Michaela Strachan took everyone on a nostalgia trip as she celebrated pal Timmy Mallett’s big birthday and her blown-away followers were all left saying the same thing
Timmy Mallett celebrated turning 70 this weekend and fans have been quick to tell him he’s hardly aged since he used to entertain the nation’s children four decades ago.
The bespectacled telly legend, one of the most recognisable presenters of the 1980s, made a name for himself through his zany sense of humour – not to mention whacking people over the head with his famous inflatable mallet. Despite also managing to lodge Itsy Bitsy Teeny Weeny Yellow Polka Dot Bikini into people’s heads, he stayed popular and became a regular on the radio as well as the box.
Nowadays, he is less keen on life in the limelight, preferring instead to spend his time making art and sharing TikTok videos detailing his adventures cycling around the UK and his beloved football club Maidenhead United. He also spends plenty of time with his pals – as well as fellow ageless TV presenter Michaela Strachan.
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The wildlife expert raced to Instagram to shower the star with love and said: “Happy 70th to my wonderful & utterly brilliant friend @timmy.mallett Managed to be the surprise guest at his birthday gathering & we ended up doing endless singalongs!
“We have been friends for 40 yrs & it’s a friendship I truly value. Timmy is such an inspiration with his cycling, his painting, his curiosity, his endless energy. What a legend.” The presenter bagged her first job on children’s morning TV when she fronted The Wide Awake Club from 1986 alongside Timmy before she went onto front Wacaday.
Her followers couldn’t agree more and after taking them all on a nostalgia trip, one wrote in the comments: “Love this. You both look no different to when I was growing up!” Another told the Springwatch host “You both don’t look any different to when I watched you on wacaday.”
Timmy married Australian-born Lynda Bingham back in 1990, and the pair are still going strong. In 2008, when Timmy was competing in I’m A Celebrity, Get Me Out Of Here!, Lynda opened up about what it was like living with such an eccentric character, revealing that her husband isn’t quite as giggly as his reality show appearances would suggest.
Lynda told the Mail Online: “Timmy giggles at home sometimes, but not all the time. He was being filmed 24 hours a day on I’m A Celebrity and the producers were taking bits of him giggling and putting it into an hour-long programme, which made it appear as if he was always giggling. In the last series, they had that woman Janice [Dickinson] who constantly said ‘Oh Man’ to everything.
“Timmy’s laugh may be irritating, but he’s not an irritating person. He was probably just trying to cheer things up a bit, although at times I’ve thought, ‘Oh God, Timmy, tone it down’. And being irritating at least got him noticed. Robert Kilroy-Silk did well in the bush tucker trials but that’s not exactly interesting, is it?”
Opening up about the secret to keeping Timmy happy, Lynda continued: “You know what I do when Timmy gets crabby at home? I feed him. It works every time. If someone comes round and says they’ve had a bad day, I give them some cake.”
In an interview with the Daily Express in 2022, Timmy addressed speculation surrounding a potential return to television, remarking that the thought “does not appeal” to him. Timmy, who now has 70,000 followers on TikTok, explained: “It’s not something that jumps right out and appeals to me. I like the idea of trying something new. But, I’m not going to. I don’t really need to go off and break my leg. However, I can still do the dance to itsy bitsy.”
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