BY day, York dad-of-two Lewis Kears has a serious job advising people on loans and mortgages.

But in his spare time he is making millions of people laugh with his impersonations of famous characters from film and TV on social media.

Among his favourite voices to mimic are The Grinch, Gordon Ramsay, Michael Caine, Kermit the frog and characters from the Harry Potter films.

Lewis, 27, has been skilled at mimicking voices since he was a child, but it was only in lockdown that he decided to share his talent with the outside world.

He began posting short videos of his impressions - and now has half a million followers on the popular social media short video platform TikTok.

One of his videos has been viewed a staggering 23.5 million times. Now companies are sending him products urging him to promote their brands on TikTok.

Lewis told The Press: "During lockdown, to kill time, I downloaded TikTok and started looking at videos. I saw people doing impressions and thought: 'I could do that!'."

One of his first videos got almost half a million views over night. It was then he realised he might have struck TikTok gold.

He said: "It's all been a bit crazy. Some of my videos are better than others - and some really take off, especially if I follow memes or phrases people are using on TikTok."

One example is of Lewis saying: "Oh no our table is broken" in the voices of The Grinch, Kermit the Frog, Snape from Harry Potter, and King Julian from the film Madagascar. Lewis is casually sitting on the sofa, while his wife Lauren prompts him to say the phrase in the voice of the animated characters. The video is just 40 seconds long but has been viewed 23.5 million times.

Lewis, who lives in Market Weighton with Lauren and their sons Alfie, four, and Tommy, one, works as a broker at the Personal Finance Centre.

He grew up in York, attending Robert Wilkinson primary school and Huntington secondary school.

He says at home he loves using his mimicking skills to amuse his sons, especially four-year-old Alfie.

He said: "I will show him how to do it. I will see if he takes it up and has a talent like his dad.

"He likes to watch films and TV shows and asks me to do impressions."

Lewis said some voices are easier than others.

"Some do well, like King Julian from Madagascar. Others need practice. I find it easier to do animated characters like Winnie the Pooh.

"Celebrities are harder, but I like to do Gordon Ramsay, Michael Caine and Morgan Freeman.

"The one I can't seem to get is Woody from Toy Story - no matter how hard I try!"

Lewis says he would like his success to lead to voice over acting work in the film and TV world, adding: "That would be the dream."