Episode 2 12 Again

Coming up - three celebs become 12 again...

I had curly hair. I looked like a massive frizz ball at one point.

But then I found straighteners.

I was fairly miserable, I think.

I think I was a bit of a weirdo.

And we catch up with American Idol Adam Lambert.

Most of my teachers really liked me, but they were like, "Shut up!"

Want to find out more?

Well...

Have you ever wondered what it would have 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?

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.

# It, it's spinning again

# It, it's spinning again

# It's, ooh, ooh, spinning again... #

She's a singer, songwriter

and CBBC's very own Friday Downloader.

Your instant download for the week ahead.

But back in 2008, Dionne Bromfield was more a star

on the sports field than in the recording studio.

I wanted to be an athlete when I was 12.

Netball and rounders, that was one of my hobbies. Loved it.

I was in the netball team, the rounders team as well.

# We'll keep shining. #

MASTERMIND THEME MUSIC

He's the heavyweight journalist and Mastermind host

who has contestants shaking in the chair.

Four more contenders are about to take television's ultimate test

of nerve and knowledge.

But back in 1955, John Humphrys was enjoying mixed results at school.

French was my best subject, rather oddly.

I found it very, very, easy. English I wasn't bad at,

but everything else I was hopeless at.

So let's get on with it and ask our first contender to join us, please.

Hello!

He's the CBBC presenter who is literally all over the place.

HE LAUGHS

And back in 1990, Ed was already making a nuisance of himself.

I was probably quite irritating

-a lot of the time.

-HE LAUGHS

One of my favourite things to do was just annoy people.

-SCOTTISH ACCENT:

-You wash your mouth out! That's a lie and you know it!

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

it was a different story,

so let's go back and find out what they were like then.

When I was 12, I was an extremely chatty child.

I'd say I was a good girl but I couldn't keep my mouth closed.

I think I was a bit of a weirdo.

I think most people would have probably said that.

I mostly enjoyed things like reading.

You don't make terribly many friends while you're reading, do you?

I had curly hair. I looked like a massive frizz ball at one point.

But then I found straighteners,

and I decided to straighten my hair. And then I got an Alice band.

I used to wear an Alice band all the time

and I used to have my hair slicked back and I had a nut head-shape.

It was quite embarrassing.

Through no choice of my own,

my hairstyle when I was a 12-year-old

was exactly the same as my dad's hairstyle.

My mum thought it would be a really good idea to dress me up like my dad

because he was sensible,

so she was always combing my hair into a side parting.

And I was being told how nice I looked like that.

I was fairly miserable, I think.

I'm not quite sure why, but I wasn't particularly happy.

Now we know what our three celebs were like,

but what did they get up to?

I was excited to go to secondary school.

The first day I thought it was going to be amazing

cos my three best friends were with me

and we all thought we were going to be in the same form.

Then we all got split up, so we had to go and meet new friends.

It was a bit daunting, but once I was in there, I was fine.

I made friends with loads of people so I enjoyed it.

I'd draw cartoons quite a lot

so me and a friend called Ben, at school,

we did this comic here called Splat,

which we sold for 22p.

Very precise amount of money, that.

Not 20p, no. 22. That extra 2p makes it all worthwhile.

As well as his...erm... successful line in comic books,

Ed also kept a diary,

not that he was exactly telling everyone about it.

It was called The Very, Very, Very, Very, Very, Very, Very, Very, Very,

Very, Very, Very, Very Secret Diary of Edward Petrie, 12 And 5 Months.

In here is a list of things to do before I become 30.

"Draw cartoons" is one of them. "Really funny ones."

Obviously, I didn't think mine were funny enough.

"Help people who are not as lucky as me." Aw.

What a thoughtful young man.

"Become an exciting person."

So I obviously thought I wasn't exciting enough.

Whilst Ed was keeping a diary,

when Dionne was 12, she going through a life-changing experience.

When I was 12, I actually started to get really into singing.

# Mama said there'll be days like this

# There'll be days like this, my mama said... #

My godmother was Amy Winehouse.

# You go back to her and I go... #

She got her own record label and she said to me,

"Dionne, I'm going to sign you up," and I remember thinking,

"No you're not. Stop lying to me.

"I can't believe everything you say, literally."

Within five months I was in a lawyer's office

and I'm signing a paper saying, "You've got a record deal."

# Go back to...

# Black. #

Whilst Dionne was hanging out in the recording studio,

when John was 12, he was unsurprisingly a bit more studious.

I read everything I could get hold of,

which meant going to the library because I couldn't afford books.

But it wasn't just the serious books

that budding journalist John was reading.

Superman, of course, was Clark Kent.

Clark Kent was a reporter and I figured that if I were a reporter

I would be Superman.

These days we're all used to the Superman of the films,

but he first appeared in comics as far back as 1938.

So when I was 12, that was it.

That was single ambition - to be a reporter.

Whilst John's career was being influenced by his comic book heroes,

Ed was getting creative.

When I was a kid I was so jealous of other kids whose parents

had video cameras and my dad said, "Oh, you'll never use it,

"it'll be a waste of money," but I kept pestering him,

I pestered him for years, and when I was 12,

we finally got a video camera, and it was so exciting

cos I could invite friends round and make our own films.

'Hitler was in his bunker.'

The film I was most proud of was Panda Of The Third Reich.

'Hitler thought very carefully what to do next.'

'Then he remembered his secret machine.'

Basically, what had happened was,

at the end of the war, Hitler hadn't died in his bunker.

He'd got into a cupboard and turned into a panda.

HE CACKLES

Nobody shall ever think of looking for a panda.

And it's really weird.

TOY MACHINE GUN CLICKS

You'd just be absolutely amazed that I ever found a girlfriend.

At last we have killed the panda.

That just happened.

Now let's see what our celebs were listening to when they were 12.

I actually loved a lot of music. I was really into Lady Gaga.

# I've had a little bit too much, much

# All of the people start to rush Start to rush by... #

In 2008, the classically-trained musician Stefani Germanotta,

AKA Lady Gaga, became a worldwide pop sensation

when she released her debut album The Fame.

Her unique style and mega-selling songs have made her

one of the most powerful women in pop.

# Just dance

# Gonna be OK Da-da-doo-doo, just dance... #

She had the little lightning thing on the side of her face

and I remember for Halloween I'd done that.

# Duh-duh-duh dance

# Dance, dance... #

But it wasn't just pop queen Lady Gaga that Dionne was listening to.

I actually loved Motown music as well. I loved Marvin Gaye.

# Mother, mother

# There's too many of you crying... #

Marvin Gaye is one of the most celebrated American soul singers

of all time and had legendary hits such as What's Going On

and Heard It through The Grapevine.

# Oooh, I bet you wonder how I knew

# About your plans to make me blue... #

My taste was so different from other kids.

Other kids were quite trendy and with it and I was kind of

into all of this old school type of stuff

that other kids didn't even ever know about.

# Ain't no mountain high... #

Dionne even recorded a cover of this Marvin Gaye song on her first album.

# If you need me, call me

# No matter where you are

# No matter how far

# Don't worry, baby... #

Whilst Dionne was busy making her first album,

when John was 12 he was buying his first album.

I can remember buying my first record very, very clearly,

and it was by Harry Belafonte and it was called a Mary's Boy Child.

# Long time ago

# In Bethlehem... #

It was a 78 RPM, one of those huge records.

# Mary's boy child Jesus Christ... #

When John was a kid, not all records were like the old ones

your parents might have in their collection.

They were all different sizes,

with a 78 being one of the earliest kinds.

It was called a 78 because it would spin 78 times in a minute.

If you dropped them, they broke, and if you put the needle on wrongly,

they'd scratch, but nonetheless they worked pretty well.

# Because of Christmas Day. #

Mary's Boy Child was one of the biggest Christmas hits of all time.

# Angels sing... #

It was soppy, and... Yeah, course I liked it. Everybody liked it.

You couldn't not like Harry Belafonte.

# That man will live for ever more

# Because of Christmas Day. #

When I was 12,

I hated, actively hated,

a lot of the pop music that was around at the time.

I really thought it was rubbish.

Well, Ed may say it's rubbish, but I think it's amazing.

I'll let you decide. Exhibit A!

# Wiggle it, just a little bit

# I want to see you wiggle it

# Just a little bit As it grooves

# Wiggle it... #

Now Exhibit B.

# I am the one and only

# Nobody I'd rather be... #

So with Ed actively hating the pop music of the time,

what did he actually like?

The only contemporary thing I liked was the KLF.

# KLF is going to rock you

# Ancients of Mu Mu. #

KLF were an alternative dance music band

that got big in the late '80s and seemed to be right up Ed's street.

They go on Top Of The Pops dressed in ridiculous things.

One of them would be dressed as an ice cream.

Another time they came on, they all had ginormous rhino horns.

But KLF didn't just shock with crazy outfits and weird lyrics,

they also did some pretty weird - some would say stupid - stunts.

All in the name of art, of course.

They sold the most singles of any band in 1991,

and they were so annoyed that they were making all this money

that they burnt a million pounds.

Yes, that really is a million pounds going up in smoke.

Unsurprisingly, burning the money

is something the band members later came to regret.

Every day you wake up and go, "I've just burnt a million quid."

They were just these completely crazy people.

-CHEERING

-'Ladies and gentlemen,

'KLF have now left the building.'

Still to come...

we catch up with American Idol Adam Lambert

to find out what he was like when he was 12.

The one thing that I obsessed over was my hair.

QUACKING

And we find out what TV our celebs were glued to.

Hancock was a genius. A tortured, tormented genius.

Casualty ruins your life!

Aaagh!

I remember coming home and being like "I've got to watch this."

ALL: Kerching!

But first it's time to find out what news stories

had a lasting impact on young John, Ed and Dionne.

One of the biggest news stories that happened when I was 12

which changed history in America was Barack Obama becoming president.

This is Newsround.

There's only one big story today. That's right,

America has chosen Barack Obama to be their next president.

CHEERING

On the 4th of November, 2008,

America elected its first ever black president.

It's been a long time coming,

but tonight, because of what we did on this day,

in this election, at this defining moment,

-change has come to America.

-CHEERING

I remember turning the telly on and I saw it on the news

and I was like, "Wow, that's amazing."

The first black president ever in America.

-NEWSREADER:

-'It was a shift in attitude,

'a feeling that, after the Bush years,

'America had to have something new.'

His election meant an end to the government of George W Bush,

who'd been in power for eight years.

Across the country citizens voted in large numbers.

They showed a watching world the vitality of America's democracy.

But to many it symbolised an end to the struggle

for racial equality in America.

If there is anyone out there who still doubts

that America is a place where all things are possible...

..tonight is your answer.

CHEERING

This was a landmark event in America,

because only 43 years previously,

black people didn't even have the right to vote in elections.

I've been waiting all my life just to see a black president.

Now I finally got it.

Within living memory, so much had changed.

Barack Obama, he's really cool,

ao that was a wicked time to be 12 and see that happening.

Whilst Dionne was celebrating a new American era,

when John was 12 Wales too was welcoming change.

One of the big news stories

when I was 12,

one of the most important things, THE most important thing

that happened in Cardiff,

was that Cardiff became the capital city of Wales.

In December 1955,

Wales finally had a capital city to call its own.

Ladies and gentlemen,

I rejoice very greatly with you all

that her Majesty's government

should have recognised Cardiff as the capital city of Wales.

It's hard to imagine now, but Wales had not had a capital city

since it became united with England way back in 1536,

thanks to Henry VIII and his historic Act of Union.

But in the '50s, Wales was forging its own identity,

and the country decided it needed its own capital.

I do remember a great deal of excitement about that.

We all went and made a day of it.

There were lots of celebrations.

The idea that we were now the capital city of Wales,

that was a big deal.

When Ed was 12, there was news of a more serious nature.

One of the big news stories I remember was the poll tax riots.

In 1990, the government introduced a tax

that became known as poll tax.

It raised money to pay for local services

like rubbish removal and roads.

The bill for most people was same,

regardless of how well off they were.

You could be a really rich person living in a massive house,

but you only had to pay the same tax

as somebody who lived in a much smaller house down the road.

A lot of people thought that wasn't very fair.

The tax was pretty unpopular with many people,

and soon protests started across the country.

Tens of thousands of people have been taking part

in anti-poll tax demonstrations in London and Glasgow.

But the protests soon turned into violent rioting.

The most violent of all was centred on London's Trafalgar Square.

I'd been up to London on a school trip a few weeks before,

and we'd been through Trafalgar Square and it looked lovely.

Then I turned on the news one day and it was on fire, basically.

People were smashing stuff up, buildings on fire,

horses running everywhere, people getting bricks in their faces.

Absolute chaos.

What began as a peaceful mass demonstration against the poll tax

by more than 50,000 people ended in violence.

Over the next few years, the government bowed to pressure,

and the tax was stopped in favour of the council tax we have today.

It must have made quite a big impression on me

cos I did this, which I seem to have made for my art project,

and it's a cartoon I did of the poll tax riot.

And it's all these people who turned up to protest about the poll tax

and they've brought various missile launchers and nunchucks.

I don't know how many 12-year-olds there were at the time

drawing cartoons about the poll tax riots.

But I was one of them, apparently.

As I said, I was a bit of a weirdo.

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

what would our celebs do if they were 12 again?

Sit down, do your work and don't talk. That was my advice.

The one thing I think I wouldn't do is...

..the jobs that I did.

If I was to go back in time,

I'd tell my 12-year-old self to pay more attention in French classes.

But before all that, we've got two minutes

to discover what Adam Lambert was like at 12.

# You know that I wish that this night

# Would never be over... #

Since becoming a runner-up in American Idol in 2009,

Adam Lambert has taken the pop world by storm.

But before he hit the limelight,

Adam was better known for chatting than singing.

I was always talking to everybody,

and I'd talk while the teacher was talking,

and most of my teachers really liked me but they were like, "Shut up!

"I'm trying to do my job."

I didn't really have much fashion sense at 12.

I think I wore a lot of black. So nothing has changed really at all.

# Never. #

I think the one thing that I kind of obsessed over was my hair,

so I don't know if that much has changed there.

# If I wanted to leave I would have left by now

# But you're the only one that knows me... #

So that's what Adam was like at 12. But what was he up to?

My hobbies when I was 12 were doing musicals,

so that was pretty unusual for a 12-year-old boy.

So Adam started singing at an early age in musicals,

but what music was he listening to?

When I was 12 I was listening to Michael Jackson and Madonna.

# Come on, vogue

# Let your body move to the music

# Hey, hey, hey. #

Vogue by Madonna. Yeah, that was a good one.

# Vogue, vogue, vogue. #

If Adam could be 12 again, what would he do?

If I were 12 again, I'd probably go to my theatre rehearsals

that I used to go to on Saturdays, and just watch.

It'd be really interesting to see it from my perspective now.

I'd probably enjoy it.

Yeah, I don't think Adam understood the question.

# Forget you. #

Right, let's get back to business and find out what Dionne, John

and Ed were watching when they were 12.

There was a show called Kerching on CBBC.

That was one of my favourite shows.

I remember coming home and being like, "I've got to watch this."

Kerching!

ALL: Kerching!

Ker...

By the way, the show was called Kerching. Can't you tell?

BOTH: Kerching!

He was called Rudeboy.

This is Rudeboy here

and I've been looking through your employee records.

He made his own little business.

I should be a fifth of the way to my first million,

and, actually, I'm only a tenth of the way.

So what's a 100...? No, 200 and...

So what's a few thousand?

'It was definitely urban.'

It was like... Now I think the 4 O'Clock Club's on,

and that reminded me a bit of Kerching as well.

Kerching originally ran from 2003 to 2006,

and was one of the first urban comedy programmes on CBBC.

Thanks, guys.

Edgy and cool for its time,

it was quite different to a lot of the shows

that had been on before it.

'It kind of spoke about what kids were doing at that time,

and that's one of the things I really liked,

cos it was like, it's not one of them shows that you're watching

and it's nothing to do with what's going on today -

it kind of re-enacted what's going on today.

ALL: Ker-ching, ching, ching!

Whilst Dionne was watching urban comedy,

when Ed was 12 he was getting into medical drama.

CASUALTY THEME TUNE

When I was at my mum and dad's,

I used to have be in bed by 7:30,

but when I was at my grandparents', I could stay up till about 10pm

so I could watch TV with them, so I used to watch Casualty.

We all know Casualty, The BBC's long-running hospital drama

with more than its fair share of injury and gore.

It used to frighten the life out of me.

It was the most terrifying programme,

because it would always start off with

someone's having a birthday party...

-That's that, then.

-I want my frisbee.

Yes. Well, you wait here.

You always knew there was going to be some terrible incident

and everyone would be screaming in agony

and quite often someone would die at the end of it.

-Can you get it, Grandad?

-Nearly.

(STRAINING) Nearly.

Aagh!

I'd be at a BBQ weeks later, thinking,

"Oh, I'm having a nice time," then I'd think,

"But someone's hair might get caught on fire,

"then there'll be an ambulance."

Casualty ruins your life!

I told you to be careful!

Sorry.

Apart from Casualty, Ed was also a massive fan of CBBC!

It's about this time every morning that I look at my one letter,

have a cup of coffee and Edd sorts through his mountain of fan mail.

Edd, how many letters and pictures have we had today?

QUACKING Five million?

'They used to have Andi Peters and Edd the Duck,

'and I thought Edd the Duck was just brilliant,'

because he had a punk rocker's hairstyle.

He had this green Mohican. And all he did was squeak.

QUACKING You decided to come, then?

We've only got about ten seconds,

not even ten. QUACKING

Andi and Edd were the people who introduced the shows on CBBC

and they had a big influence on Ed. The man, not the duck.

EDD QUACKS

'It was just really funny.'

I actually got to meet Edd the Duck!

-QUACKING

-No, I'm Ed. No, I'm Ed.

INSISTENT QUACKING

No, I'm Ed.

'It sounds sad to say it,'

but meeting Edd the Duck was one of the highlights of my life.

And it's pretty clear the feeling's mutual, Ed.

QUACKING

Aw.

I didn't watch television because we didn't have one.

Wireless was what we listened to, obviously,

and I remember lots of programmes from the wireless.

Just so you know,

wireless is what they used to call radio back in the day.

Particularly Hancock's Half Hour, which was brilliant.

Absolutely a work of genius.

HAMMERING

There you are. 63 nails in that lot. That should hold it.

-How does it look?

-Very nice.

But there must be a better way of putting wallpaper up.

Hancock's Half Hour was a radio sitcom that followed the antics

of an out-of-work entertainer played by comedian Tony Hancock.

Hancock was a genius, a tortured, tormented genius,

but nonetheless a brilliant, brilliant comedian.

And then, of course, it moved to television.

Ladies and gentlemen, we present Tony Hancock.

BAND PLAYS

Hancock's Half Hour.

On the radio, you imagined the whole Hancock scene,

and when it came on television, although it was very well done,

extremely well done, it wasn't what you'd imagined,

and therefore it fought you a bit. It fought your imagination.

-You again?

-Yes, me again. Hang on to these a minute, will you?

Another minute.

Oh!

Do you mind not wobbling your knees about?

You'll have me over in a minute!

I watched it, and I enjoyed it, but it wasn't the same as radio.

-Goodnight, then.

-Goodnight.

Those were the TV memories of our three celebs.

But what's the best thing about being 12?

Best thing about being 12? Carefree.

You just go school, have fun,

and you come home and you've got dinner on the table.

That's the best thing about being 12.

Children are so restricted today.

Everybody's got to know where they are every minute of the day

and it really wasn't like that and it was possible

to get on your bike and just go a long way away

so long as you were back in time for supper.

I think one of the best things about being 12 was

you just had a lot of stuff done for you.

I'm starting to appreciate that my mum and dad

were actually putting quite a lot of work in and I was quite lucky.

If I could be 12 again...

"Be quiet, keep your mouth closed,"

that's what I would have offered to myself.

"Sit down, do your work and don't talk." That was my advice.

If I could be 12 again,

the one thing I think I wouldn't do is...

..the jobs that I did.

I had two paper rounds and I worked for the local chemist

and I didn't spend anything like enough time playing.

I was rubbish at French and I've now got a French girlfriend.

So if I was to go back in time, I'd tell my 12-year-old self

to pay more attention in French classes or he won't be able to talk

to his French girlfriend in French!

Enjoy your childhood cos you only get one of them.

You're old for a very long time.

What have we learnt, then?

If you need people to remember the name of your TV show,

just repeat it endlessly...

Kerching!

ALL: Kerching!

Ker...

..£1 million is better spent than burnt...

Everyday, you wake up and go, "Hmm. That was about a million quid."

..never get a Frisbee off the roof of your house,

unless you have a small child to break your fall.

Aaagh!

Sorry.