[1] Cheddar Man was relatively short compared to modern Europeans, with an estimated stature of around 166 centimetres (5 ft 5 in), and weighing around 66 kilograms (146 lb).

The genomes of all British Mesolithic individuals sequenced to date other than Cheddar Man can be modelled as only Villabruna-related (WHG) ancestry, without additional Goyet-related admixture.

[12] The results of the Natural History Museum study gave evidence that Cheddar Man's ancestry, and the wave of anatomically modern humans he was part of, originated in the Middle East.

[15][16][17][18] Soon after the discovery of the skeleton, Cheddar Man became part of a discourse of British nationalism and cultural heritage, with an initially proposed age of 40,000–80,000 years.

The programme generated coverage in national and international media, which focused mainly on the supposed relationship between Cheddar Man and the local history teacher, and failed to emphasise that mitochondrial DNA is only passed on through the mother, and makes up only a small proportion of an individual's genome.

[21] In 2018, the publication of the genetics study by Brace et al. and subsequent facial reconstruction of a dark-skinned and blue-eyed Cheddar Man resulted in widespread media coverage.

Public discourse surrounding the reconstruction of Cheddar Man heavily revolved around the themes of immigration, national identity, race, and Brexit.

Some saw Cheddar Man's predicted dark skin colour as a helpful riposte to anti-immigration arguments, while others condemned it as fake news and left-wing politically correct propaganda.