The mystery identity of the couple kissing while lying on a Vancouver street as riot police battled crowds following the Canucks' Stanley Cup loss has been revealed as Australian Scott Jones and his Canadian girlfriend Alex Thomas.
Jones's family said he has been in Canada for six months, working as a bartender and trying to break into acting and standup comedy. At least one of his comedy routines has been posted on YouTube.
Following the Canucks' Game 7 loss to the Boston Bruins on Wednesday night, images of the kissing couple were splashed around the world — notably in Australia after the family came forward as knowing the man caught in a passionate embrace with a woman on the street of the B.C. city.
On Twitter, Facebook and other social media, there was early speculation that the picture was staged. CBC.ca immediately launched a search to uncover the identity of the two.
Beaten riot hero Do you know him?
Hannah Jones, Scott's sister from Perth, told CBC News in an email that the man in the pictures is her 29-year-old brother, and he recently started dating Thomas, a former student at the University of Guelph in Ontario.
And via Skype from Perth, their father, Brett, also confirmed that the pair are his son and his new girlfriend, and that Scott ended up being a knight in shining armour of sorts.
'It's just completely gone viral'
Brett Jones said the couple had been at the NHL final game, and after the frenzy following the loss spilled into the street, the two were caught in the violence.
"They were between the riot police and the rioters, and the riot police were actually charging forward, and Alex got knocked by a [police] shield and fell to the ground," he told CBC News. "[Scott] was comforting her and gave her a kiss to say, 'It’s going to be OK,' and the photographer just took the shot at that moment."Australian Scott Jones, in a picture provided by his sister Hannah Jones in Perth, has become a hero of sorts after a photo of him and his girlfriend embracing on a Vancouver street went viral. (Courtesy of Hannah Jones)Australian Scott Jones, in a picture provided by his sister Hannah Jones in Perth, has become a hero of sorts after a photo of him and his girlfriend embracing on a Vancouver street went viral. (Courtesy of Hannah Jones)
Brett Jones said Scott is fine, and Alex suffered a bruised leg from falling to the ground.
The two are overwhelmed by all the coverage the picture has gotten, he said, noting that he has been fielding calls from media around the world.
"They are both just totally stunned by it, actually."
The dad of the now-famous bartender-standup comedian said Scott was in Vancouver on a work visa, and is leaving in a few days for the U.S., and then heading back to Australia.
But the image of Scott Jones and his girlfriend will likely forever be considered the one bright light in the Vancouver post-Stanley Cup frenzy.
"It’s just completely gone viral around the world," his dad noted.
Scott Jones is just as flabbergasted as his family about the reaction to the photos.
"It's crazy how it's gone global and everything," Jones told The Globe and Mail newspaper.
He found out that the pair's image had been captured by a Getty photographer when a friend forwarded a Facebook link to him on Thursday.
"I thought it was funny," he told the Globe. "I thought it was hilarious that we got on the news." |
發表於 2011-6-17 09:34
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