A Marilyn Monroe expert has been left looking a bit of a twit after a photo he verified as being a hitherto unseen nude snap of Marilyn Monroe actually turned out to be one of unihibited popstress Madonna.

Chris Harris was called in by Las Vegas couple Lawrence and Phyllis Nicastro. Mr Nicastro, 73, said he discovered the poster-sized photo at his home and "thought it was a rare picture of Monroe posing as a naked hitchhiker", the BBC explains.

He suspected it might have been left by a customer at his New York city service station back in 1962, and after four months researching the striking pose, asked Harris for his opinion. The expert confirmed it as a "genuine, exciting find", and duly scheduled a press conference to break the news.

Luckily (relatively) for him, he let a few hacks have a preview of the photograph, who pointed out it was in fact from Madge's 1992 smutfest Sex (have a shufti here - NSFW, in case you're wondering).

Harris said: "You're right - it's Madonna. If there ever was an embarrassing moment..."

Harris has gamely decided to hold his press conference anyway, to "face the music". As to how the poster came to be in a Las Vegas septuagenarian's gaff, he reckons "someone had slipped the poster into Mr Nicastro's belongings as a practical joke". ®

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