The original sun baby from the Teletubbies left fans in disbelief after an image surfaced of the former child star looking all grown up.
The child star – whose face was emblazoned on the giggling sun in the late 1990s – was pictured looking worlds away from the tiny tot made famous on the kids TV show.
Fans were in shock when a photo of Jess Smith cuddling a baby went viral – and it turns out the infant is the new Teletubbies sun star.
In response to the confusion, Teletubbies official social media page clarified: “This is the original Sun Baby, Jess Smith, with our new Sun Baby, Berry! Seeing Jess all grown up makes us feel old too!”
Jess, who played the Sun Baby for four years between 1997 and 2001, is now in her mid twenties.
(Image: Time4News/Youtube)
The child star previously revealed that she was actually cast in the role when she was being weighed in hospital.
At the time, producers let the tiny baby sit in front of a mirror and a camera while she watched her dad play with toys.
Luckily, the sweet moment made baby Jess laugh so much that she was instantly cast in the coveted BBC role.
Speaking to BBC South East about landing the role, Jess explained in 2017: “I was being weighed at the hospital.
(Image: Twitter)
“My mum took me and it just happened to be the same time that the producer of the old series had come in and wanted the hospital to get in contact with them if they’d seen any smiley babies.
“It was just a case of sitting in front of a mirror and a camera and my dad playing with toys and race cars and that sort of thing to try and get me to laugh at the camera.”
Jess previously made the confession on social media where she told her followers that she appeared in 365 episodes of the show.
She said: “I used to hide it but after a lot of encouragement from my friends at university, I’ve gained the confidence to come out with it.
(Image: BBC)
“I am the sun from Teletubbies. There has been quite a few people pretending to be ‘the sun’ but only I could tell you the real story.”
She added: “Everyone says they can see the likeness between my face now and me as a baby.
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“I still have a baby face. I haven’t changed much either. I am still giggly.”
Consisting of characters Tinky Winky, Dipsy, Laa-Laa and Po, as well as a host of supporting characters such as the hoover Noo-Noo, Teletubbies was a staple on CBBC between 1997 and 2001.
(Image: SWNS)
The show then made a comeback for a revival on CBeebies in 2015, when baby Berry was cast in the new role.
It comes as a recent post featured images of the four Teletubbies – Tinky Winky, Dipsy, Laa-Laa and Po – all holding their Covid-19 vaccination cards.
However, their birthdays are displayed on the vaccine cards as being “02/20/03” meaning they were likely all born in 2003 – despite the show starting in 1997.
