The story behind the bizarrely dressed man who goes around making Swansea people smile

If you’ve paid a visit to Swansea city centre recently, chances are that one individual in particular will have caught your eye.

You can hardly miss him.

Dressed from head to toe in all sorts of regalia, from Christmas tree decorations to traffic cones, with a pink dyed beard and matching wig to boot, he is one of the city’s most flamboyant and colourful characters.

Known only as Tam, the 46-year-old has built up quite the reputation around town for his most unusual and fantastic outfits he wears on a daily basis.

From early in the morning until late in the afternoon, the character walks from his home in Sketty through the streets of the city, and has been bringing a smile to many faces, not only for his fancy dress, but for his friendly demeanour, jokes and spontaneous dancing.

And you only have to take a short walk with Tam to see this play out to its fullest, as we found out on a busy lunchtime in the city.

“Merry Christmas Tam,” a passer-by yells from across the road in Castle Street.

“Hey! Santa Santa!” he responds, complete with a little dance.

The commotion is enough to get the attention of Figaro’s hairdressers owner AK Zadeh, who pops his head out of the door and says ‘Hey Tam, what are you today?’

He responds excitedly with ‘I’ll show you, I’ll show you’, stepping into the shop for a couple of minutes before returning, where the car horn beeps continue as he makes his way down the road.

And that’s not to mention the amount of times he gets stopped for selfies.

But who is Tam? And what made him decide to start dressing up in the first place?

“I was in a slump in my life and I woke up one Sunday morning and there was a lovely show on TV,” he explained.

“It was so happy and motivating I decided I was going to go out and buy myself new clothes and have some fun.

“I went out and got some stuff and slowly, gradually, things started escalating.

“Around Christmas time I dressed up with lights and things like that and it just escalated and escalated. I could not go back, every day there’s more or something different. I sometimes have a rough idea what I’m going to be wearing the day before but to be honest, I don’t know.

“I get given a lot of stuff by the public and family and friends, and I find things. I walked around recently with a baby’s walker on my back.

“I’m aware of what I’m doing but at the same time I’m not – I go with the flow. I had no mirror back then and I have no mirror now.

“Sometimes kids point and say ‘Santa’, and I have a joke. I say, ‘I’m not Santa, but he says ‘Ho, ho ho’ and I’m one of the hos’.”

Tam was born in Lancaster and then moved to Egypt with his family.

He returned to Swansea in 2003 through family ties, where he has remained ever since.

His past career is perhaps what you wouldn’t expect from him at first glance.

“I was a TV presenter on Egyptian TV between the age of 15 and 30 and in one of my jobs I interviewed Dame Shirley Bassey in Cairo,” he said.

“I also interviewed Sir Roger Moore on a boat in Cairo.

“I came to this country in the hope of presenting with the BBC but things did not work out.

“I have since worked for Royal Mail, Toys R Us, Mumbles Pier, the National Waterfront Museum, Subway, Domino’s, Tesco and Pumphouse, now I’m employed by universal credit.

“I’m unemployed but I feel I’m working, It’s a big duty having so much fun.”

Such is his popularity, Tam has become a bit of a cult hero as of late, with a Facebook page set up called ‘Tam the colourful man’ gaining 1,860 fans to date.

“I love it, when I’m walking and someone shouts out and I say something back, there is a roar straight away,” he said.

“People say give us a shimmy and I do so, which is easy with all the ribbons.

“They tell me it makes their day and I have a little flirt.”

And he’s found a foolproof way to deal with anyone who he has negative encounters with.

“I have people say some things, big muscley guys, but my secret weapon is I say ‘Say what you told me to the police’ and as soon as I say that they are like jelly babies in front of me every time,” he added.