Slumdog Millionaire star has his mum to thank

Slumdog Millionaire star Dev Patel has his mum to thank for his role in Channel 4's Skins – for encouraging him to bare his bum. Anita Patel said her son was nervous about stripping off for the teen drama. "He was apprehensive when he found out he'd have to appear naked," she told Woman's Own magazine. "He said: 'Oh God I am going to have to show my bum.' I told him: 'It's only a bum, you've seen lots of people's bums before.' " But not necessarily his own – on national television. Anyway, it turns out 18-year-old Patel has plenty to thank his mum for, after she spotted the Skins ad in a free newspaper. "It said no acting experience necessary," she revealed. "Dev was revising for his GCSE science exam the next day. I said: 'Come on, let's go to the audition. Revise for the exam on the tube.' " Revise on the tube? The very thought! Except it turned out all right after all. "The queue for the audition was so long, it was like The X Factor," said Mrs Patel. "Dev wanted to turn back, but I refused to let him go. I told him: 'You haven't even started yet.' " What Monkey really wants to know is: how did he do in his science GCSE?