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Telethon 2021: Spud King Tony Galati shaves famous eyebrows and raises $300,000 for sick kids

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Simon CollinsThe West Australian
VideoSpud King Tony Galati has raised $300,000 for Telethon by pledging to shave his trademark bushy eyebrows live on stage.

Telethon has seen its fair share of eyebrow-raising stunts but Spud King Tony Galati cropping his iconic “caterpillars” for charity is one of the best — and bushiest.

Last month, Spudshed owner Mr Galati “put his eyebrows on the line” with the aim of raising $500,000 for charity.

And moments before his trademark brows had a close shave, Tony’s Brow Crop for Telethon had raised more than $300,000 — or $150,000 per luxuriant arch.

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Celebrity hairdresser Maurice Meade shaped up to do the honours, but hand-balled the clippers to staff member Joy Reade.

The deed was done in less than a minute.

Before Mr Galati lost most of his brows, he asked Mr Meade if he was going to “take my identity”.

Tony Galati gets his eyebrows shaved.
Camera IconTony Galati gets his eyebrows shaved. Credit: Matt Jelonek/The West Australian

“It’s a lot of identity,” Mr Meade quipped.

Afterwards Mr Galati said he was still coming to terms with his sudden hair loss but reckoned his brows would grow back in “about a week”.

Earlier this month, he said he wasn’t keen to lose an “integral part” of his look for nearly 60 years, the potato-loving Perthonality was willing to apply the razor to help children in need.

“Family is incredibly important, and we should all be doing our part to help those families that are in need.

Spuds King Tony Galati gets an eyebrow trim on stage at Telethon 2021.
Camera IconSpuds King Tony Galati gets an eyebrow trim on stage at Telethon 2021. Credit: Telethon/Supplied

“Spudshed has been a long-time supporter of Telethon, and I personally wanted to give something to support the cause this year, in the same way that the WA public has supported me and Spudshed,” Mr Galati added.

A donor called Ross chipped in $105 and suggested West Coast Eagles star Nic Naitanui should chop his equally iconic dreadlocks for Telethon in 2022.

Spudshed gave away around 90 tones of potatoes as part of Spudathon for Telethon, up close to 20 tonnes on last year.

Launched again earlier this month, the initiative means any customer who donates to Telethon gets a free bag of spuds.

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