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The man at the centre of a viral video which has been shared around the world wants to tell Teesside: “It was just a joke.”

Darryl Warin, 22, made a joke video with his brother Jacob in which he punches himself and “threatens” another man named Josh - who turns out to actually be Darryl’s best mate.

Darryl shared it with his friends, but the spoof clip went viral and was posted online by champion boxer Tony Bellew and various national newspapers, which believed that the video was a real threat.

But setting the record straight, Darryl, from Billingham , said: “We do these kind of videos all the time.

“It was a complete joke, but lots of people have been sharing the video and having a go at me.

“I’ve had messages from loads of people, other people saying stuff about me, and people pulling up cars outside my house. It’s getting out of hand.”

Darryl said the video was a parody of other ‘fight threat’ clips online, and was filmed last week then shared on a group chat on Facebook Messenger.

It was taken from there and posted on Facebook, picked up by Travellers’ groups, and then went viral.

“I’ve actually had messages from a lot of travellers and they could see the funny side of it to be honest,” he continued.

In the video, Darryl is wearing a vest and shorts and shouts “I’m a tank!”.

But he said the clothes he was wearing were bought specially as part of the prank.

“I’m a working man, people were calling me scruffy and a tramp but it was just part of the joke,” Darryl, a salesman, told The Gazette.

“Some of the papers were saying that they felt sorry for Josh or that he should be worried, but he’s my best mate and I’m with him now.

“You can hear us all laughing at the end and I’m laughing all the time.

“Plenty of people that know me know it’s a joke but I’d like everyone on Teesside to know that too.”