Alex Warren Reveals He Was Told He Looked Like Shawn Mendes in High School

Alex Warren is looking back at an unexpected comparison from his high school days: Shawn Mendes.

The “Ordinary” singer recently revealed that classmates once told him he looked like the Canadian pop star. The catch? Warren never really saw the resemblance himself.

Warren shared the story during the Sept. 8 episode of Celebrity Substitute, where he stepped away from the stage and into a second-grade classroom at PS11 in Queens. During the visit, Warren taught the students about creativity and helped them come up with and film a music video for his song “Emerald Eyes.”

As the students got to know their celebrity substitute teacher, one asked Warren which artist he would choose to be. His answer was quick: Mendes.

“I really like Shawn Mendes. Do you know who that is?” the former Hype House member asked the elementary school students.

Warren then gave Mendes a pretty glowing review.

“Shawn is a very good-looking, very popular singer who is what I’d like to say is the human embodiment of a beautiful being,” Warren said. “And he sings very well.”

His choice also brought up memories from his own teenage years.

“When I was in high school, people said I looked like him, but I don’t see it,” he explained.

For Warren, the comparison may have never made much sense, but his admiration for Mendes certainly does.

The Shawn Mendes question was only one of several unexpected topics Warren faced during his day in the classroom.

The second graders quickly moved past his music career and got straight to the questions that really mattered to them. Could he sing? Did he have a lot of money? Did he have a girlfriend?

“I have a wife,” Warren told one student.

Warren explained that he met his wife, Kouvr Annon, when he was 18. He also revealed that the two went through some difficult times together, including a period when they “slept in a car for a long time.”

“It was very romantic,” he joked.

The exchange gave the students a glimpse at the person behind the chart success and social media following. Before becoming known for hits like “Ordinary,” Warren built an audience online as part of the Hype House, the Los Angeles creator collective that became one of the most recognizable names of the early TikTok era.

Mendes also found an early audience online, gaining attention through song covers on Vine.

But Warren’s classroom audience was clearly less interested in his career history than in getting to know him.

After answering their questions, Warren turned the class toward the main reason he was there: creativity.

He worked with the students to develop a music video for “Emerald Eyes,” a feel-good love song he wrote about Annon.

“My wife and I have been trying to dance more and so it’s a feel-good dance song that I wrote about her,” he explained.

The students came up with ideas for the video, including outdoor scenes and green imagery inspired by Annon’s eyes.

Warren then let the kids take control of the creative process. They helped direct the video while using GoPros and 360-degree cameras.

For Warren, the experience was a lot more meaningful than simply spending a day in front of a classroom.

At the beginning of the day, he admitted he was nervous about being around a room full of second graders. By the end, he was having trouble saying goodbye.

“I was so scared, but I honestly don’t want to leave now. Like, these kids are so amazing,” he said.

The classroom visit also gave Warren a chance to reflect on his own childhood and the teachers who helped him through difficult moments.

Warren said that when he was younger, he would sometimes eat lunch with his teachers because he did not have anyone else to sit with.

That experience stayed with him.

“They were a huge part of my life and the fact that I’m able to be a part of this has really been awesome,” he said.

The moment added a more personal side to what could have simply been a fun celebrity classroom appearance. Warren came in to teach the students about creativity, but he also walked away with a renewed appreciation for the people who supported him when he was young.

These days, Warren has plenty keeping him busy outside the classroom. He released his second album, WILDCHILD, on Aug. 28, 2026, and is currently on his first-ever world arena tour, the Finding Family on the Road tour.

The tour launched April 4 in Düsseldorf, Germany, and the current leg is set to wrap Sept. 12 at RAC Arena in Perth, Australia.

So while Warren may not think he looks like Shawn Mendes, there is at least one thing the two singers have in common: both know what it is like to build a music career after first finding an audience online.

For Warren, though, his latest classroom audience had a much simpler question. They wanted to know who he really was.

And apparently, whether he looks like Shawn Mendes. According to Warren, the answer is still no.