Joe Thomas has revealed that a very lairy fan of The Inbetweeners awkwardly dragged him into a river while he was celebrating Simon Bird’s stag do in Cambridge
17:52, 09 Feb 2026Updated 19:05, 09 Feb 2026
The Inbetweeners star Joe Thomas has revealed a wild insight into Simon Bird’s stag do(Image: Channel 4)
One of the four stars of TV’s The Inbetweeners wonders how rude scenes he’s performed on the show will have been viewed by Prince William.
Joe Thomas got into outrageous situations, sometimes when naked, while playing Simon Cooper in the Channel 4 coming-of-age sex comedy series which ran from 2008 to 2010, and was followed by film versions in 2011 and 2014. William and his wife Kate were seen laughing all the way through a screening in Wales of The Inbetweeners Movie 15 years ago.
Asked how he feels about the Prince in particular seeing him in hilarious but shocking scenes, Joe replies: “Am I more or less likely to get one of those OBE things because of that?! Well, I’ve made an impression. I’m pleased he’s seen it. He should know his bloody subjects! He’s going to be king one day and he needs to get close to his people, right? I genuinely don’t know what to think, I’m just in denial. It is fiction.”
Joe revealed a fan ‘jumped him into the water’ while punting(Image: Channel 4)
Joe was interviewed at The Comedy Rooms in Worthing over the weekend, and told how he is still plagued by Inbetweeners fans shouting phrases from the show, including references to Simon’s ex girlfriend Carly.
“Well yeah. People shout ‘Carly’ and things like that. One time I was playing football with Simon Bird who plays Will, and someone just shouted out ‘Your Mum’s a c**t!’ That’s not a line from the show, that’s just rude. Neither of our Mums are c***s!”
Joe, now 42, and Simon, 41, met as students at Cambridge University and they returned to that city for Simon’s stag do ahead of his wedding in 2012.
He had a very awkward interaction with another fan(Image: Channel 4)
“The point about stag parties is that the stag is meant to get like punished, right?” Joe points out. “Well, I went to Simon Bird’s stag party and I f***ing got it all. We were punting – which was not my choice – on a boat, pushing ourselves along with a long pole.
“An Inbetweeners fan on another boat came alongside, and he was completely drunk and grabbed me and jumped both of us into the water. There was this weird moment when we were just sinking. I thought ‘What’s your end game here mate cos this is genuinely weird, just me and you hugging each other while we sort of drown?’
“He eventually released me, and we popped up, and there was a bridge on the river full of tourists, and they were all filming us on their mobile phones. It was a very sunny day by this river, and everyone was drunk.
Joe is excited for another series of the hit show(Image: Channel 4)
“This other lad recognised me and his way of celebrating that was that he pulled down his trousers and pants and was just there with his penis. I didn’t even see it and my mate goes ‘Oh Joe, looks like there’s someone over there for you!’” However, Joe is delighted that a fourth series of The Inbetweeners is in the pipeline, though he doesn’t yet know what it will involve.
“What has happened is that the people who write The Inbetweeners a while ago sold the rights to a larger entity, and they recently bought them back so they can make some more.
“I’m really excited. I don’t know what they’re doing. I just know they’re writing something, and I would really love to do it. That’s pretty much it. I hope there’s more because I’ve not got that much else to do! I do like The Inbetweeners as well!”
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