It has always been a tough decision for Harley Neville - should he shower with body wash or shampoo?
The extraordinarily hairy former Dunedin man has unexpectedly shot to global fame after posting a photo of himself online that ended up on The Ellen DeGeneres Show recently.
Two years ago, for a bit of fun, he decided to turn himself into ``an artwork'' by removing every hair on one half of his body.
Rather than shaving, or more teeth-clenching methods such as waxing, Mr Neville, who lives in Auckland, said he used a depilatory cream to remove his body hair.
``I just thought it would be a funny thing to do at the time.
``My ex-girlfriend and I spent half a day working on that and getting it right and getting the line really straight down the middle.
``There were no rulers used. It was all done by eye, believe it or not.''
A photo was taken of his ``hair art'' and was posted on social media.
``It exceeded my expectations. It went all around the world and was on a lot of different websites ... I got a really big response.
``Every now and then it would sort of flare up and I would see it again somewhere.''
It had been used in online memes and been mirrored to make it look as though he had a hairy ``snail trail'' from the bottom of his nose to the top of his underwear.
It was that photo that appeared on the Ellen DeGeneres Show, he said.
``Obviously, that was huge.
``Ellen DeGeneres has more than 29million followers on her Facebook alone.
``She has a massive audience and I woke up to a bunch of messages with people wanting to talk to me about it.''
He said he had never felt so popular.
Most people found it funny, and it had attracted a particular interest among gay men who were attracted to hairy men.
``Admittedly, as a single man, it would be nice if I was being messaged by more women.''
Mr Neville believed his ``abundant foliage'' gave him an ``evolutionary advantage'' while living in Dunedin.
``It makes perfect sense. I grew up in some pretty cold houses and student flats in Dunedin. Being this hairy, it definitely keeps me warm - and whoever else is snuggled up against me, I suppose.''
The former Logan Park High School pupil and Aoraki Polytechnic television production student said hair art was not his true vocation.
He is actually a film producer and actor with 18 years' experience.
He starred in I Survived a Zombie Holocaust, Older and web series Harrow.
He is also a poet and does a weekly podcast called The Guy and Harley, about love, life and loss in the pursuit of film-making glory.
He is hoping Hollywood will come knocking on his door one day, and given his sudden rise to hairy fame, that might be soon.
