Tribute to late Welsh TV star given new lease of life after being vandalised

Amelia Jones

A street art tribute to a Welsh TV star who passed away last week has been restored by the original artist after being vandalised.

Local artist Hasan Kamil, who originally painted a mural of TV star Mike ‘Pancho’ Locke has visited the site and cleaned the piece in tribute to the late Port Talbot icon.

It was announced last Friday that ‘Pancho’  best known for global hit TV show Dirty Sanchez had passed away aged 47.

The dad of two, starred alongside fellow Welsh members of the group Mathew Pritchard and Lee Dainton, as well as Englishman Dan Joyce in the MTV stunt show.

Pancho later went on to co-launch the hugely successful San Portablo fashion brand and shop in Port Talbot, which he founded with former steelworker Nigel Hunt.

The tribute was originally completed in 2022 at a subway in Sandfields in Port Talbot. The area is located on a narrow coastal plain between Mynydd Dinas and the sea. The M4 motorway, A48 trunk road and south Wales Main Line run nearby.

In a video posted on social media by local business Portablo Coffee shows Kamil washing down the tribute and trying to remove any graffiti, before repainting the image of Pancho.

A second video shows Pancho’s business partner Hunt thanking Kamil for his work. He said: “Hi everyone, we are here in the subways between Sandfields and Baglan Moors, by the Lidl and the Morrisons.

“We done this project in the subway four years ago and of course we invited the very talented Hassan Kamil to do a portrait of Mike Pancho Locke.

“He’s come back to tidy it up, so obviously we’re really happy, particularly with the news, to see this. It’s a fitting tribute to Michael who’s recently passed away, so thanks.”

 

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A post shared by Portablo Coffi (@portablocoffi)

It comes after the artist was one of the first to pay tribute to Pancho last week. On his social media, he wrote: “I was so shocked to hear of Panch’s passing this morning.

“It has hit me harder than I thought it would. I was only with him the weekend before last.

“He’s always been so supportive of my art, and just being a huge advocate for the arts and skateboarding scenes in South Wales!

“I had the pleasure of painting him a few years back in Port Talbot, I remember getting him out of bed at 4 in the afternoon to come look at it!

“I also remember our crew of skaters were star struck meeting him as a 13 year olds in Bridgend after seeing him on TV.

“You will be deeply missed by so many people. My thoughts are with his close friends and family.”

The post comes after a new mural in tribute to Pancho was unveiled yesterday, it was painted by artist Jenks on Water Street in Aberafan.

You can see the original tribute to ‘Pancho’ here.