{"id":4917,"date":"2025-04-28T11:02:31","date_gmt":"2025-04-28T11:02:31","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.burn-the-priest.com\/?p=4917"},"modified":"2025-04-29T11:36:31","modified_gmt":"2025-04-29T11:36:31","slug":"europes-best-seagull-impersonator-has-been-crowned-a-10-year-old-boy-from-derbyshire","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.burn-the-priest.com\/index.php\/2025\/04\/28\/europes-best-seagull-impersonator-has-been-crowned-a-10-year-old-boy-from-derbyshire\/","title":{"rendered":"Europe\u2019s best seagull impersonator has been crowned \u2013 a 10-year-old boy from Derbyshire"},"content":{"rendered":"
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\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t{“@context”:”https:\/\/schema.org”,”@type”:”VideoObject”,”name”:”Metro.co.uk”,”duration”:”T3M28S”,”thumbnailUrl”:”https:\/\/i.dailymail.co.uk\/1s\/2025\/04\/28\/11\/97777491-0-image-a-60_1745835455353.jpg”,”uploadDate”:”2025-04-28T11:19:54+0100″,”description”:”Chesterfield’s own Seagull Boy Cooper Wallace retained junior gold at the contestheld in Belgium and scored higher than hungry competitors, including his own seven-year-old sister.”,”contentUrl”:”https:\/\/videos.metro.co.uk\/video\/met\/2025\/04\/28\/6448620409996098333\/480x270_MP4_6448620409996098333.mp4″,”height”:480,”width”:270}<\/p>\n

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class=\"metro-related-video-carousel__related-video-placeholder-thumbnail\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n<div class=\"metro-related-video-carousel__related-video-placeholder-headline\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<span><\/span><br \/>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<span><\/span><br \/>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<span><\/span><br \/>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<span><\/span>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<div class=\"metro-related-video-carousel__related-video-placeholder\">\n<div class=\"metro-related-video-carousel__related-video-placeholder-thumbnail\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n<div class=\"metro-related-video-carousel__related-video-placeholder-headline\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<span><\/span><br \/>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<span><\/span><br \/>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<span><\/span><br \/>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<span><\/span>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<p>\t\t\twindow.addEventListener(‘metroVideo:relatedVideosCarouselLoaded’, function(data) {<br \/>\n\t\t\t\tif (typeof(data.detail) === ‘undefined’ || typeof(data.detail.carousel) === ‘undefined’ || typeof(data.detail.carousel.el_) === ‘undefined’) {<br \/>\n\t\t\t\t\treturn;<br \/>\n\t\t\t\t}<br \/>\n\t\t\t\tvar player = data.detail.carousel.el_;<br \/>\n\t\t\t\tvar container = player.closest(‘.metro-video-player’);<br \/>\n\t\t\t\tvar placeholder = container.querySelector(‘.metro-video-player__up-next-placeholder’);<br \/>\n\t\t\t\tcontainer.removeChild(placeholder);<br \/>\n\t\t\t\tcontainer.classList.add(‘metro-video-player–related-videos-loaded’);<br \/>\n\t\t\t});<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p>A 10-year-old boy from Derbyshire has retained his European Gull Screeching Championships crown. <\/p>\n<p>Cooper Wallace won junior gold at the unusual competition in <a href=\"https:\/\/metro.co.uk\/tag\/belgium\/\" data-type=\"link\" data-id=\"https:\/\/metro.co.uk\/tag\/belgium\/\">Belgium<\/a>, where he was up against 21 other contenders, including his little sister Shelby, who came fourth.<\/p>\n<p>Second place in the junior category went to a Belgian contestant, while Toby Shakeshaft, from Leeds, came third.<\/p>\n<p>Cooper, who lives in Newbold, near Chesterfield, said: ‘It was cool to have two English boys on the podium \u2013 there were so many cheers.’<\/p>\n<p>The youngster, appropriately dressed as a seagull, won a gold medal and a hamper packed with sweets, biscuits, crips and fizzy drinks, reports <a href=\"https:\/\/www.derbyshiretimes.co.uk\/news\/people\/watch-video-chesterfields-own-seagull-boy-wins-gold-medal-for-second-year-at-european-gull-screeching-championship-5101648\" data-type=\"link\" data-id=\"https:\/\/www.derbyshiretimes.co.uk\/news\/people\/watch-video-chesterfields-own-seagull-boy-wins-gold-medal-for-second-year-at-european-gull-screeching-championship-5101648\">Derbyshire Times.<\/a><\/p>\n<p>‘The hamper is much bigger than last year. You have really got to put your legs in to lift it. We also got seagull badges,’ Cooper said.<\/p>\n<p>The siblings’ mum, Lauren added: ‘I\u2019m unbelievably proud. Both children did absolutely brilliantly on the stage. <\/p>\n<figure class=\"img-container shareable-item wp-caption\">\n<div class=\"img-wrap\">\n\t\t<img width=\"646\" height=\"363\" src=\"http:\/\/www.burn-the-priest.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/SEI_201108055-e48b.jpg\" class=\"article-image wp-image-22985936\" alt=\"Seagull Boy\" loading=\"lazy\" \/>\t<\/div><figcaption>Cooper Wallace, 10, giving the crowd his best seagull impression (Picture: BBC\/family photo)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<figure class=\"img-container shareable-item wp-caption\">\n<div class=\"img-wrap\">\n\t\t<img width=\"646\" height=\"431\" src=\"http:\/\/www.burn-the-priest.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/SEI_249190057-cce1.jpg\" class=\"article-image wp-image-22985878\" alt=\"Seagull Boy\" loading=\"lazy\" \/>\t<\/div><figcaption>Cooper with his gold medal on Sunday<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>‘It was a very close call this year. The atmosphere was amazing, even busier than last year and there were film crews everywhere.’<\/p>\n<p>Cooper also secured the top spot last year, when he was the first Brit to ever enter the competition, held in De Panne. <\/p>\n<p>Before this year’s championships, Shelby told <a href=\"https:\/\/www.itv.com\/news\/2025-04-25\/young-seagull-imitator-prepares-to-defend-european-title-against-own-sister\" data-type=\"link\" data-id=\"https:\/\/www.itv.com\/news\/2025-04-25\/young-seagull-imitator-prepares-to-defend-european-title-against-own-sister\">ITV News<\/a> that the past year had ‘been absolutely crazy’ and that he was feeling ‘quite nervous’ with the pressure.<\/p>\n<p>He admitted his sister, who took part for the first time this year, was ‘really good too’.<\/p>\n<figure class=\"img-container shareable-item wp-caption\">\n<div class=\"img-wrap\">\n\t\t<img width=\"309\" height=\"206\" src=\"http:\/\/www.burn-the-priest.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/SEI_249189947-c980.jpg\" class=\"article-image wp-image-22985876\" alt=\"Seagull Boy\" loading=\"lazy\" \/>\t<\/div><figcaption>Cooper and his sister Shelby, seven, dressed up as seagulls for the competition<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<figure class=\"img-container shareable-item wp-caption\">\n<div class=\"img-wrap\">\n\t\t<img width=\"646\" height=\"355\" src=\"http:\/\/www.burn-the-priest.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/SEI_201226141-a8c0.jpg\" class=\"article-image wp-image-22985938\" alt=\"Seagull Boy\" loading=\"lazy\" \/>\t<\/div><figcaption>Cooper taking part in last year’s championships, which he also won (Picture: BBC\/family photo)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>The contest sees participants mimic the call and actions of the bird before being given a score out of 100. <\/p>\n<p>Cooper started imitating seagulls after one swooped down and stole his sandwich and nipped his finger while he was on a trip to the seaside. <\/p>\n<p>In the days leading up to Sunday’s contest, the Wallace family have been shadowed by a Korean film crew who are shooting a documentary on seagulls and the competition.<\/p>\n<p class=\"\"><strong><strong><strong>Get in touch with our news team by emailing us at <a rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" href=\"mailto:webnews@metro.co.uk\" target=\"_blank\">webnews@metro.co.uk<\/a>.<\/strong><\/strong><\/strong><\/p>\n<p class=\"\"><strong>For more stories like this, <\/strong><a rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" href=\"https:\/\/metro.co.uk\/news\/\" target=\"_blank\"><strong>check our news page<\/strong><\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>{“@context”:”https:\/\/schema.org”,”@type”:”VideoObject”,”name”:”Metro.co.uk”,”duration”:”T3M28S”,”thumbnailUrl”:”https:\/\/i.dailymail.co.uk\/1s\/2025\/04\/28\/11\/97777491-0-image-a-60_1745835455353.jpg”,”uploadDate”:”2025-04-28T11:19:54+0100″,”description”:”Chesterfield’s own Seagull Boy Cooper Wallace retained junior gold at the contestheld in Belgium and scored higher than hungry competitors, including his own seven-year-old sister.”,”contentUrl”:”https:\/\/videos.metro.co.uk\/video\/met\/2025\/04\/28\/6448620409996098333\/480x270_MP4_6448620409996098333.mp4″,”height”:480,”width”:270} To view this video please<\/p>\n<p class=\"more-link\"><a href=\"http:\/\/www.burn-the-priest.com\/index.php\/2025\/04\/28\/europes-best-seagull-impersonator-has-been-crowned-a-10-year-old-boy-from-derbyshire\/\" class=\"readmore\">Continue reading<svg class=\"icon icon-arrow-right\" aria-hidden=\"true\" role=\"img\"> <use href=\"#icon-arrow-right\" xlink:href=\"#icon-arrow-right\"><\/use> <\/svg><span class=\"screen-reader-text\">Europe\u2019s best seagull impersonator has been crowned \u2013 a 10-year-old boy from Derbyshire<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":4919,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[11],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.burn-the-priest.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4917"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.burn-the-priest.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.burn-the-priest.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.burn-the-priest.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.burn-the-priest.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=4917"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"http:\/\/www.burn-the-priest.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4917\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":4924,"href":"http:\/\/www.burn-the-priest.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4917\/revisions\/4924"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.burn-the-priest.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/4919"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.burn-the-priest.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4917"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.burn-the-priest.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4917"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.burn-the-priest.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4917"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}