TV Diet Coke hunk sues for £4.1m after he was ‘left brain damaged in tragic modelling accident’

A MALE model who played a hunky gardener in a Diet Coke Break ad is suing Chanel for £4million over brain damage.

Andrew Cooper, 43, bashed heads with another model while filming an ad in 2020 and claims he is a victim of negligence.

He says the knock on a beach in Italy caused him a brain injury which has seriously hampered his career as a model, social media influencer and actor.

The advert was for ­Orlebar Brown beachwear, and Mr Cooper is suing the brand’s owner Chanel in London’s High Court.

During filming in Puglia, he and another model were told to run down a sand dune together.

Barrister John Williams, acting for Tom Hingston Studio Ltd, in charge of the shoot, said the pair had managed the dash eight times without problems.

He told the court the head clash was off camera but footage after the lens pans back to the pair shows Mr Cooper on the sand, conscious and smiling before he gets up and walks off.

He told the preliminary hearing: “There is nothing to see in terms of negligence. The instruction was to run down to the beach separately. Accidents happen without negligence and that will be our case.”

Mr Cooper, of Berkshire, was in the 2013 Diet Coke ad — a reboot of the 1994 classic which saw female office workers ogling a bare-chested builder.

In the newer version, he played a park groundsman who was also admired by a group of women after taking off his Coke-stained T-shirt.

But since his 2020 head clash, the dad of two claims he has had to turn down highly paid work if it involves flashing lights, learning lines or action.

Outside court, he said: “This incident has caused my whole life to be turned upside down, impacting on how I can function both professionally and personally, as a husband and father, and among my wider family and friendships.”

A decision on whether Orlebar Brown or Tom Hingston Studio are at fault will be made at a trial next year.