Episode 4 12 Again

Coming up, three celebs become 12 again.

I don't want to be on a battlefield in Scotland.

-His mum's cooler than him.

-Perhaps.

It's quite embarrassing, isn't it, really?

And we catch up with superstar singer, Nicole Scherzinger.

I was really shy and kind of awkward and lanky.

Want to find out more?

Well, have you ever wondered what it would've been like

to be mates with your favourite celebs when they were your age?

What did they get up to?

What were their favourite songs

and what TV shows did they watch?

Despite the glamorous lifestyles they now lead,

once they were a kid with their dream, just like you.

This show lets you look back in time with your favourite celebs

as they become 12 Again.

She's both Live and Deadly and that's just on a Saturday morning.

That was crazy!

But back in 1986, Naomi Wilkinson was a wannabe star.

I was noisy, quite self-confident,

a bit of a show-off, a bit of a chatterbox

and loved singing and dancing.

# Back when I was younger, I wanted to be everything on the planet... #

They may be a chart topping musical duo now,

but back in the noughties were Rizzle Kicks hip hop heroes?

When I was 12, I was a slightly confused,

kind of popular, athletic little boy with an Afro.

# Yeah, when I was a young star... #

I was quite immature.

I wasn't that cool, actually.

I was actually quite uncool, thinking about it.

She's the woman who's probably kept you awake

after Doctor Who on a Saturday night.

The Doctor must think he's winning, right until the trap closes.

But back in 1970, Frances Barber

showed no signs of this on-screen villainy.

At 12, I was actually a bit of a goody-goody.

Um, I don't quite know how or why,

and it all went horribly wrong shortly after that.

It may be super stardom today, but it wasn't always that way.

Let's go back and find out what they were like when they were kids.

I used to wear a lot of sloppy jumpers and leggings.

That was my usual look.

When I was 12, I definitely had an Afro,

and the older kids all thought I was cool because I had an Afro.

Afro got me everywhere. In fact, my nickname was minifro.

I always had a shaved head, completely no hair.

I've quite an odd-shaped head.

So it would've looked really weird.

I had these pink socks.

I've got older brothers,

so I think they were football socks or something.

I took to wearing those after my first year at school

and I was known as Frankie with the pink socks.

I always had them on so they must have really smelled,

because I don't ever remember, ever taking them off.

I had them on five days a week, so I must have ponged.

I wasn't in the cool gang, I wasn't in the complete geek gang.

I think I was just in the middle.

Maybe I was.

Maybe I was just quite square. Maybe more the square end.

So, apart from figuring out where they fitted in at school,

what else was life like for our celebrities?

I went to a school where the masters still wore their gowns,

like in Harry Potter. All the boys at school, they were revolting.

We'd rather read the Bunty,

go horseriding at my friend's house

and that was it. We thought boys were revolting, really.

Loads of girls in the year above told me they fancied me

and I didn't understand. Then I got older, a year older and I realised

and tried to go back to them. "No, we liked you last year."

-Silly Billy.

-I was silly.

But you know what it was? The irony is that I reckon

if I wasn't oblivious, I wouldn't have had so much attention.

I didn't have a boyfriend when I was 12,

but I did have a big crush on...

..Ralph Macchio, The Karate Kid. SHE WHISTLES

Oh, this is just like the picture I had in my desk. I loved him.

You say "Ma-CHI-o", I say "MA-chio".

Either way, he was the original Karate Kid,

before Will Smith's son Jaden took over in 2010.

Every single holiday we ever had was around Britain,

so we would have, a sort of history lesson.

Holidays up to Scotland

and we'd have history lessons about the Battle of Culloden,

Braveheart and William Wallace and things like that.

Going, "I don't want to be on a battlefield in Scotland."

I wanted to be on a beach in Ibiza.

You weren't alone. In the 1970s, Ibiza wasn't the place to be seen.

Everybody wanted a week's break in a British seaside holiday camp.

Back then, sunbathing wasn't the top priority.

You had your activities planned out by the smartly dressed holiday reps.

Wayne, Glamorous Grandmother,

Marion, Knobbly Knees.

You heard right - it was traditional for men to compete

to see who had the knobbliest knees, but only when they went on holiday.

Lisa, you'll be on Donkey Derby.

While the Donkey Derby was clearly more fun

than the Glamorous Grandmother competition, the biggest problem

with summer holidays in the '70s

was stopping your dad

from embarrassing the entire family! Unbelievable.

While Frances wanted to escape from dodgy family holidays at 12,

what did Naomi dream of as a kid?

This is a book I wrote about my ambitions.

It's quite embarrassing, isn't it, really!

"When I'm older, my ambition is to be something to do with theatre,

like acting, dancing, modelling or doing make-up."

"I would like to do this because I do dancing."

"I would like to appear on television and get lots of money."

"I would have three children, two girls and one boy."

"I will have one husband."

"My pets will be a dog, two cats and a gerbil."

"I would like to have my ears pierced and have lots of earrings."

So, those were my ambitions.

Naomi wasn't the only one interested in creative writing at 12.

I did write a song called The Simple Beat.

"Not too rough, not too neat, not too posh, but not too street.

"Not too quick but it moves the feet,

"It's the simple beat, the simple beat.

"Music makes the world go round,

"Not money, though I wouldn't mind a pound.

"Everywhere is where music can be found,

"whether on the street or in the underground.

"Music is a chemical in a compound." That's a scientific reference.

I was bursting with knowledge when I was younger.

I've got less intelligent as I've grown older.

So we now know what our celebs were like when they were kids.

But what was everyone listening to when they were 12?

We didn't download music, didn't have mp3 players and stuff.

We had - record players!

You had to put the record on the machine

and carefully lower the record needle down. I was so slow.

So when Naomi eventually got the music started back in 1986,

what was she listening to?

The Way You Make Me Feel, Michael Jackson,

Who's That Girl?, Madonna.

Bruce Willis, Under the Boardwalk. Shakin' St...

Whoa, whoa, whoa! What was that? Let's go back one.

Bruce Willis, Under the Boardwalk.

Surely that can't be Hollywood action hero Bruce Willis,

star of blockbuster movies like Armageddon?

Believe it or not, Bruce Willis,

that action hero we know today, had a very cheesy pop career as well.

# Under the boardwalk

# Down by the sea... #

Nice one, Bruce, but you should definitely stick to the acting.

So that was 1987, but what was Frances listening to back in 1970?

Having older brothers and sisters, you obviously tend to...

..tend to hear things they're listening to.

And they were all listening to Marc Bolan.

# Get it on, bang a gong... #

I remember singing that at school,

thinking it was just amazing because he wore make-up!

# Bang a gong, get it on... #

We'd never seen a man EVER wear make-up before!

So that was quite a massive thing, actually.

Marc Bolan was the lead singer of T-Rex,

one of the most popular glam rock bands of the decade.

But they weren't alone.

Glam rock was huge and exactly what you'd expect from the name,

rock music performed by men in glamorous outfits.

Some of the time!

The hair was big, the platforms high and the flares were pretty wide.

Glam rock is what 12-year-olds were listening to back then.

So let's bring things up to date

and find out what Rizzle Kicks were listening to in the noughties.

When I was 12, I was listening to Dizzee Rascal's first album,

Boy In Da Corner.

# Sweet like Tropicana

# When the hammer hits, your head splits like banana

# You're not ready... #

Dizzee Rascal was introduced to me by my mother on the way to school.

She was like, "Have you heard of Dizzee Rascal?"

I hadn't been brought up by the Queen or anything.

And I was like, "No, I don't know what you're talking about."

And she was like, "The chorus goes, 'Just a rascal, just a rascal,

'Just a rascal, Dizzee Rascal'."

# I hustle black, definitely I win

# So you keep taking this for a job, I'll definitely just grin

I went, "Cool, sounds good". Then at school, everyone was like,

"You heard Dizzee Rascal?"

I was like, "Yeah, the one that goes, 'Just a rascal..'."

And they were like, "Yeah", and I was like, "Sick".

Then I bought the album, so everyone knew...

-His mum was cooler than him.

-Perhaps.

I was listening to a lot of Nirvana at the time.

# I'm worse at what I do best. #

I thought I was being cool.

I was, like, "Yeah, I like a band from when I wasn't even born yet."

# With the lights out It's less dangerous. #

Nirvana went global in 1991, the year Harley was born

and introduced the world to grunge music.

It's a good job the Rizzles were listening to cool music

because when they were 12,

a song with a dodgy dance move was sweeping the nation.

DJ Casper.

This is something new, the Casper Slide, Part Two.

# Slide to the left Slide to the right

# Slide to the right

# Criss-cross

# Two hops this time, ur-ur

# Two hops this time Right foot, two stomps. #

This song was unbelievably one of the biggest singles of the year

but it's not the first time daft dances invaded the charts.

Here's some of the best and worst.

# Oops upside your head Say oops upside your head

# Say it loud. #

First up it's The Gap Band with their song, Oops Upside Your Head.

Say it loud, hey! # Say oops upside your head. #

Accompanied not so much by a dance,

just more...sitting on your bum and waving.

Next up it's The Tweets and The Birdie Song.

MUSIC: "The Birdie Song" by The Tweets

Is it just me, or is this absolutely terrifying?

-You'll know this song from parties.

-Wave your hands.

-But it's actually

an '80s classic by Black Lace.

Superman was considered pretty cool back then.

Look at all these fully-grown adults taking their moves very seriously.

Let's see you swim.

Superman!

Oh, grow up!

# Dale a tu cuerpo alegria Macarena... #

The '90s were only a bit better for novelty songs.

There was the Macarena.

-# Hey, Macarena

-# Aaah! #

Then Steps came along with their version of line dancing.

Terrible...in a sort of good way.

# My rodeo Romeo A cowboy god from head to toe

# Wanna make you mine Better get in line

# Five, six, seven, eight. #

Still to come,

we catch up with international pop superstar, Nicole Scherzinger.

I was really shy and kind of awkward and lanky.

And I guess I got teased a little

and my nickname was Crybaby because I was very sensitive.

And we find out what TV gold our celebs were watching

when they were 12.

The things he did were crazy.

What kind of name is Biddy Baxter?

-Dick And Dom In Da Bungalow.

-Dick and Dom In Da Bungalow.

But first let's see what big moments

had an impact on our celebrities when they were 12.

When I was 12, it was Euro 2004.

England face Portugal, the hosts of Euro 2004 in just a few hours' time.

It's another crucial match.

-If England lose, they're out.

-Hmm, I wonder what happens here(!)

England went out in penalties to Portugal.

Hi, welcome to the programme.

Our top stories this afternoon:

Down and out in Lisbon, the England team are on their way home.

Today, the England players packed their bags

and flew out of Portugal.

They're all bitterly disappointed of course at missing out again

and all everyone here is talking about is, what on earth went wrong?

Euro 2004 should've been a great year for England.

Their star player Wayne Rooney became the youngest scorer

in the competition's history. Unfortunately, an injury to his foot

put him out of the quarter-final against Portugal

and the penalty shoot-out ended England's dreams.

I was at a friend's house watching that game with loads of people

and I remember just everyone just sitting there afterwards,

just really depressed.

But the good thing that happened about that game

is that because we were all so depressed,

the girl's mum then said,

"As you're all so upset, we can have a party here tonight."

-And we had a party at her house which was good.

-Awesome.

So let's find out what the big story was for Frances in 1971.

Welcome to our special programme this afternoon

we're calling "D-Day Minus One".

"D", of course, standing for decimals.

The thing I remember that was big news when I was 12 the most

was when we changed from old coinage to decimalisation.

Until 1971, the United Kingdom was one of the last places in the world

not using a modern money system.

Here are a threepenny bit and three old pennies.

If you think "threepenny bit" sounds a bit funny,

there was also a shilling, half a crown,

a sixpence and a ha'penny. Confused?

Basically back then, the pound had 240 old pence in it. Simple(!)

I couldn't work that out. I'd be going...

And those kind of maths lessons

just filled me with such misery and horror.

So to bring us up to date and make things a lot simpler,

a whole new set of coins were introduced.

# One pound is 100 new pennies

# 100 new pence to the pound. #

The problem was converting the price of everything from old to new money.

All of a sudden it was just 10 pennies in 10p.

It wasn't two-and-six and half a crown

and a sixpence and a threepenny bit

and whatever it was, that just made me want to cry.

It was just fantastic.

Frances may have welcomed the change, but for some people

it was a bit like if we changed from the pound to the euro overnight.

Not everyone was happy.

How are you getting on with the new coinage than?

Well, it's just terrible.

Are you able to do your shopping?

Well, you're just going to do no shopping, and that's it, finished.

My gran was livid!

While Frances's big moment at 12 was here in the UK,

for Naomi in 1986 a tragedy in America left a lasting impression.

In the worst disaster in manned spaceflight,

America's shuttle has exploded

and the seven crew are presumed dead.

When I was 12, one of the big stories I remember happening

was the spaceship Challenger exploding.

The space shuttle missions began in 1981 and were unique

because the shuttles could land back on Earth and be used again.

The Challenger mission was special because one of the astronauts,

Christa McAuliffe,

was the first member of the Teacher In Space Project.

After the disaster, no more shuttles launched for almost three years.

I can remember seeing that on the news quite vividly

and just thinking how utterly... devastating it was to watch,

to think that there were people on board that.

It was terrible.

But it was a personal loss that stands out

as Naomi's biggest moment of the year.

A big thing that happened in my 12th year

was that I lost both grandparents from my mum's side.

In one year it was pretty tough.

I was very sad to have lost my grandparents so young

but I have lovely memories of my grandparents

and they're not gone for ever, they're still with you.

Still to come, we ask the all-important question.

What would our celebs do if they were 12 again?

I would make myself dress differently,

I would tell myself what to learn and what to do,

who to talk to. Like, when just to shut up.

I'd probably say, the world is your oyster.

I'd do the same, if I was 12 again.

I am getting sad now

cos I think maybe 12 was the best year of my life!

# If you wanna have a chance... #

Before that we have got two minutes of Nicole Scherzinger

to discover what she was like when she was 12.

# Why's it feel like you're there

# When you're already gone? #

I grew up in Louisville, Kentucky, a southern town in America.

Being a Hawaiian Ukrainian Filipino girl,

not many people looked like me.

I was really shy and kind of awkward and lanky

and I guess I got teased a little and my nickname was Crybaby

cos I was very sensitive.

A former Pussycat Doll and now a solo megastar,

music has always been a big part of Nicole's life.

My way of communicating with people was through music.

I wanted to be Paula Abdul.

# Straight up, now tell me

# Do you really wanna love me forever? #

She was so cool because growing up I didn't have a lot of people

where I was from who had my skin colour, who looked different

and was she was unique and she was beautiful

she was a great dancer and just had a really great spirit about her.

With a love of music and dance,

Nicole was always destined to follow in her hero's footsteps.

I actually went to a youth performing arts high school

so it was something kind of like Glee, actually.

Me and my friends were always singing

and we'd have musical theatre night.

It's kind of nerdy but it kept us out of trouble!

It was nice to be able to find a crowd

that shared the same likes and passions.

If I were 12 again and relive any moment, I was on stage.

I remember I was the understudy to the guy who was supposed to sing.

He didn't show up so they kicked me out there on stage and I sang.

And everybody stood up, and I couldn't believe

that they actually stood up and they were applauding for me

and I said, "wow, this is where I feel the most comfortable,

"is up here", and people actually liked it

so I would love to relive that moment again,

that was really special.

# Don't hold your breath. #

Let's get back to business.

and find out what Naomi, Frances and Rizzle Kicks were watching

when they were 12.

I definitely did watch Dick And Dom In Da Bungalow.

Dick And Dom In Da Bungalow.

# Go, go, Dick and Dom in da bungalow. #

Who doesn't love Dick And Dom In Da Bungalow?

with games like the Mucky Puddle Power Shower Game,

Creamy Muck Muck and Grasping Rasping Wrinklies,

what did The Rizzle Kicks like the best?

Bogies!

# It's the pick of the show Cos we're gonna shout, "bogies!"

# Till we're banned from every building in the world. #

Bogies!

They go into a public place with a bogey-ometer.

-Welcome to the fabulous Mitchell Library in Glasgow.

-(Bogies.)

And Wood starts us off with an almost inaudible bogey.

Bogies.

McCourt raising the volume 1.1.

And they just go, like, "bogies".

And everyone goes, "bogies".

It gets louder until they just scream, "bogies".

Bogies.

Wood straight back in with a 1.5.

Very, very tight at this stage of the game.

Small margins of increase.

THEY LAUGH QUIETLY

So 1.5 to beat for McCourt.

Bogies!

He's done it, that's a 1.8.

That genuinely ruined a lot of 12-year-olds' school careers!

Cos we spent a lot of the class just shouting "bogies"

and got a lot of detentions.

That was purely coming from Dick and Dom.

Now, the serious business in hand.

Bogies!

That was a brave bogey, it's a 4.2.

And the crowd getting to their feet,

delighted with the audacity of Wood's tactics there.

I think you've won!

And it seems McCourt has lost his bottle.

Yes, he concedes and hands the match to Wood.

What a marvellous victory, let's see that winning bogey one more time.

Bogies!

As well as watching shows like Da Bungalow, the Rizzles were fans

of the talent shows of the time like Fame Academy

which is like a cross between Big Brother and The X Factor.

Celebrity Fame Academy's one of the best things ever.

Always remember Ruby Wax just doing the worst rendition of a song.

It was just amazing.

Sorry about this, it is not good.

# I come home in the morning light

# My mother says, "When you gonna live your life right?"

# Oh, mother dear, we're not the fortunate ones

-# And girls just wanna have fun.

-#

Let's stop you right there, Ruby,

as we turn back time over 30 years to see what telly

Frances was watching in 1970.

The children's TV programmes I remember watching religiously

were Blue Peter.

That was the one thing, you always wanted to come to London

because you saw where Blue Peter was at the beginning of the show

and that's where the dogs were and Petra and...

You know, it was just thrilling to think, there they were.

-Hello.

-Bizarrely, the thing Frances remembers the most about the show

wasn't the Blue Peter pets, the DIY arts and crafts

or even them randomly digging holes in the ground.

We've been digging quite a big hole here.

It was actually the name in the closing credits!

I remember in those days saying to my mum,

what kind of name is Biddy Baxter?

It just sounded so exotic and so fantastic!

Biddy Baxter was in charge of Blue Peter from 1965 to 1988

and introduced many of the elements we still see in the show today

like the Blue Peter badge.

I wanted to be called Biddy for ages and ages!

Well, "Biddy Barber" does have a nice ring to it.

Let's move forward to 1986 and find out what Naomi was watching at 12.

I remember Duncan Dares very well.

I remember him from Blue Peter doing lots of crazy stunts.

Way before Helen Skelton there was Peter Duncan.

Geronimoooooo!

The action man of kids' TV in the '80s.

Peter joined Blue Peter in 1980

and quickly became the show's resident daredevil.

Now, just stand inside the seat there.

That's it. Now...

-You forget where you are for a minute, don't you?

-Well, don't!

And it just went a whole league more dramatic with Duncan Dares.

If it was dangerous, Mr Duncan did it.

Yeah, the things he did were crazy!

I decided my best tactic

was to try and trick him into losing his balance.

It didn't work!

He went fast, crashed stuff and got set on fire.

So please, don't try this at home!

So those were the TV memories of our three celebs,

but what do they remember most about being 12?

The best thing about being 12 I think is probably...

not being 11.

There are so many changes happening at that time, you are starting

to make decisions at school that might affect your future.

Your body's starting to change,

you're starting to get interested in boys.

The hardest part of your life, cos you're becoming a teenager

and everyone else is becoming teenagers

and people are becoming teenagers quicker than you.

-It's weird.

-It's weird, yeah. Really weird.

When you get into your teens, then you do start to notice boys,

fashion, you want to look a certain way.

But at 12, it isn't like that.

Sadly, what you want at 12 is to be 13, 14, 15, 16, 17...

This is what you want.

If only they knew, stick at 12 for a bit longer!

If I was 12 again what I'd do is not stop myself from playing violin

which would be awesome if I played now.

If I was 12, I wouldn't have stopped skateboarding

because skateboarding now, if you're good, is really cool.

It's always been cool.

I'd do the same if I was 12 again.

I'm getting sad now

cos I think maybe 12 is the best year of my life!

I'd tell myself what to learn, what to do, who to talk to.

Like, when just to shut up. What not to eat... Like, everything.

If I could say something to my 12-year-old self, I'd say

"Wash those stinking pink socks that you wore for probably a year!"

If I could talk to my 12-year-old self I'd probably say,

"The world is your oyster.

"Whatever you want to do, go for it, have a go.

"What's the worst that can happen?"

I think 12 is a really fantastic age to be,

I'd quite like to be 12 again.

Ah, that's nice...

so long as you got some new socks though, Frances, eh!

So what have we learned?

Well, if you're a Hollywood action hero,

leave the singing to the pop stars,

Oh, not dancing as well!

Also, beware of dads. This shameful display may be ancient,

but dads don't change,

they can embarrass you without a minute's warning.

And if you want to annoy everyone in a library, just do this.

Bogies!

Classic!