckl, Ed Sheeran’s best-known lookalike, unveil the model of the chart-topping musician today since the real Sheeran couldn’t come due to concerts, the museum said.

"We had him drive up in a limousine and hoped that the fans would go berserk and that is exactly what happened,” said Nina-Kristin Zerbe, the spokeswoman of Madame Tussauds.

"The people shouted, wanted pictures with him,” Zerbe said.

Eckl, with sunglasses covering his eyes, posed for photographers and fans with the waxwork of Sheeran, which was dressed in a blue checked shirt and featured some of the singer’s arms tattoos plus a guitar.

"A lot of expertise and love for details went into this. As you can see — the freckles. It is not that easy to put freckles on a person. Or to prick in the eye-lashes, the brows,” Zerbe said.

London’s Madame Tussauds last month unveiled a different model of Sheeran at Lady Dinah’s Cat Emporium in London, where customers sip their drinks surrounded by felines.

Sheeran was named the world’s best-selling artist of 2017 by the International Federation of the Phonographic Industry (IFPI) thanks to his album Divide and singles Shape of You and Perfect.

"I saw Ed Sheeran... actually I don’t know if he is real or fake... It’s quite surprising, but it’s OK,”  said Riccardo di Stefano, an Italian fan. — Reuters