“I’m a Marilyn Monroe impersonator – I'm fed up of sexy pic requests"
A Marilyn Monroe impersonator sick of potential dates making lewd comments and asking for sexy pictures says she doesn't dress up to 'fulfil a fantasy'.
Talented Isabella Bliss, 36, is a burlesque dancer, comic, singer and writer alongside her role as the iconic sex symbol.
But she says most suitors can't look past her blonde bombshell looks - which has made it hard to find a partner.
Isabella says some men make crude jokes while others think she'll likely be self-obsessed and a narcissist due to the perception of Monroe's personality.
Unmarried and without children, Isabella, from Basildon, Essex, blames her love life struggles on her job.
But she says she loves what she does - and she has never wanted to have to give it up for anyone.
Isabella said: "I clearly state on dating apps that I know I look a bit like Marilyn Monroe - it’s my job. But nine out of 10 times they get inappropriate.
"Some people are confused and don’t understand how I get paid for it. Sometimes they want to go on date to see if I do look like Marilyn.
“But I still haven't given up on idea of meeting the love of my life and having my happy ever after.”
Isabella first started performing as a burlesque dancer at 20.
People quickly started commenting on her resemblance to Monroe, who is still widely held as one of the great sex symbols.
An actress, model and singer, Monroe died in 1962.
Isabella first performed as Monroe in 2013 at her friend's birthday as a joke.
But her performances escalated from there - and she made a name for herself as the 'Marilyn Monroe of burlesque'.
In 2017 she wrote a one-woman show dedicated to the icon, and next year will be touring the show as a full theatre production.
But Isabella says she feels like she has to make a choice between the career she loves and finding the man of her dreams.
And she says she worries the opportunity to meet the right man and start a family is beginning to fade away.
Isabella said: “Marilyn herself just wanted to find her person and be loved and feel loved but who she was made it so difficult for her.
“I’m another year older and another year closer to making a choice – do I choose to pursue my dream, tour my show and enjoy the career I love so much?
“When in the background I’m watching that opportunity to meet right person, have kids and get married start to disappear."
Isabella says she's had all manner of crude comments - with one man bizarrely asking if she'd slept with the late US president John F Kennedy.
The real Monroe is alleged to have had an affair with Kennedy.
Isabella said: "Someone messaged on my Instagram and asked what John F Kennedy was like in bed. They see me as a thing and not a person."
“Men think I’ll be really smutty or sleazy or that it’s ok to talk to me about my body - they ask for selfies all dressed up or in lingerie. It’s like I’m there to fulfil their fantasy.
“They think because I just look like her, they don’t realise I sing her songs, write comedy and scripts, have my one-woman show, they think I just look like her and take pictures like her.
“Dating apps are a minefield as it is, men are wildly inappropriate, now imaging compounding that with looking like a Hollywood sex icon.
“I’m lucky to work a job I love and I’ve never wanted to have to give it up for somebody.
“If I was to give it all up to get married and have children I’d want it to be my fairytale.”
Clever bear waves its paw to zoo visitors to get extra snacks
This is the moment a clever bear used its paw to wave at zoo visitors - to get some extra snacks.
A video shows the cheeky bear sitting back and waving to guests as they throw food into its enclosure.
The grizzly's tricks were captured at a zoo in Kaliningrad Zoopark in Russia.
Baby says “I love you” – at just eight weeks old
The 'world's youngest talking baby' - who said "hello" after six weeks - has now said "I love you" after just eight weeks.
Mum Somer Galal, 30, is thrilled with the progress of little Berlenti Eid.
The tot said "hello" on October 5 - 45 days after she was born.
She then said what sounds like "I love you" two weeks later, on October 19 - 59 days after birth.
Babies tend to use three-word sentences around the age of three, according to information online.
Somer, an architect from San Francisco, California, said of the 'I love you': “It was such an exciting moment - so incredible and heartwarming to hear.
"She often says 'hello' and sometimes 'good', but it was enchanting to hear those precious three words: 'I love you'.
"I was chattering away while changing her nappy when she blessed me with a little half-smile.
"I said 'I love you' and I hoped for a response.
"The sheer elation I felt is truly indescribable. We're totally in awe of her.
“It was so heartwarming when she said ‘hello’.
"No one would believe me - even her dad, and I wondered if I was being a crazy mum.
"We think she's the world's youngest talking baby.
“Even if she doesn’t know what the words mean she repeats them because it makes us smile.
“She’s definitely communicating because she says ‘hello’ if I’m busy and my focus isn’t on her so she’s using words to get my attention.
“It’s amazing!”
Berlenti, who was born to Somer and dad Omar Eid, 31, weighing 8lbs 9oz on August 21, has most of her chats with mum and gran, Beverly Galal, 70, while having her nappy changed.
Somer thinks her youngster coughs before speaking because she’s preparing her young vocal chords.
The mum has begun teaching her to count and play piano too.
She said: “I put my fingers up and she mimics me, and I put her hands on the piano keys and press them to show she can make the sounds.
"It’s very cute and she enjoys it.
"Maybe all babies are capable of this but we don't look for it, or maybe she's a genius - I'm open to all possibilities.
"At my first pregnancy scan the doctor commented that her brain development was really advanced.
"I thought they were being encouraging but maybe she's a little prodigy.
"Berlenti's talking is an incredible feat for eight weeks old - we’ve consulted a paediatrician to find out how best to support her development.
"Even the consultant was amazed."
