The actor who played ‘briefcase w***er’ Will McKenzie in The Inbetweeners celebrated his 40th birthday this week – leaving many nostalgic fans feeling old.
One morbid bloke took to X to say: “The Inbetweeners cast turning 40. We’ll all be dead soon guys.”
The legendary sitcom first aired back in 2008, which was also the last time Spurs lifted a trophy (and is likely to be for a while longer still…)
READ MORE: Inside Tommy Fury’s lavish flat where he stayed away from Molly-Mae before split
READ MORE:Click for more brilliant Daily Star showbiz stories
The cult show ran for three seasons before two films were released and people still call on the lads to come back together for more episodes.
(Image: Channel 4)
But the actors who portrayed the awkward teenage boys are now married with kids and have gone on to work on other successful projects.
And with this in mind, we decided to take a look inside the family lives of the stars of The Inbetweeners – who have thankfully been luckier in love than their beloved characters.
Simon Bird – Will McKenzie
Let’s start with birthday boy Simon Bird, 40, who presumably did not host an unbearable dinner party or woo his wife with the words ‘feisty one you are’.
(Image: Dave Benett/WireImage)
The comedy actor, who was also praised for his role in Friday Night Dinner, has been married to Glaswegian Lisa Owen since 2012.
Lisa, 39, is an author known for her Not Working novel and the pair have a son together who was born in 2016.
Simon and Lisa met at Cambridge University where the former was doing a comedy sketch before he proposed in Paris in 2011.
A source told The Sun: “Simon took Lisa to Paris without any mention of plans to propose, but he had it all worked out.
“He bought a ring – sticking to traditions and spending a month’s wages on the sparkler. They went for dinner and he asked her to marry him. Lisa immediately said, ‘Yes’. They are looking forward to spending the rest of their lives together.”
And it is so far so good for father Simon who has been happily married for over a decade.
Joe Thomas – Simon Cooper
Joe Thomas, 40, is in a real-life Inbetweeners couple and has a daughter with his co-star, Hannah Tointon.
(Image: Tim P. Whitby/Getty Images)
The pair met on the sitcom where Tara, played by Hannah, had a fling with Joe’s character, Simon, who bizarrely attacked his own penis after struggling to get it up at the crucial moment.
Despite the on-air romance being a disaster, the actors got engaged in 2017 and two years ago they had a daughter together.
Hannah, 36, has also been in The Bill, Hollyoaks and Midsomer Murders and she dated Joe for seven years before he popped the question.
And giving an insight into how love blossomed with his wife Hannah, Joe once said: “I can’t really see how those scenes kindled romance because they were all her being sick into my mouth… but I’m really into that so obviously it was fine.
“It’s quite an intense thing being on set, so maybe that contributes, but we’re not basing our relationship on the relationship of Simon and Tara in the show.”
James Buckley – Jay Cartwright
Jay Cartwright, 37, was arguably the cringiest but ultimately most loved character in The Inbetweeners.
(Image: PA)
But the person who brought the character to life, James Buckley, is a sensible family man with a loving family.
His wife is gorgeous Scottish actress and vlogger Clair Buckley, 36, who stars alongside him in their YouTube series At Home With The Buckleys. The pair also have their own book and podcast called In Sickness and Health.
They ended up meeting via Twitter, now X, at the time the third and final season of The Inbetweeners was airing.
But Clair had never watched the comedy classic and speaking to The Sun, she said: “I knew of the show and what it was but I didn’t tune in. I didn’t watch it, which might have been a good thing.
“I did watch a couple of episodes after we met but to this day I don’t think I’ve seen every single episode. James and Jay are nothing alike thank God.”
James, who later featured in White Gold alongside Joe Thomas, got married to Clair in 2012.
They tied the knot one year after the birth of their son, Harrison, and they later welcomed another boy, Jude, in 2013.
Blake Harrison – Neil Sutherland
Blake Harrison, 39, has remained in the spotlight since The Inbetweeners and has flourished in things like Death in Paradise and Doctor Who.
(Image: PA)
He also works as an MMA podcaster but despite being active online, his wife is less well known than the other women mentioned.
Her name is Kerry Ann Lynch and she has two children with Blake who shares family photos on Instagram with his 135,000 followers.
They said their vows on the island of Mauritius in 2016 where Blake was joined by his ex-colleagues James, Joe and Simon.
And he would never have met his wife, who works as a wellbeing coach and mindfulness practitioner, if it was not for the show after first being introduced to her on a pub crawl with his fellow actors.
Blake and Kerry recently attended a Kings of Leon gig together and back in April he took his son and daughter to a WWE show.
And paying tribute to his wife on her birthday back in February, Blake said: “Happy Birthday to my beautiful wife @kerrykeenanlynch
“I keep finding these stunning photos of you online but don’t seem to have them on my phone. Very strange but I have to say you’ve never looked better!”
Source: Celebrities - dailystar.co.uk
