Best celebrity April Fools' Day pranks including THAT David Beckham statue, ... trends now

April 1 is a day for people to get their mischief on and no one has a better chance of tricking more people than a celebrity.

Armed with piles of cash and plenty of eyes watching, the rich and famous with a hankering for pranks are among those who go the extra mile on April Fools' Day every year.

From playing jokes on each other, to faking new bizarre projects, many celebrities have taken the opportunity to get involved. 

Over the years several famous faces have successfully duped the public with their hoaxes, while others have simply succeeded in making their fans laugh.  

MailOnline has taken a look at some of the most memorable April Fools pranks, from alien spaceships to hilarious Netflix documentaries.

David Beckham's fake statue 

Some of the best April Fools are when celebrities trick each other, and one of the more memorable was when James Corden unveiled a fake statue of David Beckham in 2019 on The Late Late Show.

The former footballer, 48, was less than impressed as he branded the sculpture 'embarrassing' and ordered the filming crew to 'stop the cameras'.

Host James, 45, couldn't contain his laughter as he watched the sportsman's fury from the sidelines, before revealing the prank to a relieved David. 

LA Galaxy had honoured David with a glittering statue, but James switched out the real one with 'a less flattering' piece just weeks ahead of the unveiling.

With a film crew documenting his journey to a private unveiling, David gushed: 'It's a special moment that I'll be able to share with friends and family.'

But on arrival, the father-of-four quickly grew irritated when a fan, played by an actor, referred to him as Dave, and purposely miscalled his former footballer team Manchester United for Manchester City.

Displaying his annoyance, David hit back: 'It's Manchester United...my mum's the only person who calls me Dave. You're an interesting character!' 

LA Galaxy president and former teammate Chris Klein, who James revealed is 'someone David trusts', was also in on the prank, as he showed David a clip of his worst games instead of his career highlights, causing the athlete to shake his head in disappointment. 

Imitating real sculptor Omri Amrany, comedian Maz Jobrani walked on set to showcase the fake statue, which featured an unflattering chin, three teeth and massive posterior region.

Visibly enraged, David shouted: 'This is different than what it was when I last saw it in Chicago. When we spoke, there was -- I mean look at my chin! 

'It doesn't look like me though, look at my eyes. The only thing that's good is the hair. Look at my bum, it definitely doesn't look like that!'

He asked his close pal Chris: 'Are you happy with this, what do you think? I really don't see how this can go out!'

David went on to question the actor: 'How can you change this in a short amount of time? My parents and wife are coming over. Look how long my arms are, I look like stretch Armstrong!'  

Growing more and more furious by the second, the footballer ordered his film crew to stop recording. 

He continued to complain: 'My wife is coming over, we're lucky my kids aren't coming to the ceremony. If my kids were to see this, they would just cry.

'I don't want to offend you in any way, but its a big thing for me. That's embarrassing', David explained before attempting to leave the studio.

Turning up the shock factor, a bulldozer later crashed the sculpture, causing David to joke: 'That's probably done me a favour!'

Finally ending the prank, the star giggled when comedian James walked on set as he said: 'Thank God for that!'

Tom Daley releases line of willy warmers

In 2022, Tom Daley marked April Fools' Day by announcing he was releasing a line of knitted willy warmers.

The Olympic diver, 29, posted a series of hilarious images showing the cheeky garments and wrote they could be used to keep 'your pecker perky and piping hot all year round'.

Tom chose a variety of poses as he beamed alongside the willy warmers before attaching one to his head and hanging them off his ears.

Captioning the funny shots, he wrote: 'So excited to launch the official #MadeWithLoveWillyWarmer. With fuel prices on the up, this'll keep your (or a loved one's) pecker perky and piping hot all year round.

'It's also completely universal! Here's five ways to wear your willy warmer, winter and beyond… As a naughty necklace, as an extravagant earrings, as a beautiful headband, as a wondrous pouch or Christmas tree bauble. 

'Buy all five and you've got yourself a glove! I hope you love as much as I do!'

Tom's followers were quick to take to the comments to call out his joke, with one writing: 'Tom, you almost had me fooled!' while another wrote: 'It's an April Fools!'. 

Richard Branson's alien spacecraft 

One of the most famous April Fools pranks was by billionaire Richard Branson, back in 1989, due to it backfiring badly.

The Virgin founder was almost arrested after he flew a hot air balloon disguised as a spacecraft, over London, complete with a fake alien.

Motorists were stunned after seeing a UFO with flashing lights floating over the motorway, causing mass panic and gridlock traffic.

Richard had reportedly intended to land the craft in Hyde Park, but was blown off course by the bad weather.

The police were mobilised immediately, with even the army being put on standby, and they surrounded the UFO.

Chief Inspector Andrew Neilson at Surrey police headquarters said at the time: 'It was lucky a serious accident did not occur. A danger was caused to motorists who stopped to look at the sky instead of the road.'

When the balloon did land, a person dressed up at E.T. emerged surrounded by dry ice before spotting the police and running back inside.

On the side of the UFO, they wrote Virgin Galactic Airways, which years later became a real life commercial spaceline. 

Writing about the prank on the Virgin website in 2021, Richard recalled: 'We could see every single vehicle grinding to a halt and hundreds of people looking up at the UFO flying over them. It was great fun watching their reactions.

'What we didn’t know was three police forces had been mobilised, the army had been alerted and radio and TV stations had all gone on the air about a UFO flying low over London!'

He added: 'To begin with, the police didn’t see the funny side of it and threatened to arrest us for wasting their time. Thankfully, they soon joined in the fun and left with smiles on their faces.'

Chris Pratt to voice Mickey Mouse

Chris Pratt took the opportunity to trick his fans on April Fools' Day last year, by playing up to his controversial casting in the The Super Mario Bros. Movie.

The actor, 44, voiced Mario in the 2023 film, which led to a lot of backlash from fans, who felt he was not a good fit.

Many said that the iconic video game character should be played by an Italian, while others voiced their dislike of the trend of animated films ignoring trained voice actors in favor of untrained screen actors in order to advertise more prominent stars.

Chris had already voiced lead roles in The Lego movies and Pixar animated film Onward, while he is set to voice Garfield in next year's film based on the comic strip.

Chris and the film's producers defended his casting at the time, with the Guardians of the Galaxy star saying: 'I totally get it, man. There's a passionate fan base and I'm one of the fans. I get it. 

'Mostly, people don't want something like this to get screwed up. They're precious about it. They're careful. And I'm grateful for that.'

So on April 1, he decided to poke fun at the controversy by taking to Instagram to share the news he had been cast as the voice of Mickey in an upcoming film adaptation of Mickey Mouse.

Sharing a photo of the iconic Disney character, he wrote: 'Proud to share that I will be The Lead Voice in the upcoming film adaptation of Disney’s Mickey Mouse! Get ready for it to hit the big screens in 2025!' 

While many quickly realised that Chris was joking, some were tricked and immediately voiced their shock.