Emily Atack reveals 'unacceptable' nickname Inbetweeners fans call her in public every day
Inbetweeners star Emily Atack has now had her second incredibly successful show, starring alongside Danny Dyer and David Tennant in Rivals, but for a generation of Brits she will always be Charlotte Hinchcliffe.
Atack was just 17 years old when she appeared in the iconic Channel 4 sitcom, playing the older popular girl who Will (Simon Bird) ends up dating to everyone’s shock.
In the years since, Atack has gone on to have her own show, do some stand-up, and even come second on the 2018 edition of I’m A Celebrity… Get Me Out of Here.
She has, however, been quite outspoken about the inappropriate behaviour of Inbetweeners fans in the years since speaking about how she was sexually harassed on social media in her 2023 documentary Emily Atack: Asking For It?
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Atack revealed in the documentary that she was regularly sent sexually inappropriate videos via her Instagram DMs, including masturbation videos and nude images sent to her.
Appearing on a new episode of The Romesh Ranganathan Show, Atack, now 36, stated that she is sent ‘thousands of messages a day’, while also speaking out about a nickname she is called in person on a regular basis.
When asked about The Inbetweeners she said she will ‘happily talk about it fondly’, but added: “My name is just Big T*ts. So people come up to me and they just go 'Big T*ts, can I have a photo, Big T*ts?’
“Actual strangers. I could be in the street. I could be at the garden centre just having a jacket potato in the cafe. It could be anything. And it's even the lovely post lady I have. She goes 'Hello Big T*ts. Can you just sign that for me?”
Charlotte Hinchcliffe is given the nickname ‘Big Jugs’ in the Channel 4 show, with Atack explaining that this eventually transitioned to people just calling her ‘Big T*ts’.
Romesh said it was ‘flirting with unacceptable’, to which she replied: “Oh, yeah. Yeah, totally. But I shout from the rooftops how against all of this I am, but people genuinely don't even mean it in that way. They just they go, ‘Oh, Big T*ts, my mom absolutely loves you.’ I see people like whispering in a restaurant and they go, ‘it's Emily. Oh, yeah, Big T*ts.’”
She even revealed that when the curtain opened at her first ever stand-up comedy show, someone in the crowd yelled out ‘Big T*ts’ straight away.
Talking about her experience with the documentary about the harassment she gets, Atack blamed the ‘unacceptable’ way people talk to and about her on headlines and media, which portrayed her as ‘promiscuous’.
She said: “How women are portrayed, especially women like me, girls like me. It's all the headlines are always ‘Emily Atack flaunts her ample assets whilst on a stroll with her mum’. Right? I'm not flaunting anything. I'm just walking down the road.
“But because those words like flaunting and stuff, it's ingrained in people. It's been drip-fed into men that we are doing it for the male gaze. We're doing it so that you can wolf whistle at us, grab our asses.”
Atack explained that she hopes to make a documentary in the future on the importance of intimacy co-ordinators. The actor spoke out late last year about how she had been sexually assaulted on a set in the past.
She told Romesh that while he is well known for being ‘lovely to work with’ that she understands this may then make intimacy co-ordinators frustrating to work with. She continued, however, saying: “But there are some men out there who have completely abused their position of power and they don't behave in a way that they should.”
Atack said that she has been on sets at 19 where she was treated ‘appallingly by men’, and while she acknowledges she has had more positive experiences than negative, she said: “But the times where it's been bad, I would have given anything for someone just to be there to make sure I was all right.”
Where are the cast of The Inbetweeners now?
Simon Bird
Since his days of playing briefcase w*nker Will McKenzie, Simon Bird has starred in the beloved sitcom Friday Night Dinner (2011-2020), and Everyone Else Burns (2023-present).
The 41-year-old has also moved behind the camera to direct projects like Days of the Bagnold Summer (2019) and the BBC's BAFTA-winning Such Brave Girls, and is set to feature in the upcoming Star Wars film, Starfighter.
Bird married author Lisa Owens back in 2012, and the pair have two children together.
James Buckley
The Jay Cartwright actor has utilised his character’s crudeness to his advantage, making a mint on personalised video platform Cameo.
Over the years, James Buckley, now 38, has performed in the West End and had occasional roles in TV and film, recently starring in the British comedy-drama film Mother's Pride.
He’s also made a name for himself in the podcast world, including Joe and James Fact Up, which he hosts alongside his Inbetweeners co-star Joe Thomas, and The Buckleys with his wife of 13 years, Clair. The couple share two sons together.
Joe Thomas
After playing Simon in The Inbetweeners series and its subsequent hit films, the actor bagged some major roles on our screens, including Chickens (2011-2013), White Gold (2017-2019) and most memorably as Kingsley Owen in Fresh Meat (2011-2016).
In a life imitates art moment, the 42-year-old is engaged to his Inbetweeners co-star, Hannah Tointon, who played Simon’s girlfriend Tara in the third season of the show. They have been together since meeting on set in 2010 and welcomed a daughter in 2022.
Blake Harrison
From the Dad's Army film (2016) and shows like World on Fire (2019-2023) and Kate & Koji (2020-2022) to voiceover work in the Bob the Builder reboot, Blake Harrison has made moves (perhaps not as good as Neil’s) in the entertainment industry.
The 40-year-old recently appeared in the movie Fing! and is starring in the upcoming Mark Gatiss mystery series Bookish.
Harrison met his now-wife, Kerry Ann Lynch, during a pub crawl for Joe Thomas' birthday in 2009. They got married in 2015 and have two kids together.
Topics: TV and Film, Celebrity, The Inbetweeners, Emily Atack
Michael Slavin