Yahoo News ITV This Morning's Alison Hammond begs The Lizard Man to 'say no more' after cheeky response to question about wife
Brummie TV presenter Alison Hammond urged a guest to 'say no more' after she got a cheeky response to a question. Dermot O'Leary was wide-eyed with surprise as This Morning co-host quizzed Erik Sprague - known as The Lizard Man - about his wife's thoughts on his transformation.
During Friday's instalment of the ITV show, Erik appeared via video link from Texas, to discuss the various body modifications he has had in his quest to 'transform into a lizard'. As Erik appeared on screen, with green ink covering his skin, tattooed scales, horned ridges, sharpened teeth and split tongue, Alison gasped: "Oh my goodness, Erik."
Alison quickly added: "I'll be honest with you, it has actually taken my breath away just even looking at you, babes. You look incredible." Erik said his appearance often prompted "stunned silences", adding: "I do get double takes, I'm not proud of it, but I have caused a couple of traffic accidents over the years. Fortunately no-one seriously hurt as I'm aware of."
When asked what had prompted the transformation, Erik told Alison he was told he could be whatever he wanted to be when he was growing up and he "took that very seriously". He then confessed it stemmed from an interest in performance and conceptual art, which he started to explore in college.
He continued: "I've always enjoyed a reptilian aesthetic - Godzilla, big fan. And I became a fan of how reptiles crossed all cultures throughout history. No matter where you go, there's either a tale of a lizard man or a reptilian, you've got the World Serpent, the serpent in the Garden of Eden... reptiles occupy a very special place in human consciousness and, as an artist, it was something that I felt that I could honestly exploit to my own advantage."
Erik said his tongue had been lasered to separate it - a procedure he claimed to have designed himself and presented to a doctor, who agreed to do it and use him as a 'guinea pig'. He explained: “This was back in 1997, at the time he only charged me the cost of his use in the surgical theatre, which was about $600 at the time.”
He said medication prevented the splitting procedure from being painful but added: "I could taste and smell my own burning tongue as the laser went through it, the swelling was so severe that it took about a week for the swelling to go down to the point where I could speak or eat normally.”
He told Alison it was "absolutely worth it" and it was his "legacy now" before the host caught him slightly off guard with a cheeky question. She said: "You’re married to your lovely wife, what does she think about that tongue?”
After a slight pause, Erik nervously laughed before replying: "I often say my wife has plenty of complaints but my tongue is not one of them.” A startled Dermot look wide-eyed into the camera just seconds before Erik began to flex his forked tongue. The camera crew could be heard stifling giggles as Dermot stared at the floor chuckling and Alison checked her script as she begged: "You don't need to say any more.... You really don't have to say any more."
