EVERYONE knows Ant and Dec found their fame on Byker Grove as PJ and Duncan.
The CBBC teen drama, centring on a youth club in Newcastle, brought the two multi-millionaire TV presenters together as children before making stars out of them.
The I’m A Celebrity duo even used their character names to launch a pop career back in the day, and released hit single Let’s Get Ready To Rhumble.
Ant and Dec confirmed today they’re bringing back the iconic show, 17 years after it was last seen on our screens.
But what happened to the rest of the cast?
How to tackle thorny first date subjects… and why you should watch the waiter
From a brutal assault that left one star unconscious to one that found Hollywood stardom, we reveal where they are now…
Lyndyann Barrass - Spuggie
With distinctive ginger curls and a bolshy attitude, Spuggie was one of Byker Grove's most famous faces, starring in the show for six series.
But after leaving, Lyndyann went to study acting at Sunderland College before joining a band called Angel, which flopped.
And she left showbusiness for good after being targeted by thugs at the age of 24.
She told The Sun: “I was beaten unconscious in the street by three strangers who recognised me as Spuggie.
“Thankfully, I wasn’t badly injured, but it was the final straw. I decided to quit show business for good.”
Lyndyann got married and had two children, but split from husband Allan in 2012.
To make ends meet, she took up a part time job in a call centre, working four mornings a week while the kids were in school.
She told The Mirror in 2015: “I probably earn just over half of [Ant and Dec’s] daily salary for a year.”
However, she added she’s still on good terms with the presenters.
Shoppers scramble to get their hands on hugely discounted toys in B&M's sale
“They haven’t changed. They’re still the two daftest,” she said. “They are very grounded and lovely. They don’t forget their roots and where they come from.”
Lyndyann was on an episode of Celebrity Pointless in 2021.
Brett Adams - Noddy
Noddy was a member of the Geordie youth club for five years from 1990 to 1995, and certainly caused a stir as the first gay teenager in a children's drama.
In groundbreaking scenes he kissed his best mate Gary on the cheek but his advances were rebuffed, with Gary breaking off their friendship.
Actor Brett Adams who played Noddy, said he received fan mail from kids going through similar stages in life.
He told Attitude magazine: "About a month or two after the episode had aired, I received a letter from a young lad about 15 or 16 saying he was going through the same (thing) as Noddy and if he hadn't watched that episode on that day then he would have continued to think he was the only one going through it.
"He said he honestly felt like committing suicide but after seeing the show and the helpline number on the end credits, he called, got advice and was now much happier.
"He'd told his parents and friends who supported him and he'd even managed to find a boyfriend. If my storyline upset 10,000 people but helped one person then I see it as a monumental success."
Brett went on to form boy band Point Break with co-star David Oliver, who played Marcus.
After a short-lived success, with hits Stand Tough and Freakytime, he quit showbiz and worked as a barman at the Haven Holiday Camp in Weymouth.
According to Digital Spy, Brett now has four kids and works as a manager at the town's Lakeside Bowling Alley.
Billy Fane - Geoff
Billy Fane played the mega-moustached youth club leader for ten years and was almost a part of the furniture by the time he was killed off in a gas explosion in the year 2000.
The actor went on to star in hit movie Billy Elliot as the rumpled Mr Braithwaite, who plays the piano at the lad’s ballet lessons.
Then, at the age of 58, Bill passed a postgraduate education course at Hull University and has now landed himself a new role in charge of teaching at six prisons throughout the north of England.
He's also appeared in panto and had a This Your Life-style segment devoted to him on Ant and Dec’s Saturday Night Takeaway.
Billy was one of the first people to send his well wishes to Ant McPartilin when he entered rehab for an addiction to painkillers in 2017.
He called him a “lovely, hard- working lad,” and said: “I was so sorry to hear of the problems and wish him a quick recovery.”
Charlie Hunnam - Jason
Legend has it that Charlie Hunnam, the son of a scrap metal dealer, was given his big break on the show after a production manager spotted him in a Newcastle shoe shop.
His time in the show was brief, as he only appeared in one series, but it launched a mega successful career in TV and film.
He starred in Russell T Davies’ groundbreaking drama, Queer As Folk, in 1999 and then moved to Los Angeles where he starred in a number of films as well as playing Jackson ‘Jax’ Teller in the drama Sons of Anarchy.
He played the title role in Guy Ritchie’s King Arthur: Legend Of The Sword and, in 2021, starred in the film Waldo, alongside Mel Gibson.
But he is also famous for a character he DIDN’T play – having landed the role of Christian Grey in Fifty Shades Of Grey and then getting cold feet, leaving Jamie Dornan to take the part.
Charlie has been dating jewellery designer Morgana McNelis since 2005.
Nicola Bell - Debbie
As Debbie Dobson in Byker, Nicola Bell got to date both PJ and Duncan, and break both their hearts, while she also dated Ant in real life.
She starred in 25 episodes between 1990 and 1993 before appearing in one episode of Kavanagh QC in 1995.
But after the TV work dried up she took to the air, working as an air hostess for Virgin Atlantic.
Now a mum-of–four, she has her feet on the ground and has carved out a very successful business as a make-up artist, and she’s also a qualified level 3 personal trainer.
She also voiced her support for showbiz ex Ant, when he went into rehab, revealing they’re “still in touch and still friends”.
Donna Air - Charlie
Donna Air, the daughter of a builder, found fame as Charlie Carlton at the tender age of 10.
She went on to sing in the pop duo Crush, having hits in the US and Japan, before becoming a presenter for MTV.
Now 43, she is better known for many of her high-profile relationships.
She split from multi-millionaire zoo and casino owner Damian Aspinall in 2008 after a long-term romance which produced daughter Freya, now 19.
She has since dated several other very wealthy men, including John Dorrance IV, the London-based American heir to the Campbell’s soup fortune, and Sam Goldstone, a Cheshire-born millionaire.
In February 2013, she embarked on a four-year romance with the Princess of Wales' businessman brother James Middleton, and went on to date property developer Ben Carrington - who she split from soon after.
Following that, Donna had a brief romance with vaping millionaire Gunnar Winbergh, but she was most recently linked to advertising tycoon Ashley Smatt, seen passionately kissing him last year.
Donna competed in the 2018 series of Dancing On Ice and starred in BBC One drama The Split in 2020.
Last Christmas, Donna was rushed to hospital after fracturing her spine in two places, but she was back on her feet soon after.
Jill Halfpenny - Nicola
Jill Halfpenny joined Byker Grove at the start and was one of the leading characters throughout most of the 90s.
After leaving the show, her acting career took off and she played Rebecca Hopkins in Coronation Street, before landing the role of Phil Mitchell's police woman girlfriend Kate Morton in EastEnders in 2002, where she stayed for three years.
She waltzed her way to victory on the second series of Strictly Come Dancing before taking her dancing shoes to the West End to star in Chicago.
She has since starred in Waterloo Road, Wild at Heart and Humans and, last year, played Kate Fitzgerald in Channel 5 murder mystery, The Holiday.
Andrew Hayden-Smith - Ben
Andrew Hayden-Smith got the job on Byker Grove after being spotted by a producer while visiting his sister, Kerri Hayden, on set where she worked as part of the film crew.
He was cast as Ben Carter, making his first appearance in the eighth series of the show in 1995.
After being killed off in the show, he became a presenter on children’s shows such as Live & Kicking and CBBC.
He also became a regular in Doctor Who, and played evil DS Armstrong in Hollyoaks from 2016 to 2017.
Andrew is now a voiceover artist and a regular contributor to gay magazine Attitude.
