A former University of Chester student who pranked the world is seeking support to help win the prize of a lifetime.
Lewis Ellis, 26, has pulled a series of stunts in his efforts to win the Perfect World Project and get a chance to live the high life.
Lewis hit the headlines earlier this year after he claimed he accidentally ended up in Syria following a holiday night out.
Now he is down to the final 50 in the selection process for the TV show and needs your help to get through the public vote.
The Perfect World Project will whisk 10 finalists off to a desert island where they will compete for the prize.
The winner gets a six-figure sum to do whatever they please and allow a film crew to follow them round the world as they do it.
Lewis, from Manchester, thinks he would be an entertaining winner and just wants to put a smile on viewers’ faces.
He said: “I would just go insane. Who wouldn’t want to travel to Canada, to Las Vegas, to New York, to Australia and to Thailand?
“People might think why they should help someone they don’t know and I understand that, but I just want to entertain.
“I think most would do exactly the same thing if they won that amount of money.
“The support I’ve had so far has been unbelievable and getting into the final would be insane. It would be an experience that’s for sure.”
In his bid to impress the producers, Lewis’s pranks have seen him jump on stage at a Kevin Hart comedy show and dive into the pool at the Manchester Trafford Centre food court.
But it was his tale of accidentally ending up in war-torn Syria after a night out in Ayia Napa which gained real publicity.
He claimed to have taken a boat from Cyprus alongside mates Alex McCormick and James Wallman which landed in Tartus, 50 miles from Homs, where they were met by baffled Russian military police.
The story was picked up by media outlets across the world after the friends posted about their adventure on Snapchat.
Lewis later revealed it was all made up. He said it started as a ‘small joke’ and next thing their faces were all over the news.
Each of his pranks are documented on his Youtube channel LostBoyLewis.
The 26-year-old was selected from 5,000 applicants for the Perfect World Project to make it down to the final 50.
Lewis studied business management at the University of Chester before gaining a masters in marketing.
He admits he had no idea what he wanted to do after graduating in March, but spent the summer working abroad ‘just to get away’.
Lewis said: “People like to think I’m a bit of an idiot, but really I’ve got my education and my career, this is just something extra.
“After finishing university I felt a bit lost.
“In these last nine months I’ve just been saying yes to everything and it’s been amazing.
“I believe in trying to have as much fun as possible. Life shouldn’t just be about work.”
A social experiment, the aim of the Perfect World Project is to show if living the high life can really bring you true happiness.
The lucky winner will win access to the Perfect World Black Card, loaded with a six figure sum and attached to the world’s best concierge service.
It is due to be filmed early next year and shown in summer 2017; the broadcaster ‘will remain secret until filming commences’.
You can vote for Lewis on the Perfect World Project website at perfectworldproject.tv/stage-four-vote.
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