Barry Manilow impersonator is denied a meet-and-greet with star as his wig and jacket were... 'insulting'

Published: 23:43, 21 June 2026 | Updated: 23:43, 21 June 2026 A Barry Manilow fan says he was banned from meeting his idol after staff claimed his wig and jacket were an insult to the singer. Wayne Denton and business partner Janet Martin spent £2,480 on VIP packages for the star's show in Liverpool, which included a meet-and-greet. The superfans have watched Manilow perform more than 20 times, including in Las Vegas and Toronto, but had never met him. After a front-row experience at the M&S Bank Arena, Mr Denton, 69, who performs a Manilow tribute act called Celebrating Barry, was 'humiliated' when the singer's team refused him entry due to his orange sparkly jacket and wig. Ms Martin, 54, a backing singer in the tribute act, said: 'When they said about losing the wig, I just said "this is really insulting". 'It's a real hair wig, and replicates Wayne's own hair before he went bald. I was taken aback... I thought, that's really personal and a very sensitive subject. 'What did they expect us to do? Humiliate Wayne in the middle of this corridor, whipping a wig off? Could you imagine anybody having to do that? That's really bad.' In a recording backstage, a man can be heard telling Mr Denton to remove his wig and jacket. Wayne Denton and his business partner Janet Martin backstage at a Barry Manilow gig after they were denied a paid for metting with the star because Wayne's wig and jacket were deemed insulting Barry Manilow performs during Manilow: The Last Detroit Concert at Little Caesars Arena in Detroit, Michigan, on June 3, 2025 Another staff member said: 'I'm sorry. I've been instructed we can't do the wig and the jacket.' When Ms Martin responded that asking him to remove the wig was insulting, the man replied: 'It's actually insulting to Barry, so it's an absolute no.' The first staff member then interjected 'it's nothing to do with wearing a wig', before the second said: 'You are both being insulting to Mr Manilow. We're not having this argument.' After attempting a compromise by removing the jacket but not the wig, they were denied entry. In the recording, Ms Martin said neither the booking confirmation nor emails mentioned a dress code. The staff member replied: 'Come on, it's common sense.' Mr Denton, from Stourbridge, West Midlands, suggested Ms Martin attend the meet-and-greet without him, but she refused to abandon her friend. Staff later said they would be refunded, apart from the cost of their seats. Speaking about the incident on June 13, Ms Martin said: 'How can anyone find us insulting? 'We were wearing this joyous celebratory outfit celebrating Barry's return to the stage. He's been ill, and no one thought he was going to tour.' Designed by Ms Martin, from Essex, the jacket is one of eight in a collection inspired by the 83-year-old Copacabana singer. She added: 'We'd been at the front all night, dancing and enjoying ourselves, singing along. Barry was six feet away. So does he think we're disgusting? They [the staff] said 'we've been told', so who told them? Or did they make it up on the spot?' A spokesman for Mr Manilow was contacted for comment. The comments below have not been moderated. The views expressed in the contents above are those of our users and do not necessarily reflect the views of MailOnline. By posting your comment you agree to our house rules. Do you want to automatically post your MailOnline comments to your Facebook Timeline? Your comment will be posted to MailOnline as usual. Do you want to automatically post your MailOnline comments to your Facebook Timeline? Your comment will be posted to MailOnline as usual We will automatically post your comment and a link to the news story to your Facebook timeline at the same time it is posted on MailOnline. To do this we will link your MailOnline account with your Facebook account. We’ll ask you to confirm this for your first post to Facebook. You can choose on each post whether you would like it to be posted to Facebook. Your details from Facebook will be used to provide you with tailored content, marketing and ads in line with our Privacy Policy.