Reform UK candidate Mark Matlock has hit back at trolls as the party representative in Clapham and Brixton Hill faced claims that he is an "AI bot".
Matlock sparked speculation after his candidate image appeared to have been edited, and there was little sign of him during the election campaign.
Alongside Matlock, voters noticed a few other candidates on the Reform UK website were lacking contact details and a biography about the candidate.
Addressing concerns, a Reform UK source stressed that "all our candidates are categorically real".
Mark Matlock has shut down trolls after being accused of being an 'AI generated candidate' for Reform UK
Reform UK / GB News
Speaking to GB News, Matlock reassured voters that he "is real", and thanked Reform UK voters for turning out in their millions to support the party.
Matlock said: "One thing I'd like to point out. I'm really pleased that Andrew Rosindell mentioned a few of the partial failures of the Conservative Party and what led to this massive movement in Reform.
"And once again, I'd like to thank every single person who voted Reform. This is an amazing movement and we will continue to do amazing things."
When asked by host Patrick Christys how he feels about being accused of being a fake candidate, Matlock joked that the speculation turned into "free advertisement" for Reform UK.
Reform UK won five seats in Parliament after receiving over four million votes in the General Election
PA
Matlock joked: "I loved it, it was free advertisement! It was great. I come from a very humble background. I've never really taken part in social media. And now I've been made like a star on Twitter."
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Revealing why he did not turn up to his vote count on election night in Clapham and Brixton Hill, Matlock said he is currently "recovering from pneumonia" and was not well enough to attend.
Matlock explained: "I could never have imagined that this would be the case, it's fantastic. Thank you to all the extremists that have done this for me.
"By the way, there are genuine reasons why I couldn't make the count. I'm recovering from pneumonia, I've lost my voice. But I'm up and about, and you've empowered me to continue fighting this tremendous campaign."
When asked by Patrick if any other outlets had attempted to contact him in their coverage of the "AI bot claims" about him, Matlock claimed that although many had, they still "used the opportunity to create fake news" about him.
Matlock joked that he is 'glad to be real' after being mistaken for a 'fake' candidate
GB News
Matlock told GB News: "I've spoken to many journalists, and to their credit, a lot of them have been truly wonderful, magnificent people who've understood my situation. There have been a few who have used this opportunity to make headline news, and I call it fake news.
"There's a massive agenda that's out to get our party, and they've used this opportunity to do so.
"But they're not all bad people. A lot of them are being good people, and it is what it is."