Death in Paradise star Ralf Little started out in acting by landing a major role in BBC sitcom The Royle Family aged just 17. He narrowly avoided several years of knuckling down at medical school thanks to being offered the part of Antony Royle – but there was a truly cringeworthy moment to come on his very first day.
The teen revealed that the late Caroline Aherne, who co-created and starred in the show but sadly died of cancer back in 2016, was “ruthless”, “witty” and “full of mischief”. “In front of the whole room – in front of crew, producers, everyone, she said… ‘We were all just talking about you and we were wondering, are you still a virgin?'”
Ralf started nervously stuttering, but co-star to be Craig Cash saved the day, warning: “Hey, you shut up, Caroline, leave him alone!” He blushed bright red as they began to read through the script and rehearse it, but that was the end of the embarrassment – until two years later.
“The funniest thing is, I was [a virgin at the time],” he explained to Kate Thornton, as he continued the story on her podcast, White Wine Question Time. Kate roared with laughter, quizzing: “Do you think she could smell it?”
Ralf exclaimed: “A couple of years later, I went: ‘I’ve got to ask, how did you know?’ and she was like, ‘Well, you know, just by looking at you!'” Cackling, Kate exclaimed: “That’s so harsh!”
“That’s what we were all like, we just used to take the p*** out of each other all the time – like a real family,” he chuckled fondly.
“It was genuinely very similar off-screen to how it was on screen.”
Caroline had been twice his age at the time – but neither this nor her virginity jibe stopped Ralf from secretly harbouring a crush on her.
He previously revealed to The Sun that she had shamed him with another brutal putdown on the first day of work too – but that it had all been in good fun.
“On my first day on set, I was pretty nervous. I was just some skinny, big-nosed teenager plucked out of nowhere but Caroline was this superstar – and I have to confess, the 17-year-old me really fancied her,” he confided.
“It was pretty terrifying when she saw me come through the door and immediately marched over, saying, ‘Oh God, Ralf, we’re so sorry — did they not tell you? You’ve been recast.’”
Fortunately, it was a joke – and Kate saw the silver lining, quipping: “That one awkward conversation about whether you’re a virgin gets you on stage at the BAFTAs, it puts you in the room with members of the royal family…”
It also led to him eventually winning his lead role in Death in Paradise, which became the second most widely watched drama in the UK, with only Happy Valley drawing in more viewers.
After announcing last month that he was leaving the show, his replacement was revealed as Don Gilet.
Ralf reflects more on his career highlights from his teenage years to date on Kate Thornton’s White Wine Question Time, which you can listen to here.
