It’s Neil – Neil the Baby!
Viewers of The Voice Kids got a brilliant dose of television nostalgia when the boy who played Neil the Baby in Gavin & Stacey auditioned for the show.
Oscar Hartland, who is now 14-year-old, appeared on Saturday night’s episode of the singing show, and left viewers stunned when he revealed his acting past.
In his VT, he said: “A lot of people don’t recognise me now, but I was in a huge TV show.
“I was Neil the Baby in Gavin & Stacey season 3, and I was Neil the Baby again in the Christmas special in 2019.”
The segment was filmed on Barry Island itself, and Oscar said: “Being in Gavin & Stacey, oh, it was crazy.
“Working with huge names like James Corden, Rob Brydon, Ruth Jones… it was just like – woah.
“It’s nice to go back to Barry with the band and show them what I did.
“People know me as being Neil the Baby, which I absolutely love, but now I want to be known for my music and singing.”
And before his audition to judges will.i.am, Pixie Lott, Danny Jones, and Ronan Keating, he even got a good luck message from Ruth Jones, who played his on-screen mum, Nessa.
In her iconic Ness voice, Jones said: “Oh, Neil the Baby, what’s occurin’?
“We knows what’s occurin’, you’re on The Voice Kids!
Referencing some of her character’s impressive musical talent, she joked: “Don’t forget, you takes after your mother when it comes to music. Go out there and you smash it, kid. Alright? Cracking.”
Slightly disappointingly, Oscar didn’t give a rendition of Islands in the Stream, instead opting for a rendition of the Foo Fighters song, My Hero.
But it did the trick, with three of the four judges turning around for him, with Oscar eventually choosing Danny as his mentor.
And before he left stage, he had to tell the judges about his famous role.
He told them: “I used to do acting. I was in a TV show not so long ago.”
When the judges asked what show it was, he said: “It was called Gavin & Stacey!”
Oscar then revealed to the stunned judges: “I was Neil the Baby!”
Many took to Twitter to share their reaction to seeing ‘Neil’ all grown up, including Rylan Clark, who tweeted: “NEIL THE BABY IS ON THE VOICE KIDS ALERT.”
And someone else summed up another emotion many were probably feeling seeing Oscar audition, by writing: Neil the baby being on the Voice – wtf I feel old.”
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