Rap fans bombard family's phone

Thousands of music fans have been bombarding an Oldham family with calls - ever since their telephone number featured on a rap track.

US rap artist Soulja Boy included the ex-directory number in his latest hit, Kiss Me Thru The Phone.

Since its release, Gerry Matley and his wife Catriona Howard Smith have been getting about 60 calls a day from fans hoping to talk to the 18-year-old star.

They said some of them even sing the song down the phone.

"We just tell them that he doesn't live in Oldham," 52-year-old Ms Howard Smith said.

"They have asked if I am his girlfriend but I think I am a bit too old, even for Soulja Boy.

"With my looks and my accent, I fit the perfect profile for a rapper from Oldham"

"Some of them really want to believe that they have got through to their heart-throb.

"They insist that we must know him in some way, we have to be 'special' to him.

"Some of them are devastated when we have to tell them that he doesn't live in Oldham but over the other side of the Atlantic."

The couple's number, which is the beginning of the 12-digit number that appears in the chorus, is on at least 300,000 websites.

The calls have been going on for over a month, some in the early hours of the morning.

Mr Matley, 54, said: "I mean, with my looks and my accent, I fit the perfect profile for a rapper from Oldham.

"What's the chances of our phone number appearing in a US rap song? Probably as likely as winning the lottery, but without the money."

Ms Howard Smith added: "If they called the number with the American dialling code in front of it they will get through to a recorded message from him.

"We just hope the fuss will die down soon - we can't even change our number because Gerry needs it for work."

Kiss Me Thru The Phone reached a high position of number six on the UK Singles Chart after its release last month.

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