The Inbetweeners cast have a WhatsApp group with a very rude title

1 February 2021, 14:23 | Updated: 1 February 2021, 14:49

The Inbetweeners cast James Buckley, Blake Harrison, Joe Thomas and Simon Bird — The Inbetweeners cast have WhatsApp group but Simon Bird won't reveal the title. Picture: Chris Hyde/Getty Images

By Jenny Mensah

Simon Bird has revealed he talks regularly to his former castmates on a group on the app, but its title is too "rude" to reveal.

Simon Bird often communicates with his Inbetweeners castmates via their WhatsApp group, but its name is too "rude" to reveal.

The writer, actor and director starred as Will McKenzie in the hit coming-of-age series alongside James Buckley, who played Jay Cartwright, Joe Thomas who played Simon Cooper, and Blake Harrison, who played Neil Sutherland.

While the show may have ended and the actors have left the cheeky teenage characters behind, Bird has suggested the cast have a WhatsApp thread with a name much more fitting to their fictitious counterparts.

When asked about the name of the WhatsApp group, he told NME: "No. I’m sorry, I can’t tell you that…"

Pressed again by the outlet he replied: "I can’t! I think it’s really quite rude!"

Pulling out his phone to remind himself, the 36-year-old winced: "No, I’m not at liberty to discuss…"

While they no longer all appear together on screen, it's clear the actors are still close friends and even consider themselves to be more like a "family".

“They feel like family,” revealed Bird. "We go out. We have dinner. We get drunk".

However, the Friday Night Dinner star also reflected on how the popularity of the show may have made it harder for them to land other comedy roles.

My career [depends on] being able to wriggle free of being Will from The Inbetweeners. I’ve been trying to escape his shadow,” he admitted. "The need to [escape our characters] has become apparent to all four of us over time. When the films came out and they were hits, we all hoped they would lead to new opportunities for us.

"The reality is there’s not much comedy made in this country. If you’re associated with a big role, I can understand why the makers of other series wouldn’t want you.

"You’re bringing baggage with you and they’re trying to create new characters. It makes total sense…"

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Asked if the cast get offers to do another season, Bird replied: "You’re talking to the wrong guy."

He added: "It’s all down to Iain [Morris] and Damon [Beesley], who are the writers. We obviously would never – and legally, could never – do it without them. They, quite rightly, feel that the whole point of the show was that these idiots are kids going through a phase of their life.

"The dynamic of having the four of them back together as men would be so different that it would no longer be The Inbetweeners. I think a lot of people would be disappointed."