They were the sixth-year sitcom students whose crude antics and ill-fated quests to lose their virginity had Channel 4 audiences in hysterics.
And now, ten years after The Inbetweeners stars were last on set for the second film that spawned the series, fans were hoping that rumours of a lucrative new film deal could reunite Simon, Jay, Neil and Will.
But I can reveal that despite playing close-knit friends on screen, actors Joe Thomas, James Buckley, Blake Harrison and Simon Bird are a world away from their characters in real life, with bitter rivalries dashing any hopes of a reunion.
In fact, a source said: ‘Interestingly, neither of them are really friends and haven’t been for a few years.
‘Fans all like to think they’re best friends in real life, but Simon Bird (who played briefcase-wielding geek Will) and Blake Harrison (cute but dimwitted Neil) are very vain.’
Bird was forced to disappoint fans this week when he confirmed there was “no prospect” of the stars returning.
The Inbetweeners followed (left to right) Simon (Joe Thomas), Will (Simon Bird), Neil (Blake Harrison) and Jay (James Buckley) as they made their way through sixth form in the late 2000s.
In an interview following reports that a third film was in the works, the 40-year-old actor said: “I’m afraid I’ll be the one to throw cold water on this, but it’s not going to happen.”
But while the actor went on to explain that the busy schedules of the show’s main stars were to blame, industry insiders believe that schedule is only part of the reason. One joked: “There’s such a chance the Beatles will be back.”
Because, like many groups of teenage friends, the actors “have grown apart over time,” the source said, amid jealousy over their respective careers in which some have achieved greater success than others.
The source added: ‘Of course, there have been some back-and-forth discussions between them over the years, but there has never been a big argument.
“The truth is that they have all been in relationships for a long time. The boys are already parents and have moved on with their lives.”
And there are more clashes with other cast members, including a rumour of bad feelings between Emily Atack, who played Charlotte, the school’s favourite girl, and Buckley, who played the foul-mouthed Jay.
The couple is said to have had an affair behind the scenes, but the relationship ended.
This has reportedly led to Atack, who will next month star in Rivals, the highly-anticipated Disney+ series based on the hit Jilly Cooper, being dropped from a reunion show, Fwends Reunited, on Channel 4 in 2019.
Emily Atack, who played Will’s love interest Charlotte, is said to have had a brief fling with Buckley behind the scenes, which led to her being cut from the show’s reunion in 2019.
Coining a tagline from Inbetweeners, in which Jay is mocked by the other boys for making a new “girlfriend”, the show did not feature Atack because Buckley reportedly told producers: “It’s either me or her.”
Sources say the brief romance was “nothing more than a bit of fun” for Atack, who always downplayed it to friends and was disappointed to discover he may have used his influence to push her out of the comeback.
A source close to the incident added: “She was devastated. She didn’t think of it as a big deal, it was a fun thing years ago and everyone moved on, but he clearly holds some sort of grudge.”
“He made it very clear that he would not share a set with her again under any circumstances. It’s just one more problem.”
The Inbetweeners took Britain by storm in the late 2000s as a coming-of-age comedy that followed the lives of four suburban teenagers as they endured life at the fictional Rudge Park Comprehensive. A film was released in 2011, followed by a sequel in 2014.
It seems a decade is a long time in showbiz because I’m told another major factor preventing them from reuniting is that the quartet feel embarrassed that their youthful antics on the show could damage their future careers.
Buckley is thought to be struggling to be associated with his foul-mouthed, sex-obsessed character from the hit Channel 4 series.
A source said: ‘It’s James Buckley who struggles the most with this.
‘He’s the one who most wants to hold on to the show and would be most open to a reunion, but he’s also the most embarrassed by what people think of him because of it.’
Which is not surprising, given Jay’s raw descriptions of his imaginary sexual conquests, videos of which are still widely shared online.
The source added: ‘People still seem to talk to him like he’s Jay from The Inbetweeners, and sometimes he fakes it and other times he has real crises of confidence and panics because the public really thinks he’s a jerk.
“Either way, he hasn’t been able to shake off the guilt and move on with the program like everyone else has.”
Buckley, who married former glamour model Clair Meek in 2012, continues to host a podcast titled Completed It Mate (one of his character’s catchphrases) and has made more than £1m on celebrity video website Cameo by recording expletive-filled clips for his paying fans.
This is a far cry from her co-stars, who have enjoyed significant acting success outside of the show.
Harrison went on to appear alongside Hugh Grant and Ben Whishaw in the acclaimed drama A Very English Scandal, with Catherine Zeta-Jones in a film remake of the classic comedy Dad’s Army, and with Billie Piper in the Sky hit I Hate Suzie.
Bird has become an in-demand director and producer, as well as starring in the popular comedy Friday Night Dinner, while Thomas, who played Simon, has appeared in the comedy-dramas Fresh Meat and White Gold, as well as stage appearances including his own show at the Edinburgh Festival.
The foursome’s final reunion was for Fwends Reunited, the reunion show hosted by the acerbic Jimmy Carr, who, Buckley later said, pestered them relentlessly.
He explained: ‘It became something that wasn’t a celebration of something good that I did in my life, it was like I was being made fun of for hours and hours.
“I didn’t have the personality or the intelligence to handle it, especially when you’re up against someone like Jimmy Carr, who’s very fast and very funny. So I look like a complete idiot throughout the whole process.”
The much-loved sitcom ran for 18 episodes over three seasons and produced two movies, but fans’ hopes for a comeback were dashed by rumors of friction between the four stars.
He revealed that he felt conflicted between playing his character and speaking as himself: “I got caught in this point between Jay and I where I was like, ‘You’re acting like a fucking idiot, you’re being a jerk, you’re being a moron.'”
“The only thing that kept me going was the fear of getting stuck,” he said. “I didn’t want to keep going. ‘Can we just stop for a second? I don’t know what the hell is going on here. You’re talking to me like I’m Jay from The Inbetweeners. I’m not.'”
It’s no wonder the show was so panned, with one viewer criticising the cast “who looked like they didn’t want to be there”.
In short, the four boys – as often happens in real life – have grown up and grown apart.
“They don’t want to dwell on the past any longer,” says a source. “They want to remember The Inbetweeners for what they were – a bit of fun when they were young.”
“Despite the great offers, there’s no way the four of them will ever put on those school uniforms again.”