Only Fools and Horses fans are only noticing how ‘built’ Uncle Albert’s ‘astonishing arms’ look 20 years after last episode
Those days in the Navy must have worked wonders
Only Fools and Horses have been left stunned this week after a number of them noticed something about beloved character Uncle Albert for the very first time, nearly 30 years on from his final episode.
Played by the late great Buster Merryfield, Uncle Albert was a bumbling addition to the show’s cast made to fill the hole left by the sudden death of Grandad actor Lennard Pearce in 1984.
It turns out though that this clumsy nature along with his thick white beard, tomato red features, and ill fitting waistcoat were all a smokescreen designed to hide the shredded specimen that lay beneath.
Uncovering an old screenshot from the programme where Albert is wearing a mesh vest, actor Buster Merryfield’s bulging biceps and pectoral muscles are impossible to miss.
One fan only just noticing the muscles wrote on Twitter this week: “Is it just me or is Uncle Albert f***** hench?”
With a second awed fan adding: “Please tell me this is a photoshop.”
A third, referencing Albert’s often mentioned time at sea during the war, joked: “It’s how he survived all the ships being sunk!”
The story behind why Buster Merryfield was so ripped is a particularly interesting one too. He got the role aged 64 and played the character of Uncle Albert well into his seventies, remaining a picture of health.
In a 1997 interview with the Mirror he explained how he had never smoked, and never drank or did any drugs. Despite his age he kept active too, still swimming regularly aged 76, with a past as a schoolboy boxing champ.
Tragically despite the healthy lifestyle Buster led he died just two years after the interview in 1999 aged 78 from a brain tumour, devastating the fans who he’d brought smiles and laughs to for decades.
