I’m an 88-year-old widower — everyone wants a selfie with me
This widower has the wow factor.
Derek Flynn, 88, has stumbled into newfound fame after his buddy, Nigel Hobdey, 61, posted in a Facebook group for Benidorm, Spain, encouraging people to “say hello” if they saw the Wales resident traveling alone.
Flynn claims he has posed for at least 2,000 selfies throughout his 21-day vacation, which he took to relive memories he made with his late wife, Maevis, who died two years ago.
“I can’t walk down the street without someone stopping me,” the Robert De Niro lookalike told The Sun on Friday. “It’s blown up. I’ve gone from nothing to massive.”
His pal Hobdey wanted to make sure “he was being looked after” — and he sure is. The post generated thousands of comments and hundreds of photos, as fans flocked to snap a selfie with Flynn.
![Derek Flynn posing with a group of women](https://nypost.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/02/NYPICHPDPICT000007241155.jpg?w=775)
Hobdey told The Mirror he’s just “happy I could make his dreams come true.”
“I just went along with it at first, thinking, ‘How the hell do they recognize me?’” Flynn explained to The Sun.
The senior doesn’t have a smartphone, which means he hasn’t been able to track his internet stardom.
“People are saying, ‘What’s he doing [sitting] with six girls having a drink?’ I said, ‘I tell you, what about you? You’re [sitting] at home watching ‘Tipping Point’ and eating a packet of crisps, and he’s out there with women,’” Hobdey told The Mirror.
He continued: “I know who’s the poor guy there. There’s people out there wishing they were Derek.”
![Derek posing with a man on vacation](https://nypost.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/02/NYPICHPDPICT000007241147.jpg?w=889)
“We were dying to meet him,” said bargoer Brenda Atherton, 69, per The Sun. “He’s the most famous person in Benidorm.”
“He’s a true gentleman,” noted Amanda Garcia, 44, who works at the Pueblo Benidorm Hotel, where Flynn is staying. “My job has been to make sure he doesn’t get mobbed too much.”
“He’s all over Instagram. He’s a legend,” added an 18-year-old fan of the retired shoe seller.
![Derek posting with a group of four women](https://nypost.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/02/NYPICHPDPICT000007241157.jpg?w=1024)
The stunned widower said his fans scream his name, offer him drinks and even ask him out on dates.
“I’ll be taking them up on the offer,” he quipped.
Despite the attention, Flynn said the fame isn’t inflating his ego, although he’d “never say no to a selfie.”
The traveling senior, who previously lived in Australia for two decades, has been around the world, but admitted Benidorm “is the best.” He’s spent his time well in Spain, singing Dean Martin ditties — his favorite is “Little Ole Wine Drinker, Me” — at the resort bars.
“I’m having the time of my life,” he gushed.