People are only just realising what used to be inside the O2 Arena

• The O2 Arena in London was formerly known as the Millennium Dome until 2005
• X users have stumbled across photos of the Dome’s bizarre year-long exhibition
• READ MORE: The weird items on display in Britain’s most unusual museums

The forgotten history of London’s O2 Arena has resurfaced – and the eerie exhibition from its past life as the Millennium Dome has confused X commenters.

Long before it became the popular concert venue in the Greenwich Peninsula in south east London we know today, it was the Millennium Dome, completed in 1999 and opened in 2000 to mark the milestone.

Some of its most notable attractions included Ron Mueck’s giant ‘Boy’ sculpture, The Millennium Coin Minting Press and The Millennium Star Jewels – which became the focus of the failed Millennium Diamond Heist on November 7, 2000.

However, the project and exhibition – which ran from January 1 to December 31, 2000 – attracted barely half of the 12 million customers its sponsors forecasted, and so were deemed a failure by the press.

The Dome was closed and opened temporarily in December 2003 for a Winter Wonderland experience before undergoing a transformative journey to become the O2 Arena on May 31, 2005.

London ‘s iconic O2 Arena (pictured) was formerly known as the Millennium Dome until 2005 (stock image)

The forgotten history of London ‘s iconic O2 Arena has resurfaced – and the eerie exhibition from its past life as the Millennium Dome has left many visitors scratching their heads (stock image)

Some of the Dome’s most notable attractions included Ron Mueck’s giant ‘Boy’ sculpture (pictured)

More than two decades on, visitors to the O2 Arena have stumbled upon the eerie remnants of its history, and surreal pictures from the exhibition shared on X have even left some convinced they have been AI-generated.

Andrew Shearer, a 27-year-old graphic designer from Scotland, uploaded a series of old photographs from the exhibition to his account on April 30.

The post, which since amassed over 2M views and 500 comments, includes a caption that reads: ‘Just finding out what used to be inside the O2 Arena before it was an arena and I’m losing my mind what.’

One photo features a lifelike giant human boy sculpture – named ‘Boy’ by Australian artist Ron Mueck – while another displays helium-filled cartoon creatures that were later turned into ‘Haahoos’ in the CBeebies children’s show In The Night Garden.

A third picture shows Willy Wonka-style castle fitted with slides and turning cogs, as well as a giant digital sculpture of an arrow, while the fourth image displays an art installation of a faceless orange conjoined human from the Body Zone.

Responding to Andrew’s post, one bewildered individual wrote: ‘So, you’re telling me these aren’t AI generated,’ while another commented, ‘Getting Glasgow Willy Wonka vibes.’

Some former visitors to the Millennium Dome recounted their own strange experiences of visiting the exhibition, while some poked fun at some of the ‘sad’ attractions that were on display.

One person joked: ‘Look, nobody alive had ever celebrated a millennium before and we didn’t really know how to do it, OK? An attempt was made.’

Pictured: John Hackney, Creative Director of The Body Zone at The Millennium Dome, inside The Body Zones Cranium

The project and exhibition – which ran from January 1 to December 31, 2000 – attracted barely half of the 12 million customers its sponsors forecasted, and so were deemed a failure (stock image)

Surreal pictures from the exhibition shared on X have even left some convinced they have been AI-generated (stock image)

Pictured: Brent Pollard with the 6ft hamster from the Millennium Dome for which he paid £3000 at an auction in Kent, 2001

Visitors to the O2 Arena have stumbled upon the eerie remnants of its history, and surreal pictures from the exhibition shared on X have even left some convinced they have been AI-generated

Another former visitor said: ‘Other than the giant body exhibition, the only thing that sticks in my mind from the Millennium Dome is that there was a machine there minting £5 coins, but they cost £10 each.

Attaching a photo of a humdrum indoor fairground, a third individual recalled: ‘Flopped so bad they closed it after a year, then briefly opened the saddest winter-wonderland ever before O2 bought it five years later. I am aghast.’

A final X user joked: ‘This is what the whole of the UK looked like in the noughties. People look back now and think the Teletubbies was a fictional TV show for kids, but it was actually a fly-on-the-wall documentary looking at a British family at the time.’

Elsewhere, a giant weird pumpkin sculpture could soon grace Hyde Park just yards from Kensington Palace, MailOnline can reveal.

Plans have been submitted for a large polka-dotted artwork called the ‘Pumpkin’ by the Japanese contemporary artist Yayoi Kusama, known for her trademark polka dots in her artwork.

Read more