Ballymena barman changes name to Christian Grey

A local man was so taken by the publicity surrounding raunchy blockbuster Fifty Shades of Grey he changed his name to that of the steamy novel’s main character.

The 22-year-old - whose name previously was Gary Crawford - recently switched his identity by Deed Poll for £33.

The bar worker said he had his new full name on his identification badge at work but had to change it to just show his first name due to the attention of hordes of female customers.

“I always said I didn’t like my name and I always thought I’d love to change it,” he said. “I was sitting with some mates one night and I told him I was going to change it.

“They asked what to and I said something which people would find funny. I suddenly thought of the name Christian Grey and as soon as the thought entered my head that was it.

“I went straight home and onto the internet and filled in a form on the Deed Poll website.

“Another form came out by post and I signed it and that was it.”

Fifty Shades of Grey was the first novel in a trilogy by EL James.

It follows the romance and sexual adventures of billionaire businessman Christian Grey and innocent student Anastasia Steele.

Dubbed ‘mummy porn’, it has captured the imagination of millions of women around the world with its steamy scenes.

Author James says, however, that women have responded so strongly because it fundamentally is a love story.

Despite adopting one of the best-known names on the planet, Christian said he isn’t a fan of Fifty Shades of Grey which documents the red-hot exploits of his namesake.

He read just one part of the book - but was unimpressed with its content.

“This will sound strange but I found it very repetitive and from my point of view poorly written,” he said. “But my new name has got a lot of people talking.

“When women in work see my name, for example a hen party, they say ‘Your second name isn’t Grey is it?’.

“I say that now you’ve mentioned it it actually is. I had Christian Grey on my name badge for a couple of weeks but I was getting far too many looks from people but I love it.”

Christian said his friends and family have quickly got used to calling him by his new name.

But he has given in to his grandmother who said she preferred to call him by his birth name.

“My mates all see the funny side of it and my family are trying really hard too,” Christian added. “Obviously I’ve been Gary for 22 years so it’s hard to switch off from that but I’m trying.

“If someone says Gary I’ll ask them ‘who?’. I’m not being rude.

“My granny did tell me she won’t be calling me Christian.

“I told her she can call me whatever she wants because she’s my granny.”