Episode 8 12 Again

Coming up, three celebs become 12 Again.

I had the most delightful perm.

I used to have the curtain haircut.

I used to think I was David Beckham.

Orthopaedic shoes, fuzzy hair, bit overweight and a bit shy.

Really popular with the boys!

Plus we catch up with Question of Sport captain, Matt Dawson.

Sad as it may seem, I think she did it for a bet.

Want to know more? I know I do.

Have you ever wondered what it would've been like to be best mates

with your favourite celebs when they were your age?

What did they get up to? What were their favourite songs?

What TV shows did they watch?

Despite the glamorous lifestyles they now lead,

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

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

as they become 12 Again.

# So come on spin me around now

# I don't wanna go home

# Cos when you hold me like this

# You know my heart skips, skips a beat. #

He's a hat-loving singer and presenter

from the Xtra Factor who may make your heart skip a beat.

Even back in 1996, Olly Murs had an eye for the ladies.

When I was 12 I was very easily distracted.

That was the thing they said, "He tends to be distracted by girls."

Time again for our fairytale series.

-She's an all-round entertainer.

-Thank you, Doctor.

The pleasure was all mine.

-Who can act, write and tell the odd joke.

-The end.

But back in 1973, Meera Syal was already living two lives.

I suppose I was quite schizophrenic because inside the house,

I was a good Indian girl and I'd tell everybody I wanted to be a doctor.

"Yes, Aunty, I'm working really hard."

And then outside the house, I'd become this Midland wench.

'Right now, Sarah Cox.'

Mornin'!

And she's a Radio one DJ who you'll find on a lot of TV shows.

Thank you for having me. I'm so excited.

Blue Peter, I grew up with this show!

However back in 1986, Sarah Cox felt she was anything but a hit.

At 12 I had the bad perm,

the big lips, the huge forehead

and quite wonky legs.

So I was delightful.

All are massive celebs today but it wasn't always that way

so let's rewind and find out everything about what they were like

when they were kids.

When I was 12, I was skinny. I was like a beanpole.

I was quite, erm, fat.

I had the most delightful perm.

The fringe had a kind of shocked look, like...

A bit like Jedward.

Jedward copied my look.

Everyone was wearing platform shoes

but Mum said they were bad for your back

so I wore shoes that looked a bit orthopaedic, frankly.

When I was born, I was born with a dislocated hip

which resulted in me having basically what was a wonky walk

and I also got called Fodder because I had a big forehead.

Actually, a lot of these things helped later on,

when I was kind of modelling and doing TV work.

I had the curtain haircut. I used to think I was David Beckham

and I almost said to my mum and dad once,

"I think we were separated at birth."

I was hoping one day they'd realise I was his brother and he would,

"Olly, come and play for Manchester United with me."

I never got the call.

There was this thing called the feather cut

which was really in at that time

and it was a bit like Farrah Fawcett in Charlie's Angels.

Unfortunately, my hair's really curly

so I did look like I had a toilet brush on my head.

Orthopaedic shoes, fuzzy hair, bit overweight and a bit shy.

Really popular with the boys!

Apart from loving David Beckham, having bad hair

and wearing funny shoes, what did our celebs get up to?

I was a bit of a cheeky chappy. I've a twin brother, Ben.

He was the one that was kind of the angry twin.

I was more of a silent, cheeky kind of character.

I'd do things behind my mum's back and she would never know

I was doing it but whenever I got told off, I'd blame it on Ben.

At this point I was sharing a room with my older sister, Yvonne,

who's four years older than me and we fought like cat and dog.

I'll be there on the bottom bunk while she's on the top bunk,

telling me I can't borrow her earrings or whatever.

It was never like proper punching but there was lots of girl fighting.

We'd hold each others' arms clumsily and do a lot of this.

My creativity, which grew out of feeling I didn't fit in anywhere,

I think found its outlet in writing first

because I started keeping a diary.

And from the sort of general,

"I'm awful, I'm really ugly and nobody likes me.

"I'll never get a boyfriend," that sort of became something else.

That became bad poetry, bad short stories,

and now I look back, the diary was the start of me becoming a writer.

Whilst Meera was channelling her thoughts through her diary,

Olly was turning channels over.

It was when TV watches first came out.

It was literally a remote control that did everything.

It was brilliant.

Every school lesson, especially science,

we'd sit and watch the film and Mr Richards would turn round

and say, "OK, class," pause it,

"Now, this was basically about, we're talking about precipitation."

Whilst he was talking, I was rewinding the tape

and then pausing it and then he'd go back and press play

and be really confused cos it'd be on a separate thing.

It was always a good laugh.

Back in 1973 in the Midlands, for Meera and her family,

life wasn't so easy.

My mum and dad are Punjabi, from north India.

When I think how hard it was for them to come over and start a new life,

it was a difficult time for immigrants in the '70s.

The National Front was very strong in our area,

there was a lot of racism about.

At the age of 12 I think I was beginning to realise the world

was a little harsh out there.

In the 1970s, a movement called the National Front held regular marches

in towns and cities across the country.

They aggressively opposed black and Asian people living in Britain.

Their demonstrations sometimes turned violent

and were very unsettling for many people

who moved to Britain from different countries.

Many immigrants were picked on

and racism was something Meera often experienced.

I came across racism quite regularly.

You'd get stuff shouted at you and people doing the funny head movements

and the voice and I sort of realised early on

that either I could be a victim or I could nip it in the bud.

And I decided that I wasn't going to put up with this.

People needed to know if they did say anything, they were gonna get it!

When I was younger I used to collect weird things.

Bags of rotting conkers lying around in my room and under my bed

and I also used to get, you know water balloons that you fill

with water and you're supposed to throw at people?

I used to get water balloons, fill them with water, draw faces on them

and kind of keep them as pets.

I got dumped when I was 12 by the girl of my dreams

but she was about six foot tall and I was only about four foot.

I was besotted by her and she ended up dumping me

because I was too small.

She said it was like walking her brother around.

Like her younger brother. So, ah well.

Inside the home I was well-behaved,

dutiful, helped Mum in the kitchen, did my homework.

Outside, in the village, when I was let loose,

I hung around with a gang of sort of feral kids

and my mum would have to come and find me

so the easiest thing was to stand

in the middle of the yard and holler, which is what everybody's mums did.

It's like calling a pack of dogs, you know,

"Teatime." SHE BARKS

We'd all come running from different corners, covered in mud.

So that's what our three celebs were getting up to when they were kids.

What was the soundtrack to their childhood?

I'd watch Top of the Pops, which was a huge part of your life

as a 12-year-old cos it was the only place you'd get to see music

because you couldn't go online and there was no YouTube or MTV.

I loved George Michael when he was in Wham!, I was a huge Wham! fan.

# Wake me up before you go, go

# Don't leave me hanging on like a yo-yo. #

Even though I was a little bit young for the music, I knew I liked him.

And so did millions of others, Sarah.

George Michael started his music life in '80s band Wham!

with fellow bandmate Andrew Ridgeley.

# Club Tropicana drinks are free. #

And Wham! they did.

They were one of the biggest bands of the '80s

and sold over 25 million records.

After four years of massive success,

Wham! split up and George went his own way.

When I was 12, George had started doing his solo stuff

so he had the album Faith out which was his first...

OPENING CHORDS TO 'FAITH'

# Well, I guess it would be nice. #

And I loved George Michael and for years,

I used to practice writing Mrs Sarah Michael on my rough book.

And in the back of my Wham! annuals

that I'd get at Christmas, I'd be Mrs Sarah Michael.

It was very cool.

I loved it and I still now love it when I hear it, I'm like, "Wow!"

It's a bit of a guilty pleasure now, I suppose, that album.

# I gotta have faith, faith, faith. #

So that's what Sarah was listening to in the '80s,

but what was Olly listening to in the '90s?

I got a paper round at 12 years old so I was earning some money.

I was able then to go down and get the bargain bin

Woolworths cassettes for 99p.

I think my first single I ever bought,

probably round about that time

was 911 - Party People (Hey!) It's Friday Night.

Which was in the bargain bin for very good reason.

Exhibit A.

I played it and played it to death. Brilliant song.

It really is a really good pop record.

Just like today, boybands were huge in the '90s.

There were loads of bands and like 911,

a lot of them seemed to have numbers in their names.

There was East 17, Boyz II Men, 98 Degrees, All-4-One and 5ive.

The big thing about '90s boybands was their terrible fashion sense.

Take a look at Gary Barlow's waistcoat. Shocker.

But the height of boyband fashion climaxed with the classic look

of matching white suits.

I hope you're taking notes, One Direction.

Whilst Olly was getting down with the boybands of the '90s,

Meera was listening to the boybands of the '70s.

Obviously, we all listened to the top ten.

# Everybody was Kung Fu fighting. #

I'm still a bit of a nerd when it comes to cheesy '70s pop.

I'd probably do quite well on Mastermind on that.

More white suits!

But where Meera grew up, cheesy pop wasn't the cool music to listen to.

I was living in the Black Country so it was,

people in the yard would play a lot of heavy metal.

Heavy metal started in the Black Country.

Reggae, a lot of people played reggae.

One of the songs in my top 10

was Young, Gifted and Black by Bob & Marcia

which I remember a whole row of Midlands white kids dancing to.

# Young, gifted and black

# Your soul's intact. #

It's a really good example of how music really brought people together.

But no music brought people together like Meera's favourite pop band.

My favourite group,

and I'm not saying they're a major musical influence,

but the person I was a bit in love with,

very in love with, was Donny Osmond.

# And they called it puppy love. #

I remember listening to Puppy Love

literally with my head inside the speaker

with tears rolling down my cheeks going, "I really love Donny."

I was in an all-girls school

and there were a lot of girls that loved Donny Osmond.

There was stiff competition.

Girls would fall over and faint. SHE SCREAMS

And with the Midlands' love of heavy metal

and Meera's love of the Osmonds,

what could be better than a heavy metal song by them?

# Crazy horses.

# Crazy horses. #

Raah! Raah!

That sounded like a cat being strangled, didn't it?

Interestingly, over the last few years, a lot of people

have reassessed that song and gone, "It's actually quite cool."

Despite their efforts to be tough rockers,

the Osmonds remain the band you wouldn't mind playing to your gran.

Them as a group were so wholesome.

Donny was the boy that wouldn't break your heart

and the one you could take home to Mum.

Ah, wasn't he lovely?

Still to come, we catch up with the Question of Sport captain

Matthew Dawson and find out what he remembers about being 12.

My mother and father saying,

"These days are the best of your life."

-And you're like, "Whatever."

-Sarah goes back to school.

It's a reflection of an ordinary comprehensive school.

-We find out that Olly has a passion for this lot.

-Massive fan.

I used to have all the figures.

And hopefully Meera explains what's going on here.

It was like a zoo.

It was like an anarchic zoo.

But first let's see what big news stories

had an impact on our celebrities when they were kids.

When I was 12, Princess Diana did an incredible thing.

The Princess of Wales has opened Britain's first purpose-built

hospital ward for AIDS.

Princess Diana changed opinions

by shaking hands with somebody who had HIV

and that photograph was just life-changing.

The disease AIDS and the virus that causes it, HIV,

was first identified in the early '80s.

When Sarah was 12,

it was something many people were scared of

because they were confused and worried about how it was caught.

Princess Diana, Prince William and Harry's mum,

was one of few public figures to begin campaigning

for public awareness about the condition

and by shaking the hand of somebody who had AIDS,

she proved the virus couldn't be caught by touch

and that people who have the condition are not to be scared of.

People thought that you could catch HIV or AIDS through

touching someone's hand or through using the same cutlery as them,

by any sort of physical contact.

And that is not true.

Princess Diana coming along and saying, this is something we have to

deal with and we've got to know the facts, really helped.

Throughout her life Princess Diana continued

to support HIV and AIDS charities.

Princess Diana did a lot of good in her life,

but I think that that photo was one of the biggest things she did.

In 1996, the nation held its breath,

and so did Olly, as England were playing football again.

The big impact for me that year was Euro '96.

The England football team has completed its final training session

before the opening match of Euro '96,

the biggest sporting event in England for 40 years.

It was massive. I don't think I really got how big it was

because it was the first time since the World Cup in 1966

that we as a nation held the football in our country.

Euro '96 was indeed the first major football tournament to be held in

the UK since the 1966 World Cup when England won. So hopes were high.

I felt the passion of the country but I didn't...

If it was now, at 27, I'd go to every game.

England got through to the semifinals and just like in 1966

the big match was England versus Germany, but this time England lost.

The atmosphere at the match was very friendly,

but there were outbreaks of violence after England lost.

England was gutted and tensions grew as some people took to fighting

and causing trouble in city centres around the country.

The party was over, but luckily for England, there's always next time.

Back in the '70s when Meera was 12,

times were difficult for the entire nation.

The big news story when I was 12

was the civil unrest in the country, really.

Throughout the '70s, Britain was going through hard times.

The economy was in a bad state and lots of workers went on strike

to protest against things like the amount of money they were paid.

They've decided they're going to close down all local council

services by holding all-out strikes for up to two days at a time.

Here's a special announcement - we're sorry, owing to labour

difficulties, very few trains will leave from Waterloo tonight.

The country was in a lot of turmoil.

It was grim, it was uncertain and it was a bit scary.

The strikes affected everyone

which meant a shortage of pretty much everything.

Food stocks were low, rubbish piled up on the streets, and because

coal miners were on strike, there was a lack of electricity.

The government would turn off power at certain times in the week.

While it was hard for most people, in Meera's house it wasn't so bad.

Coming from India, they had power cuts all the time.

So I remember Mum and Dad feeling almost nostalgic about them.

We'd be sitting around with the lights off, really well-prepared,

torches in the battery, candles, matches.

They'd be going, "These English people, they don't know how to cope.

"Come on, everybody, let's sing a song!"

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

what would our celebs do if they were 12 again?

You know when you're on a rollercoaster,

from 12 onwards that was like the rollercoaster bit.

I would tell myself at 12 nothing,

I'd say, "Live life exactly how you've done it."

Starting to really examine the growing personality you have,

and it's really quite a turbulent time sometimes.

Before that, it's time to discover what sporting legend Matt Dawson

was like at 12.

He was one of England's finest World Cup winning rugby players,

you'll now find leading his team on BBC's Question Of Sport.

Spen...Spence...Spence!

But what was Matt Dawson like when he was 12?

-Number 17.

-No!

I was a proper sport Billy,

playing football and rugby and cricket.

It was a lot more exciting than doing homework.

No-one likes homework, Matt.

But what about looking good, was that important?

I had a tremendous head of hair, which is hard to believe now.

There was a craze of shaving underneath

and then growing the hair on top.

It looked like mop, I thought that was quite cool.

I carried that on for a bit until people realised it wasn't.

The undercut is never a good look, but did the ladies like it?

My first kiss was a girl called Nina.

It was just at the bottom of my lane.

And I think, sad as it may seem, I think she did it for a bet.

I think I was used.

I'm sure I was.

I feel your pain, brother. Let's focus on the positives of being 12.

One of the parents had a role to play in one of Boy George's videos.

Basically, we were part of this video.

Lots of children dressed up in skeleton outfits.

That's pretty cool,

just a shame you're with hundreds of other kids all with masks on.

What would you do if you were 12 again?

I wouldn't change anything.

As much as it pained me to hear my parents saying,

"Remember these days, they're the best of your life."

And you're like "Whatever, shut up, I want to be a teenager."

Looking back on them they are,

they're brilliant, brilliant days.

It may have been brilliant,

but I bet you would have loved to have got your face in that video.

Right, time to get back to our three celebs and find out what

Olly, Meera and Sara were watching when they were kids.

When I was 12, I really loved Grange Hill.

Grange Hill was a gritty drama unlike anything else that had

-ever been seen on CBBC and the kids loved it.

-Ouch, that hurt!

-Good!

But parents hated it and complained it was a bad influence.

But because the show tackled real life issues like bullying...

It's little Georgina.

You don't have to run, I've got plenty of time.

Stop it!

..the show was a huge hit...

Less noise, please, first years.

..and ran for 30 years.

-I'm not a complete fool, where is your diary?

-I've just told you.

-And what about your report card? Did the dog eat that too?

-Yes.

Before then, there's like Famous Fives and people, you know,

it was always about quite posh schools and well-to-do schools.

And then Grange Hill came along on telly and it was just

a really good reflection of an ordinary comprehensive school.

And like in every school, there's always one teacher you never forget.

Who left that there?!

This nonsense has got to end.

You, boy!

-Mr Bronson was like the terrifying...

-Come back here!

..arch-nemesis of all that was cool at Grange Hill.

What is going on here?

-All the kids were terrified of him.

-You...vandal!

But despite Mr Bronson being the strictest teacher ever,

the kids still loved it, but what did he think?

-I think it's absolutely...

-marvellous.

Let's fast forward to 1996

and find out what Olly was watching on the box.

I remember Rugrats. I watched that in the mornings.

Rocco's Modern Life. Monkey Magic, that's very old, an old school

programme, but I remember watching that all the time. Heartbreak High.

But for Olly there was only one show that was his favourite.

I remember watching a lot of WWF wrestling.

Massive fan, I used to have all the figures.

I used to love watching that as well.

The World Wrestling Federation, or the WWF,

was a huge success in the '90s.

It was massive, and so were the dudes doing it.

The Hitman, the Undertaker

and Britain's very own Bulldog were some of the stars.

But the toughest fight in WWF was between the lawyers,

not the wrestlers.

The World Wrestling Federation has been forced to change its name

because it has the same initials as the World Wide Fund for Nature.

So the WWF became the WWE, World Wrestling Entertainment

and the wrestlers lived happily ever after. Sort of.

Ouch.

Let's leave Olly wrestling in the '90s and rewind to 1973

and find out what Meera was watching.

I loved Tiswas, which was an anarchic Saturday morning show.

And the best way I can describe it,

it was like a zoo, it was like an anarchic zoo.

On ITV in the 1970s, Tiswas was the Dick And Dom In Da Bungalow

of its day and it entertained kids on Saturday mornings

for over eight years.

Great start, this is what they want. Who needs Crossroads with this lot?!

It was mad as each programme was made up as they went along.

What you need to do...

No-one knew what was going to happen next.

But Saturday morning kids' TV ruled the airways back then

and whilst Tiswas was ITV's hit show, the BBC had Swap Shop.

Welcome and I hope we find you fit and well and you're going to

stay with us as long as possible on the Swap Shop.

Both shows were a huge success but very different.

As far as the top ten board is concerned

I think there are some really good bargains on offer this week.

-Hugh, what have you got?

-I've got a Wildergorn colour in poster.

So whether you wanted to swap your Wildergorn, whatever that is, or

get a custard pie in your face, both shows had something for everyone.

But Meera had a definite favourite.

Everything stopped for Tiswas - get your breakfast, in your pyjamas

and watch it, then my day would start after that.

So those were the TV memories of our three celebs,

but what do they most remember about being 12?

Just loved life, I was out playing football,

I loved being in the fresh air.

12 was probably the last age I didn't really care what

people felt about me and I was just able to enjoy being young.

You start to realise that life's quite precious

and that these terrible things can happen cos up until that age,

as it should be, you're in a bit of a happy bubble.

At home, even though it was very loving,

I wasn't like any of the other British Indian girls I knew,

I was considered a bit too Western for the Indian girls.

Obviously too Indian for the Western girls.

I began to realise that you are forced to spend

a lot of time in your own head

and your own imagination

so you begin to think about who you are and what you want.

And you realise that being different is a bit of a blessing.

I think that the life that I've chosen

and the path I've gone and the mistakes I've made,

I would tell myself at 12, I wouldn't change it for the world.

He could probably give me some advice.

If you can get my 12-year-old self,

he could probably teach me a thing or two.

Being 12 is really hard for everybody,

they may look like they're having the best time, most of it is a front.

You spend a lot of time thinking about how you look, how you feel,

starting to really examine the growing personality you have.

And it's quite a turbulent time sometimes.

The best thing about being 12 was that it was all much more relaxed.

You know when you're on a rollercoaster

and you're going...I was quite happy, it was quite exciting

and fun-filled, but it was quite secure and not very scary.

From 12 onwards, when I turned 13, 14, 15,

that was like the rollercoaster bit.

I miss being 12. Any chance you can put me back in there?

I'd love to go back to '96,

I could find all the girls that are really hot now,

and the girls I really fancied that wouldn't go out with me,

and I could charm them then.

Enjoy all the bits that you don't get again.

Like being 12 with no responsibility and nothing to do except

follow the passions that you have and, er...have a body that could

still run up the stairs without stopping halfway, that's quite good.

So what have we learnt?

If your parents say that kids' TV is a load of nonsense these days,

remind them of Tiswas.

If you want to join a boyband,

make sure you've got plenty of stain remover.

And when you think your teachers might be tough,

remember it could be a lot worse.

You...vandal!