Episode 3 12 Again

Coming up, four celebs become 12 Again.

She pitched, I batted,

and I hit her straight in the eye with the ball.

I was just square enough and well-behaved enough

never to get into trouble.

I drew loads of, like, patterns, all over me.

THEY GIGGLE

And we catch up with the girl group, Stooshe,

to find out what they were like at 12.

She made me feel like I forgot my knickers, and I didn't!

And she embarrassed me so much!

Want to know what they're all talking about? Well..

Have you ever wondered what it would have 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,

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.

No!

They're they bloodsucking stars of Young Dracula,

who know how to give us a right fright.

Now you're just showing off.

But back in the early noughties,

Gerran Howell and Clare Thomas

were just beginning to sink their teeth into life at secondary school.

When I was 12, I was very outgoing.

I think I was a little bit of a tomboy as well.

We need to beef up your training. See what else you can do.

This isn't about me, it's about Ingrid. She needs our help!

I think I was a bit of a weird kid.

I was very quiet, so the opposite of you.

I used to be into, like, even at 12,

like Lego and things like that.

# Nothing to hide, stifle or smother... #

Today, he's the British rap superstar

who can usually be found at the top of the charts.

But in 1995, Professor Green

was only just starting to find his voice.

When I was 12, I was a pain in the bum.

Starting to come out of my shell.

Definitely starting to become,

you know, the cheeky person that I am today.

She's the queen of the BBC Breakfast couch

who puts the questions to some of your favourite celebs.

So, how involved are you with Simon Cowell at the moment?

That's the thing!

-Will we come back tomorrow?

-I think...yes, I like it here!

But back in 1982, Susanna Reid hadn't got much further

than her mum and dad's settee in Croydon.

It was the last year before I turned into a terrible teenager.

So it's like the final frontier

of loveliness, kindness, and innocence

before it all went horribly wrong.

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

So let's rewind and find out

exactly what they were like when they were 12.

When I was 12, I had the most awful haircut in the entire world.

I think I got teased on numerous occasions

by the local boys' school for being a mushroom head.

-Thanks, Mum.

-I was not really bothered particularly about clothes.

Everything was bought by Mum still,

so I was a bit square.

The one thing that definitely stood out,

quite literally, was my teeth.

They looked like they were arguing with each other.

Don't laugh!

I had blonde, curly hair. Kind of..

-SHE GIGGLES

-Kind of out here.

My mum used to say I looked like a cherub.

-That's nice, isn't it?

-Yeah.

At 12, I was really hard-working.

I was just well-behaved enough

never to get into trouble.

I wasn't a bad kid. But I definitely had my moments.

I probably started getting the teenage angst

a bit before I was teenager.

I was quite short,

so I remember going to Disneyland

and my mum giving me her platform boots, so I could get on the rides.

-SHE GIGGLES

-So I had to wear them all day.

-Good.

-Yeah, that was fun.

When Tinkerbell's taller than you, mate,

that's not what I would call fun.

So that's what celebs were like.

What were they getting up to at 12?

I loved performing.

I loved, I suppose,

people would call it showing off. And the main thing I loved at school

was doing school plays.

It was a really fantastic place to learn a bit of confidence.

The only race I won on sports day was a maths race.

You had to run, answer a sum as quickly as you could,

-and then run back.

-Ah, yes!

The traditional run-and-answer-a-sum race!

Not exactly a sports day classic!

At least the Prof was staying out of trouble.

Unlike some.

When I was 12, I would say that was my rebellious school period.

Me and my friend were passing a note, and the teacher caught us,

and obviously didn't appreciate our humour.

And so I had two hours of after school detention,

cleaning out the textiles cupboard.

-Serves you right, I think.

-I know.

Terrible. Bad influence.

There's no chance you'd catch Susanna in detention, though.

I'd done lots of public speaking, so I was a confident girl.

But in lots of ways, that wound other people up.

And there were definitely a couple of girls at school

who tried to knock me down a peg or two.

And that would hurt, but I think, also,

it kind of toughened me up as well

and I developed a bit of a thick skin.

Back in Hackney, Professor Green was experiencing girl trouble.

I feel you, brother.

I had a crush on a girl in primary school

who ended up coming to the same secondary school.

But that didn't end so well.

We were playing rounders. She pitched, I batted

and I hit her straight in the eye with the ball.

There was no chance after that.

He's always had an eye for the ladies.

In 2003 it wasn't girls causing Gerran problems.

It was more himself he really needed to look out for.

I used to be scared of the dark.

I thought, "Right, what will scare off these monsters?"

So I got this permanent marker pen

and I drew loads of patterns all over me,

thinking that somehow,

if there was a monster there and I came out covered in patterns,

he'd run a mile off.

So, then, the next morning, my parents came into my bedroom

and I was covered in permanent marker

and they just had to scrub it all off me.

For Professor Green, family circumstances meant

his home life at 12 wasn't always straightforward.

I was brought up by my grandmother

and it definitely did make it more difficult.

Especially parents evenings and stuff.

"Where's your mum? Where's your dad? Why are they not here?"

In hindsight, though, I was very fortunate. I actually had

a much more stable background than a lot of the people that I knew

at the time but when you're that age you don't understand it.

You just want your mum and your dad.

So now we know what our celebs were getting up to as kids

but what are they listening to?

When I was 12, I was listening to a lot of the, sort of,

punk rocky bands that were big at that stage.

It was Blink 182.

-I'm going to say it like that.

-Yeah.

-OK.

# All the small things. #

Blink One Eighty-two, or Blink 182 if you prefer being correct,

were a pop punk band from California. When Clare was 12

they were huge and sold millions of records.

I absolutely love the video for All The Small Things and,

you know, taking the Mick out of all the other bands that were big

at that age was just... I loved it.

# I will not go

# Turn the lights off. #

Yes, those cheeky Blink 182 boys used this video to poke fun

at the biggest pop acts of the time.

# Na-na, na-na, na-na, na-na, na, na

# Na-na, na-na, na-na. #

There's a video of The Backstreet Boys, I Want It That Way.

They're in an aircraft hangar and there's all these fans,

kind of, screaming their name and Blink did pretty much

exactly the same set up but, you know, the fans are, kind of, going,

"I love you," and they're just

blowing kisses at the camera like that.

It was brilliant. I loved it.

While Clare was listening to bands that took the Mick out of pop,

Gerran was actually listening to pop.

I remember Justin Timberlake. Yeah. Cry Me A River.

# You were my Sun

# You were my Earth. #

Hollywood superstar Justin Timberlake is best known

for his acting these days but back in 2003 it was his music

that got Gerran's attention.

I remember that video where he jumps on the desk, doesn't he?

That was really cool.

And it was after he, like, split up with Britney Spears

and there's a girl who looks a bit like Britney Spears in it. Yeah.

Justin Timberlake and Britney Spears were once the showbiz golden couple

so when they split up and Justin made a video

with a Britney lookalike, people wondered whether his song

Cry Me A River was a message to his famous ex.

# Cry me a river. #

I remember being devastated. Because they were the first proper couple

that I was like, "They're going to be together for ever and

"this is what true love is." And then, of course, that all went.

And I still, generally,

have a little bit of hope that one day they will reunite.

With Clare and Gerran split between rock and pop in the early noughties,

back in the '80s, Susanna was listening to

a new type of music coming out of New York.

My very first single that I bought was Grandmaster Melle Mel

which was White Lines.

# Bass. #

It was just a brilliant introduction into rapping and sampling.

It had a fantastic beat to it. I loved it.

# White lines

# Vision dreams of passion. #

When Susanna was 12, hip-hop was still pretty new

and Grandmaster Melle Mel's White Lines became one of

the first rap records to hit the charts.

# The more I see The more I do

# Something like a phenomenon. #

Early hip-hop records often had lyrics which reflected

the difficulties of life in a big city and White Lines

was an anti-drugs song.

It sort of cemented my interest in that kind of music.

I mean, I love rap and hip-hop now.

I love Jay-Z, I love Busta Rhymes, I love Missy Elliot.

I love all of that kind of music

and I think it started off with those early records.

Susanna wasn't the only one of our celebs who loved their rap

back when they were kids.

In 1995 there was a hip-hop legend on Professor Green's stereo.

That was when I first started getting into rap music

and the first song that really got me into it was

One More Chance by Biggie.

# Nobody else. #

Christopher Wallace aka Biggie Smalls aka Notorious B.I.G

was one of the most influential rappers of all time.

# Hah, sicker than your average. #

What I loved about Biggie, I think it was his presence.

You got a lot of him in what he did. He was able to project a lot of

his personality into his music. It was just effortless.

You could tell it wasn't a chore for him.

He's still my favourite rap artist today.

But Biggie's life was to end in tragedy.

In 1997 he was shot and killed by an unknown gunman.

His death came just six months after that of rap legend Tupac Shakur

who was killed in similar circumstances.

# Cali is where they put they mack down

# Gimme love

# California. #

At the time of their deaths, the two rappers were

at the centre of a major hip-hop rivalry between artists from

Biggie's New York City and Tupac's Los Angeles.

Their deaths did a lot to end this conflict and rap fans

like Professor Green now remember them as

two of the best hip-hop artists ever.

Rap was what really resonated.

I really became consumed by it.

I loved the reality of it and the honesty

when I first got into it.

I was fortunate enough to get into it during the golden era.

Still to come, we catch up with Stooshe...

Don't grow up too fast.

Just enjoy being young cos it's fun and you can get away with much more.

..Susanna gets spooked...

That, for me, was perfect after-school television.

..and Gerran takes a walk on the weird side.

It was so out there. I loved it.

But first, we take a look at what was hitting the headlines

when our celebs were 12.

The big news story when I was 12

was the country's first female Prime Minister, Margaret Thatcher,

facing a re-election campaign.

Leader of the Conservative party Margaret Thatcher

had first been elected Prime Minister in 1979.

In her first four years in charge of the country

she had earned a reputation for being tough under pressure.

The lady's not for turning.

With voting day approaching, it was widely predicted

that Margaret Thatcher would be re-elected Prime Minister.

-How are you today?

-Fine. How are you?

But it wasn't all plain sailing. When she agreed take calls

from the public on the Nationwide programme,

one question about Britain's recent war in the Falklands

really put her on the spot.

Margaret Thatcher was being interviewed and a housewife,

I think her name was Mrs Gould, got in touch with the programme

and was on a challenging Mrs Thatcher,

asking about why a ship called the Belgrano was hit and sunk.

Mrs Thatcher, why did you give the orders to sink it?

That ship was a danger to our ships.

That is not good enough, Mrs Thatcher.

I am just... Would you, please, let me answer?

Would you, please, let me answer?

Mrs Gould's exchange with the Prime Minister

was to make a big impression on fledgling journalist Susanna.

It was an extraordinary moment to see this ordinary

member of the public who had the guts

to ask the Prime Minister the killer question.

Mrs Thatcher may have been shaken by encounter with Diana Gould

but she still went on to win the general election by a huge margin.

To win again is a very great thing at what is really a historic election.

She remains one of the longest ever serving UK prime ministers.

In the mid '90s, it was a high-profile murder case

that hit the news when Professor Green was 12.

The big news story that happened when I was 12

was the OJ Simpson trial.

The OJ Simpson murder trial

is expected to dominate American TV screens

when it begins in Los Angeles in the next few weeks.

OJ Simpson was an actor and an ex American football star.

In 1994, police charged him with the murders of his ex-wife Nicole

and her friend Ronald Goldman. What happened next became global news.

It began with an extraordinary car chase through the streets

of Los Angeles as OJ Simpson fled from the police.

I remember all the CNN footage which was broadcast

even on our televisions.

You know, the helicopters that were following him

and all that kind of stuff.

With 95 million people watching in amazement,

OJ Simpson finally surrendered.

After a nine-month trial which gripped Americans

when it was shown on TV, the jury reached a decision.

We, the jury, in the above-entitled action, find the defendant,

Orenthal James Simpson, not guilty of the crime of murder.

Once OJ was acquitted, debate raged through America about the verdict.

If you make a lot of money, I guess you can commit murder.

Free at last. Free at last!

To this day, nobody else has ever been charged for the murders

and opinion remains divided about what really happened.

For Clare and Gerran,

the story that dominated the news when they were young

was the emergence of the world's most wanted man.

The government says that the latest threat

from Osama bin Laden's Al Qaeda group

is a clear admission that the terrorist group

was responsible for the suicide hijackings in the United States.

Nearly 3,000 people died in America in 2001

when terrorists hijacked planes.

They flew them into the tallest buildings in New York

and the Pentagon in Washington. Authorities quickly identified

Osama bin Laden and his Al Qaeda organisation as being responsible.

When Osama bin Laden came out, his face was everywhere.

-He became like a bogeyman.

-Like a really scary figure.

After the terror attacks, the US led a search for Osama bin Laden

that was to last almost 10 years.

The threat of further attacks by Al Qaeda

meant that there was an increase in security both here and abroad.

It did affect a lot in terms of being careful in your own big cities

and always, if there was a big event happening,

there being a slight threat of,

"Oh, my gosh, we have to be extra alert."

In 2011 the hunt for bin Laden was to reach a dramatic conclusion.

After being on the run for more than 10 years, Osama bin Laden

has been killed by American troops.

The Al Qaeda leader had been tracked to a house in Pakistan.

American forces raided the compound

and bin Laden was killed in a firefight.

The world is safer. It's better place

because of the death of Osama bin Laden.

Still to come, we ask the all important question -

what would our celebs do if they were 12 again?

I would do anything to call back for a day and just be free again.

Find what you love to do, whatever it is.

I wouldn't say anything. I'd probably just like and laugh.

But, before that, it's time to take two minutes with Stooshe

to find out what they were like at 12.

# Oh, oh, oh Turn it up and I'll go

# Cos I won't need you no more

# No. #

Stooshe are Karis, Kourtney and Alexandra.

They are popstars now but what were they like when they were 12?

# Love me. #

When I was 12, I just remember being a bit of a rebel.

My mum, kind of, cushioned me and I was really naive and a wallflower.

When I think of my hair and how I used to be,

I didn't look at all how I look now.

Good job, Kourtney, cos I can't see you

getting away with hair like that back in school.

# Milkybar Kid got me melting sugar With that geek chic all the way. #

Talking about school, any embarrassing stories

you'd like to share? And I'm looking at you, Karis.

You know when you start secondary school, your mum lays out everything

from your underwear, your socks.

I decided I wanted to wear a pair of different knickers that day

so I got a pair out of my drawer, left that pair on the bed,

whatever, I went to school.

I got a frantic knock on my classroom door later on in the day.

"Karis ,Karis, Karis.

"Your mum said that you forgot to put your knickers on."

And this was in the class and everybody started laughing.

And I was like, "I haven't. I haven't." I was like,

"Have I?" She made me feel like I forgot my knickers and I didn't.

She embarrassed me so much.

Hey, don't worry, Karis.

We all forget our knickers every now and again. Don't we?

Anyway, moving swiftly on. What sort of music where you Stooshe girls

listening to when you were 12?

I was a massive fan of 5ive when I was younger.

I had all the posters. That was my first ever concert that I went to.

Slam Dunk The Funk was my tune.

# Slam dunk the funk

# Put it up If you got that feeling

# Slam dunk the funk

# Put it up If you got that feeling.

# Slam dunk the funk. #

One Direction, watch and learn, lads. Watch and learn.

# Daddy, I've fallen for a monster. #

Right, girls, any final words of wisdom you can share with us?

If I could say one thing about being 12 and growing up, it would be,

"Don't grow up too fast. Just enjoy being young

"cos it's fun and you can get away with much more."

# He's big and he's bad. #

Just live it, find yourself and be who you are.

Sound advice, Stooshe. Sound advice.

OK, back to business. Time to find out what other celebs were watching

when they were 12.

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

was a series called Rentaghost.

What are you playing at, you stupid sprite?

I've sneezed myself into orbit.

OK, is it just me that has no idea what's going on?

It was about a guy who died

and he decided to set up an agency in the afterlife

where he would rent out other ghosts to haunt things.

Whooo!

HORSE WHINNIES

Rentaghost ran on the BBC between 1976 and 1984.

This gaggle of not so scary sprites

included a jester, a witch, a pantomime horse,

that one and that one as well.

Isn't this fun?

But there was one familiar face who was Susanna's favourite.

Audrey from Coronation Street was in it. Sue Nicholls.

She played Miss Popov.

Popov. You see, I suppose she'd popped off, hadn't she? She'd died.

Ah, yes, Susanna. We see what they've done there. Brilliant work.

Just a little joke between you and me, darling.

That, for me, was perfect after-school television.

And what was on super cool rapper Professor Green's TV

back in the day?

Biker Mice from Mars.

Not exactly what I expected.

Yeah.

# Biker mice from Mars

# Biker mice from Mars. #

Fo' shizzle, my brizzle. Did I do that right?

Is that how the kids say it?

Biker Mice from Mars was a cartoon that featured

the adventures of Throttle, Modo and Vinnie -

three mice who liked to ride motorbikes and came from Mars.

It's all in the name.

Let's rock and ride!

The cartoon ran on kids' TV in the mid-90s

before receiving a reboot in this noughties version.

# Biker mice from Mars. #

They had wicked bikes.

I'm kind of stating the obvious here but they did.

They were, like, quite space age for that time.

In fact, I still haven't seen one like it.

Cool bikes plus a killer rock soundtrack.

What's not to like?

# Biker mice from Mars. #

I just want to know what's going down with my bike.

Back in 2003, it was a strange comedy show

that was keeping Gerran up past his bedtime.

Please welcome your hosts for this evening Vic Reeves and Bob Mortimer.

# Welcome to Shooting Stars. #

I remember watching a lot of Shooting Stars with my dad,

when it was on, with Vic and Bob.

# Shooting Stars! #

It was like a normal panel show

but then Vic and Bob would just do the weirdest things.

Shooting Stars was a comedy quiz show

that had a reputation for off the wall humour.

Eranu!

Hosts Vic Reeves and Bob Mortimer often spent more time

making us laugh than actually asking the guests questions.

Give us those underpants!

It was also the sure that introduced the country to a man

who has since become one of our best known comedy stars.

# Baked Potato changed my life

# Baked Potato showed me the way

# If you want to know... #

You had that look is on the drums, doing the scores. George Dawes.

Both teams have three points.

# Do be good, don't be bad

# Thank you, Baked Potato

# Do be happy, don't be sad

# Thank you, Baked Potato. #

It was really good, yeah. Just because it was so strange.

It was so out there. I loved it.

# ..Baked Potato say

# Baked Potato! #

At 12, Clare wasn't just watching telly, she was on it.

When I was 12, I'd already started working.

I was doing a show for CBBC called There's A Viking In My Bed.

'A Viking somehow magically gets transported

'from his age into the modern age and ends up,

'randomly, as you do, in a bed and breakfast down in Brighton.'

Look, Siggy, go and have your photo taken.

After that, you can look in the shop windows but don't go in.

Don't touch anything and don't talk to any strangers. Meet me back here.

Thank you.

The show might have been a great springboard into showbiz for Clare

but it also made going to school a little bit weird.

It was showing during the year I was 12 so people were watching it

and then, sort of, getting to know me at school and things like that,

which was less than ideal.

But people, kind of, took me under their wing a little bit

and then, after that, I made friends fairly quickly.

Stupid Viking.

So, those were the TV memories of our celebs

but what do they most remember about being 12?

The best thing about being 12.

It's easy. It was the freedom.

It was the lack of responsibility.

You know, still young enough

to really enjoy things in quite a carefree manner.

When I look back at myself at 12, I think,

"OK, you were quite square."

But I didn't worry about it. I didn't feel huge pressure

to look a particular way or dress a particular way or wear make up.

But everything was to change on my 13th birthday.

I was still getting towards being a grown-up kid

but I was still a kid.

And I was finding out things about myself everyday

and what I liked, what I could do, what my capabilities were.

It was the time when a lot of things started for me.

Music and drama. It was the beginning point of that.

-Self-discovery begins at that time.

-Yeah. Yeah.

-Proper self-discovery.

-Yeah, I'd say.

-Where you're going as an adult.

-Mm.

You start changing as a person. You stop playing with certain toys,

you start watching certain TV programmes,

the time you go to bed changes,

the things you talk about with your mates all change.

I think I'd tell my 12-year-old self to chill out a bit.

To not try so hard to be liked or likeable. Just be yourself.

I'd tell myself to come out of my shell a bit more,

be a bit more extrovert, perhaps, because I was quite introverted.

And just relax, have fun.

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

I wouldn't say a thing. I'm quite happy with where I've ended up.

So I wouldn't say anything. I'd probably just look and laugh.

I would say, "Find what you love to do. Whatever it is.

"And don't worry what people are saying about it

"and enjoy doing that."

Once high school is done,

adult things really, properly start coming in on you

and I would do anything to go back for a day and be free again.

12 years old. I wish I could be 12 years old again.

I'd have so much fun.

So, what have we learnt then?

There's more to mice than just cheese...

I just want to know what's going down with my bike.

..if you want to give someone a fright, don't rent these ghosts...

Whooo!

HORSE WHINNIES

..and if you ever need advice from a vegetable,

there's only one choice.

# Baked potato! #

Subtitles by Red Bee Media Ltd