Outnumbered stars say fans are shocked by how they look now

Christmas is a time for families, so what better occasion for us to get reacquainted with our favourite TV brood, the Brockmans?

After a break of almost three years, the chaotic clan are back on our screens for a festive special and a lot has changed – the kids are all grown up and, sadly, we’ve lost Grandad.

TV Magazine caught up with Tyger Drew-Honey, 20, Daniel Roche, 17, and Ramona Marquez, 15 – who play Jake, Ben and Karen – to chat about the return of one of the UK’s best-loved sitcoms…

Welcome back! The last we saw of you was in summer, when a picture of the three of you went viral because of how much you’ve all changed…

Ramona: The tutor we had on Outnumbered was over from China and we took a picture to commemorate the day for us… He was in the picture too, but got chopped out!

Daniel: We expected a bit of a fuss, but the hype went on for three or four days.

Tyger: We’ve aged in exactly the same way as everyone else on the planet! It does seem slightly strange that people don’t acknowledge that. People say to me: ‘Jake’s about 12’ and I go: ‘Yeah, about eight years ago.’ I’ll say:‘How old were you then?’, they go: ‘Sixteen’. And I’ll reply: ‘How old are you now?’ ‘I’m 24’, and I’m like: ‘There you go!’Do you get recognised a lot in public?

Ramona: If I go out and have my hair curly, people recognise me. I went to Reading Festival and it was a bit intense. Obviously everyone meets you just once but we meet a lot of people in a day. So it’s trying to remember that I have to be just as nice to every person because it only takes one person and they’ll think you’re not very nice for the rest of their life. It does get a bit tiring sometimes.

Daniel: It didn’t really happen to me for quite a long time because I got bigger and I cut my hair. Most people still think of me as the kid from Outnumbered, but I’ve calmed down a lot since I was seven!

Tyger: I find it hard to perceive myself as famous. And I really don’t like the word ‘celebrity’. When the show has had 10 million viewers, that’s almost an unfathomable amount of people who have seen you.

Ramona: People will call me Karen. When I went to V Festival, people on Twitter were saying: ‘Karen’s here.’ Were fans always asking you if the show was coming back?

Daniel: All the time. My social media really went public and I started getting a lot of messages after that picture. Who would be your ideal guest star in Outnumbered?

Tyger: Do you reckon there’s a chance we could get Scarlett Johansson?

Ramona: I think my favourite person ever is probably David Attenborough, or Stephen Fry. To meet them would be like a dream.

Tyger, you’ve been in several shows including Cuckoo since Outnumbered. Have you been doing other acting work, Daniel and Ramona?

Daniel: I did some bits and bobs, but rugby has become an increasingly big commitment. It’s a big part of my life. I’m playing semi-professional. I don’t get paid, so I don’t know why it’s semi professional! Maybe one day I will do. Rugby’s permanent; acting comes and goes.

Ramona: I’ve gone for a few things, but I have my GCSEs coming up so I didn’t want
to do any acting that meant I couldn’t be at school for a long time. I’d really like to do more acting in the future, though.

NEW! Outnumbered Boxing Day 10pm BBC1