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Daily Mirror
Daily Mirror
Entertainment
Connie Rusk

Royle Family baby David child star is all grown up and still an actor 22 years on

He was the adorable baby David in Royle Family, but two decades on James Matthew-Hughes is all grown up.

James landed the role of David and Denise Best's first child, who was born on Christmas Day, back in 1999 and went on to appear throughout series three with the season covering his christening day and first birthday.

And it appears starting off in the hugely-popular British sitcom influenced his life as James went on to train to become a musical theatre actor and has starred in numerous stage shows.

James played the role for a year and it was later taken on by Harry Cash in 2006 for the reunion episode of the show The Queen of Sheba.

He was the adorable baby David in Royle Family, but two decades on James Matthew-Hughes is all grown up (Press Association)

In the episode, baby David was seen as a young child and was the spitting image of his father as they wore matching T-shirts for the reunion and replied "Yeah" at the same time when they were asked a question.

After his stint on the show as a baby, James got a degree in theatre arts and has starred in musicals such as Crazy for You and Me And My Girl at the London Palladium.

As well as boasting to be able to do a variety of accents on his résumé, James can also dance jazz, tap, ballet and period dance and is a classically trained singer.

The Royle Family ran from 1998 to 2000 when Caroline Aherne announced she would not be starring in or writing any further episodes.

After his stint on the show as a baby, James got a degree in theatre arts and has starred in musicals (StarNow)
James landed the role of David and Denise Best's first child and starred in series three as a baby (PA)

There was a possibility the show could have continued without her, but one cast member made sure that would not be the case.

Ricky Tomlinson pulled out to make sure the comedy series would definitely finish while it was at its peak.

However, six years later Caroline and Craig wrote a one-off special and then went on to make another four up until 2012.

After the tragic death of Caroline back in 2016, many of the cast have insisted they would not want to have an on-screen reunion without her.

The Royle Family ran from 1998 to 2000 and was hit (pictured Ricky Tomlinson as Jim) (TV Grab)

"Not for me, if it’s not broke don’t try and fix it", said Ricky on Loose Women in 2020.

"She was wonderful. How many people of my age love going to work? How many people can't wait to get up and go to work in the morning and have a laugh? That's what it was like."

Ricky shared a special bond with his on-screen daughter.

Recalling their days on set in Manchester, Ricky previously explained his fondest memory was the 1999 Christmas Special in which Denise went into labour and Jim was left to comfort her.

He found the scene with Caroline particularly poignant for two reasons, explaining: "I think it was so special to her because she didn’t have children.

"And it was so special to me because my own girl, my Kate, was born on Christmas Day.

"And that’s why the tears were real. The cameraman was the son of Corrie character Stan Ogden and at the end he was crying and said: 'That’s it. We don’t need another take.' It just stands out in my mind."

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