Benidorm child star’s life is completely different now after explaining why he quit acting
Child actor Oliver Stokes, who shot to fame in hit TV show Benidorm, has revealed what he's getting up to nearly 10 years after his last on-screen appearance.
The now 25-year-old from Hull was barely 10-years-old when he famously played Michael Garvey on the ITV sitcom from 2007 to 2015, which followed holidaymakers and staff at the all-inclusive Solana Resort in Benidorm, Spain.
As the age-old saying goes, those who visited Benidorm either 'never stay away' or 'never come back'.
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The comedy series also starred Sheila Reid as Stokes' grandmother Madge, Siobhan Finneran as his mother Janice Garvey and Steve Pemberton as his dad, Mick.
Stokes says he had a lot of fun on set, but because he was so young during filming, his memory is slightly foggy.
"I had to do a minimum of three hours of schooling a day, which was an absolute bonus," he told The Mirror at last year's Benicon - a fan convention for the iconic comedy series.
"But in a way, it wasn't really the best because I didn't really pay attention or do much work. Oh well, it was an experience."
Although he can't remember much, he did recall one elderly, obsessive fan.
"There was this old woman, and she turned up to set on about three or four occasions with sweets for me," he said.
"She was really odd as well. They [the show's production staff] used to sort of say, 'Yeah, we'll give them to him.' You know, and then they'd just be like, 'We are just going to throw them away, because you don't know what's in them.'
"I'm sure it was all kosher and she was nice but she was really quite obsessive."
Opening up on a 'rude' joke which totally went over his head, Stokes explained: "The scene of the stag do, where we were all in the reception, it took us hours just to film the tiny little snippets. We all just kept breaking down in tears all the time because it was just hilarious.
"When Adam Gillan [who played hotel guest Liam Conroy], turned up in those Y fronts and said 'I've come as a premature ejaculation'. Unbelievable.
"Even at the age of 10 I found it funny. I don't think I knew what it meant but everyone else was laughing, so I just laughed.
"Just the fact of everyone else being in stitches just made me find it hilarious as well."
Stokes - who now works as a tradesman - says he's now busy looking after his toddler Archie, alongside his own fish bait company called Active Baits.
"It got to a point where I just thought I wanted an income every month guaranteed, instead of not knowing when your next job is going to come.
"I'd love to get back into the future if the right thing came about but who knows?" he said.
Topics: Celebrity, TV and Film, UK News
Anish Vij