Episode 11 12 Again

Coming up. Three celebs become 12 again.

My friend said, "If this goes wrong, Cel, the world's going to end."

I wish I'd listened to my mum, cos she was right.

So the camera pans round to this dude and I'm thinking,

"Why have you brought your geography teacher with you?!"

And we catch up with Little Mix to find out what they were like at 12.

The boy I kissed, I said, "Did I do it right?"

He said, "I've had better." I was like, "What?!"

Ready to kick things off?

-Waa-jay!

-He is.

Have you ever wondered what it would have been like to have been best mates

with your favourite celebs when they were your age?

What were their favourite songs and what TV shows did they watch?

Because 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!

He's the Friday Downloader and CBBC presenter

who gets your weekend off to a flying start.

But back in 2007, Cel Spellman didn't need

a microphone to make himself heard.

I was really loud.

Unbelievably loud.

You could probably hear me from a mile a way.

My mum used to always say that to me.

She's been treading the Coronation Street cobbles for over 25 years

and been involved in more scandals than I've had hot dinners!

But back in 1975 it could all have been so different for Sally Dynevor.

I went to a career's officer and she said,

"What do you want to do when you grown up?" And I said,

"I want to be an actress." And she kind of fell off her chair laughing.

She thought it was hilarious.

Welcome to Football Focus.

He's the BBC sports presenter who puts a focus on football.

But back in 1989, Dan Walker could have done with a focus

on his own wardrobe.

I loved shell-suits. I had massive feet.

And my hair was all over the shop.

So, basically, I was a little bit of a mess.

All are massive celebs today, but back when they were 12,

they had no idea that they'd become some of Britain's best known faces.

So let's rewind and find out what they were like back then.

When I was 12? I was small. I was really small, actually.

I think that's how most people remember me.

Didn't grow that much.

6'6" now, I was nearly this tall at the age of 12.

So if you imagine someone over six foot with a 12-year-old face.

It already sounds a bit weird.

I was a bit chunky and was a bit self-conscious about that.

I had a parting down the middle and I was very red as well.

I got teased a lot about that.

I think I might have rocked the double denim -

jeans and a denim jacket. I used to wear a few necklaces.

I used to think I was proper cool cos of my necklaces.

It was hard to get clothes to fit

cos back then no-one had ever heard of a size 12 shoe.

You walked into a show shop and said, "Do you do these in a 12?"

"12?! You big weirdo! We don't do that!"

My fashion sense when I was 12? I was kind of

copying what was going on around me.

And I've regretted that cos I wish I'd been a bit wilder

and tried different things.

I liked to talk to adults a lot.

I enjoyed engaging in adult conversations.

I thought I was quite clever at the time.

I was sent out a few times for talking. But I wasn't bad,

I just used to mess around all the time. I get that from my mum,

cos she said she got in trouble for that as well.

Tut-tut, Cel's mum. So now we know what our celebs were like as kids,

but what were they getting up to?

When I was 12, my at teacher hated me with a passion.

I'd forgotten to do my homework.

I was thinking, "I need to draw a shoelace."

So I drew a line with two little thick bits at the end

for the bits of plastic and that was it.

She said, "That's not even worth a one.

"You're getting a half for that. Go and see then headmaster."

In 2007, Cel was too busy with girls to be thinking about school.

I had a girlfriend and we became boyfriend and girlfriend going out

in like maths and then by the end of the day in science we'd split up.

I think the reason we broke up

was because I didn't sit with her and then the boy I lived with,

we were on the coach home and then he started going out with her.

But by the time they got home that wasn't happening either.

I just remember being 12 and being allowed to go down to the park.

There was about four girls and we decided

we really wanted to kiss a boy.

So there was a group of boys that we knew

and they all stood in a line, they were all about 12 as well,

and we literally went down and kissed each boy

as we went along the line.

That was it, never kissed 'em again. No, it was too yucky.

Sally may have been getting romantic,

but in Crawley, Dan was discovering a different sort of passion.

I used to go to church, but I went to church to mess around.

When I was 12, the guy was speaking and talking about Jesus Christ.

And I remember thinking that there was a reality to it

which I hadn't realised before.

I became a Christian at that time.

And looking back now, I think that probably helped me

to deal with some of peer pressures a 12-year-old can face,

because I was happy being an individual and being different.

There's nothing wrong with that.

In 2008, Cel took the big step

of leaving his home in Manchester to go to theatre school.

When I was 12, I started boarding school in London.

So I was living away from home and thought it was an adventure.

But Cel unfortunately found out

that life as a boarder wasn't always easy.

I got bullied quite badly.

I remember I was pinned down and they squirted toothpaste in my mouth

and then I was sick basically.

But I never did anything. I always thought,

"I don't want to let anybody down. Keep to yourself and get on with it."

But it did used to hurt a lot.

No kid should ever be bullied and Cel learnt an important lesson

on how best to deal with it from his experience.

If I'd told someone sooner, I might have been happier.

I know it's hard trying to tell someone but you need to sort if out.

Don't not tell anyone.

Just make sure you let someone know and they'll sort it out.

So now we know what our celebs were getting up to at 12,

but what were they listening to?

Of all the bands and all the music that was going on at that time,

I think it was for me The Bay City Rollers.

# Bye-bye, baby Baby, goodbye... #

The Bay City Rollers were one of the biggest pop groups of the '70s.

They came from Edinburgh and were like the One Direction of their day,

but with a very interesting take on fashion.

They were wearing three-quarter length trousers,

and high-heeled platform boots.

Sort of open-neck shirts, scarf round the wrist, really cool.

All right, Sally, there's no accounting for taste, is there?

Despite their dodgy clothes, girls went crazy for the Rollers.

In the past year pop-mania has come back to Britain

and most of the screaming has been

for a British group, The Bay City Rollers.

We want The Rollers!

In fact, Roller-mania got so intense that at one Radio 1 event

where the band performed on an island

fans threw themselves into the surrounding water

to get closer to their heroes.

It was so popular. It was like The Beatles had come back.

Cos they were all quite dishy as well.

Why are you Roller fans, do you think?

Like their music, they're good-looking,

they're young, clean cut.

The band also had lots of products, well, tat,

that you could buy for die-hard fans like Sally.

I remember having a Bay City Rollers mirror.

You'd have the Bay City Rollers on the front

and then you could look in it and put your load of make-up on.

And that mirror came in handy when pretending

to kiss the lead singer, Les McKeown. What a dreamboat!

I did do a bit of kissing Les in the mirror, yeah.

But I was a bit fickle, to be honest.

I mean, any new band that came along,

I'd just go from one to the other.

Back when he was a kid,

it was a smooth tribute to the ladies that got Cel excited.

I had Beautiful Girls by Sean Kingston as my ring tone.

# Beautiful girls... #

Beautiful Girls became a huge summer number one

when it was released in 2007. But it was the man's singing

that made a big impression on a young Cel.

Obviously, Sean Kingston himself,

he had the white T-shirty and a really baggy chain on.

And he had a jacket on top, and then, there was just girls!

# Very defined girl One of a kind girl... #

Beautiful Girls was based on a sample of a song called Stand By Me,

which was first released in 1961 by soul singer Ben E King.

# And darling, darling Stand by me... #

The song's been covered more than 400 times,

but it was Sean's version, especially the video,

that Cel was a fan of.

# You're way too beautiful, girl... #

There's a scene where he's sitting in the back, just having a little jam.

He's just so cool.

So you like him, then, mate?

Sean Kingston, he's the dog.

That's where I want to be when I'm older.

That makes the two of us, son.

For Dan, though, the most memorable tune of 1989 was an unlikely duet.

One of the big number one hits the year I was 12

was Something's Gotten Hold Of My Heart

by Marc Almond and Gene Pitney.

# Something's gotten hold of my heart

# Keep my soul and my senses apart... #

I watched it on Top Of The Pops and I thought,

"There's Marc Almond, buttery hair. leather jacket, looks cool."

He sings the first bit and the camera pans round to this dude

and I'm thinking,

"Why have you brought your geography teacher with you?!"

# I'm gonna tell you now Something's gotten hold of... #

Listen up, Dan, that is no geography teacher.

Marc had brought Gene along

because he had sung the original version of this song in 1967.

# ..Painting my sleep with a colour so bright... #

In fact, Gene's distinctive voice helped him rack up

ten top ten hits in the '60s.

# ..Scarlet for me Scarlet for you... #

And Marc himself was no stranger to the charts.

# ..Take my tears and that's not nearly all... #

His band Soft Cell scored a huge number one in the early '80s

with another cover song, the classic Tainted Love.

# ..You touch me and my mind goes astray... #

When our dynamic duo got together, it may have been an odd pairing,

but it resulted in a song that took the charts by storm.

We catch up with Little Mix.

I was a swot, with me tie right up here, going down here,

me skirt to me knees.

Cel remembers a TV show with plenty of bite.

THEY SCREAM

I used to love the bit at the end when the actual prank came up.

Ohh!

Sally introduces us to a Saturday morning classic.

-What are you offering?

-I've got a badminton racket and cover.

If you had something in your bedroom that you didn't want any more,

you could phone in and you'd swap.

And Dan takes flight with the coolest superhero from the '80s.

It's the gran everybody wanted.

The one who looked old and rickety was actually a lot of fun.

But first, let's see which stories hit the headlines

when our celebs were kids.

A big news story that happened when I was 12

was the Large Hadron Collider. I think that's what it was called.

It's the biggest scientific experiment ever

and it's goal is huge - to discover the origins of the universe.

The Large Hadron Collider is a machine that was created

to try and understand how the universe began.

It shoots tiny particles into each other at high speed.

A hundred million million protons a second

are sent whizzing down this pipe

into an accelerator and off into the Large Hadron Collider.

When the particles collide,

their energy is converted into many different particles. Not everyone

totally understood the science, did they, Cel?

I think they were trying to recreate a smaller version of the Big Bang,

which started the world, or split an atom, or something like that.

Yeah, something like that(!)

Before the first test of the Hadron Collider,

some scientists raised the scary prospect

that, if the tests went wrong, it could cause the end of the world

by creating a black hole that would swallow up the universe.

But expert-stargazer Patrick Moore didn't seem that worried.

Will it gobble up the universe? I can assure you it won't.

That's about as likely as a flying saucer coming down from the sky

and landing on the back of the Loch Ness Monster.

So not likely. Patrick might have been keeping calm and carrying on

but that didn't stop Cel and his drama school friends

from completely freaking out.

Being at a theatre school, I think it was exaggerated a little bit.

There were people running through the corridors.

My friend said, "If this goes wrong, Cel, the world's going to end."

But it's not because I'm still here now.

Brilliant(!) For Sally, it was the introduction

of a supersonic aeroplane that dominated the news in 1976.

There was a big technical event that happened in 1976.

An aircraft, Concorde.

Both the supersonic Concordes landed back at their home airports today

at the end of their historic flights.

Even by today's standards, Concorde was amazing.

It was designed jointly by Britain and France

and cruised in the air at over 1,300 miles per hour.

That's more than twice as fast as a normal jumbo jet.

-Is it a difficult plane to fly?

-Demanding more than difficult.

The flying controls are very good,

very responsive, but you always fly the airplane at its maximum speed.

And if that wasn't enough, it was also faster than the speed of sound,

making it a supersonic aircraft.

This was an aeroplane that could go from London to New York

in just under three hours,

which was unheard of, because it takes eight hours to get there.

It was just an amazing concept,

that you could set off from London and arrive in New York

before you'd even set off in London, if you understand what I mean.

No-one understands what you mean, Sally. Let me explain.

There's a five-hour time difference between London and New York,

and as Concorde only took three hours to get there,

it meant that if you set off at 11am in the UK,

you'd land in New York at 9am local time.

That is crazy!

But although Concorde was an engineering success,

it was very expensive to travel on,

and by the beginning of the new millennium,

it wasn't making any money. In April 2003,

both Britain and France announced that Concorde would be retired.

The world's most famous aircraft Concorde is to stop flying.

British Airways said today that fewer passengers and higher costs

mean it's just too expensive to run.

Hopefully, Concorde might be something that'll come back

in a few years' time, when we can maintain them cheaper.

So, hopefully, Concorde will come back

and be even more popular than it was in '76.

When Dan was a kid in the '80s, a new disease emerged

that had a huge effect on the British farming industry.

A mysterious brain disease is threatening the country's cows.

Scientists don't know what's causing it or where it came from,

but they are worried.

Big story when I was growing up was mad cow disease.

So far, nearly 100 cows have had to be slaughtered

before the disease kills them.

On the news, I watched a cow that had mad cow disease

struggling and falling over, and it was quite distressing to watch.

BSE, or mad cow disease as it's more commonly known,

is an illness that affects a cow's brain

and makes it act strangely.

Because there was no cure or treatment

to make the sick cows better,

the Government was forced to destroy the animals infected

to stop them suffering,

and also to prevent the disease from spreading.

As a kid who liked to take the mickey out of everything,

I remember that I felt a little bit guilty about it at the time,

because you saw the effect it had on the cows.

I remember being quite sad about it.

At the time of the BSE crisis,

there were fears that if people ate meat from the infected cows,

they could catch CJD, the human version of mad cow disease.

Doubts about the safety of beef soon spread.

Loads of girls in our school,

and a couple of lads as well, went vegetarian on the back of that.

I remember they had to fiddle with the school dinners

cos so many of the girls decided they didn't want to eat meat.

British beef farmers argued that the meat was still safe to eat.

We're confident. We're all eating beef. I shall have steak tonight.

But the crisis affected their livelihoods badly.

The Government placed a two-year ban on the selling of beef on the bone.

This was thought to have cost the farmers up to £170 million.

Even at 12, something which was a huge story in the country

had a little impact us. Interesting to look back now

and see how that affected my little life.

Despite the beef crisis when Dan was a kid,

there have only been a small number of deaths

from the human form of BSE in the UK.

Today British beef is considered safe

and burgers and Sunday roasts are very much back on the menu.

We ask the all-important question,

what would our celebs do if they were 12 again?

I think everybody has to have a dream and a thought for the future.

If you are small. it's better,

because you're going to hit a growth spurt sooner or later.

It's OK to be tall.

It's OK to be a little bit different.

But before that, it's time to take two minutes with Little Mix.

# Mama told me not to waste my life... #

They're X Factor winners and one of Britain's biggest girl groups.

But long before the days of number ones, what were Little Mix's

Leanne, Jesy, Perrie and Jade like when they were 12?

I used to be a little swot with me tie up here, me skirt at me knees.

I was quite smart. A bit like you, really,

a bit of a swot, but quite cool with it.

So Jade and Leanne were the band swots.

And for Jesy, it was all about sport. Sort of.

I was about to do my 100m sprint. I used to get so scared of the gun.

I used to get so nervous that I didn't want to do it.

And I walked off and said. "Mum, I don't want to do it."

She said, "You get in there!"

-Did you do it?

-Yeah, I won it.

-Amazing.

-Maybe cos you were scared of the gun. Bang!

# ..And they can't detain you... #

It couldn't have all been school and sport, ladies. Come on,

give me the juicy goss.

I think I had my first kiss when I was 12.

I didn't know what I was doing. It was like a washing machine.

It was awful.

# If I fall from the sky... #

Yeah, the boy I kissed, I said, "Did I do it right?"

He went, "I've had better, like."

I was like, "What?!"

Bad move, mystery boy. I bet he's kicking himself now, Perrie.

So what music inspired Little Mix

to sing into their hairbrushes back when they were 12?

I had quite an odd taste, because I loved Motown

cos that's what me mum brought us up on, and I adored Diana Ross.

# Get in the middle of a chain reaction... #

I remember when Acorn brought out Lonely.

# So lonely... #

# I'm so lonely... #

# Mama told me not to waste my life... #

Hey, girlfriends, you might be massive stars now,

but what advice would you give to your younger selves?

If I could go back now and be 12 again,

I wouldn't care about what other people thought about what I wore,

because I think it's good to be different. Embrace being different.

Just be who you are cos it's cool.

Well said, Jesy.

OK, back to business. Let's find out what Cel, Sally and Dan

were watching on the telly-box when they were kids.

One of the programmes that was really big when I was 12

was The Multi-Coloured Swap Shop.

# Swap Shop! #

It was hosted by Noel Edmonds and a purple dinosaur.

Hello. Yes, indeed. A very good morning to you.

Welcome to the Swap Shop.

It was a brilliant idea,

because what it was was, if you had something in your bedroom

that you didn't want any more, you could phone in and you'd swap.

-What are you offering?

-'A badminton racket and cover.'

Ohh! That sounds exciting!

-And what would you like?

-'An alarm clock, please.'

-Oh, I've always wanted one of those!

-I've got to ask why.

'I snapped the leg off me old one.'

Classic!

Back when he was young, Noel Edmonds

gave kids the chance to get rid of things they no longer wanted...

-What are you offering?

-'A black and white Polaroid camera.'

..and swap them for things that they were, erm, desperate for(?)

-And what would you like?

-'Anything.'

Like this, or this, or maybe even that, whatever that is.

In appreciation of your wonderful programme,

I have knitted you a pair of posh paws.

Now, you have to remember that this was the '70s

and kids went mad for it!

It was really difficult to get through.

It was one of those programmes you phoned,

and everyone was doing it on a Saturday morning.

In 1989, Dan's TV idol was a superhero.

But it wasn't one of the usual suspects.

# Hang back, Superman

# Iceman, SpiderMan

# Batman and Robin too

# Hang about, look out

# For Super Gran... #

HE IMITATES GUITAR CHORDS

This isn't a sick joke.

While America gave the world the sort of superheroes you'd find

in Hollywood blockbusters,

here in Britain, we had good old...Super Gran.

After a freak accident with a villain's laser,

our plain old granny is transformed for ever.

-Don't laugh, she's actually pretty handy.

-I am Super Gran!

Whenever anybody let out the cry, "Super Gran! Super Gran!",

she'd do the old...whispery things around the head and then the...

SHE GASPS

And then that's where she knew where she needed to go.

Super Gran starred 59-year-old Gudrun Ure as a super-powered OAP

devoted to ridding her town of local baddies.

With my little eye, I can spy all that's here,

have no fear,

for I am... Super Gran!

Gudrun made two series of the show in the late 1980s

and actually performed most of Super Gran's stunts herself.

That's that Super Gran that was in the papers.

It was perfect kids' television. It's the gran that everybody wanted.

The one who looked a bit old and rickety, but was a lot of fun.

Dinnae fret, I'm on my way! Super Gran will save the day!

Brilliant! Wouldn't it be great if your gran could do that?

Not hurt anyone but, you know...just...

Let's fast-forward to the noughties

and find out what Cel Spellman was watching.

I really wanted to be on Prank Patrol.

I never knew how to get on it,

but I definitely wanted to be in Prank Patrol.

We all know and love Prank Patrol,

the UK show that specialised in playing practical jokes.

It carried out over 40 amazing pranks in its three series.

What's that?! What's that?!

SCREAMING

From scary lake-dwelling monsters

to runaway crocodiles...

this show did it all.

While Cel may not have been lucky enough to get on the show,

tons of kids were, and heard those immortal words.

You've been pranked by the Prank Patrol!

You've been pranked by the Prank Patrol!

I used to love the bit at the end when the actual prank came off.

Oh, my...

Barney and the team pranked plenty of kids over the years,

but Cel got a shock himself when one episode featured an old friend.

Joe Barrett?

-How would you like to make your dream prank come true?

-Great!

Congratulations, you're the newest member of the Prank Patrol

He just popped up and I thought, "I know this kid."

They set it up that his little brother was playing a little boy.

So he was in an animation and getting in this green suit

and doing the motion for this zombie-boy thing.

I want you to move your left arm slowly up now!

On the screen it showed him doing the movement.

Slap your face!

That's it.

'Do not hit me!'

As he runs through this screen and his brother's face drops!

'Terminate program! Terminate program!'

HE SCREAMS

Terminate program!

That was my favourite episode - I knew the boy

and he was getting his little brother, what I always wanted to do.

You've just been pranked by the Prank Patrol.

Oh, my God!

So those were the TV memories of our three celebs...

but what do they remember most about being 12?

It really felt like a period in my life

when lots of opinions were being formed,

lots of things were changing in my life,

and I felt a certain freedom.

Suddenly, you're starting to get a little bit of independence

and you're sort of deciding which way you want to go.

It was an amazing year.

Used to be able to get away with a lot more

and you didn't have anything to worry about. You were just living life.

I think the worst thing about being 12 is probably believing

that you are older and you can make decisions,

and then making the wrong decision,

and then thinking, "I wish I'd listened to my mum."

Cos she was right.

If I could go back and talk to my 12-year-old self,

the advice I would give is, if you are small,

trust me it's better,

because you're gonna hit a growth spurt sooner or later.

Decide what you enjoy doing and what you're good at

and what you feel confident in,

because everybody has to have a dream

and a thought for the future.

It's OK to be tall. It's OK to be a little bit different.

One day you will get some trousers that fit.

So what have we learnt, then?

The end of the world isn't coming anytime soon.

It's about as likely as a flying saucer coming down from the sky

and landing on the back of the Loch Ness Monster.

Older brothers will do anything to stitch you up.

HE SCREAMS

Never, under any circumstances, jump out of a window.

Super Gran will save the day!

Unless you've got a horse to land on. Bang!