Best known for his zany style of TV presenting back in the 1980's and '90s, Timmy Mallett is now focused on very different pursuits, including cycling, art, and creating TikTok videos
He was one of the most recognisable presenters of the 1980s. Then Timmy Mallett's cover of Itsy Bitsy Teeny Weeny Yellow Polka Dot Bikini proved to be one of the most marmite earworms of 1990, since then people might have been wondering what he's been up to as it seems there's still plenty of things people don't know about him. The bespectacled TV personality made a name for himself through his zany sense of humour, not to mention whacking people over the head with his famous inflatable mallet.
Nowadays, however, the 67-year-old is less keen on life in the limelight, preferring instead to spend his time making art and sharing TikTok videos detailing his adventures cycling around the UK. As Timmy comes forward to front pension industry awareness campaign, The Pensions Playback, we take a look at Timmy's life nowadays, including his enduring marriage to his wife Lynda.
Marriage to wife and 'irritating laugh'
Timmy married Australian-born Lynda Bingham back in 1990, and the pair are still going strong. In 2008, when Timmy was competing in I'm A Celebrity, Get Me Out Of Here!, Lynda opened up about what it was like living with such an eccentric character, revealing that her husband isn't quite as giggly as his reality show appearances would suggest.
Lynda told the Mail Online: "Timmy giggles at home sometimes, but not all the time. He was being filmed 24 hours a day on I'm A Celebrity and the producers were taking bits of him giggling and putting it into an hour-long programme, which made it appear as if he was always giggling. In the last series, they had that woman Janice [Dickinson] who constantly said 'Oh Man' to everything. Timmy's laugh may be irritating, but he's not an irritating person. He was probably just trying to cheer things up a bit, although at times I've thought, 'Oh God, Timmy, tone it down'. And being irritating at least got him noticed. Robert Kilroy-Silk did well in the bush tucker trials but that's not exactly interesting, is it?"
Opening up about the secret to keeping Timmy happy, Lynda continued: "You know what I do when Timmy gets crabby at home? I feed him. It works every time. If someone comes round and says they've had a bad day, I give them some cake."
Itsy Bitsy Teeny Weeny confession
In 2008, a teacher named Everton Barnes shocked fans by claiming that he had recorded the lead vocal for Itsy Bitsy Teeny Weeny Yellow Polka Dot Bikini, not Timmy, as the Wacaday presenter had been unable to hit the right notes. Everton, who claims he made less than £5,000 in royalties from the chart-topper, told the Mail Online: "The producers decided Timmy was the perfect bloke to do the vocals as he was all the rage. But when they got him into the studio they realised his voice was as flat as a punctured pancake. There was no way the record company could release it as it was."
He continued: "I've decided to speak out as I feel it's a great shame Timmy is going around singing the song when he knows it's not his voice on it. It was even my idea to insert the 'Oh yeahs' and now Timmy is going around shouting 'Oh yeah' in the jungle as if it was all down to him."
Setting the record straight on TV comeback
In a recent interview with the Daily Express, Timmy addressed speculation surrounding a potential return to television, remarking that the thought "does not appeal" to him. Timmy, who now has 66.3K followers on TikTok, explained: "It's not something that jumps right out and appeals to me. I like the idea of trying something new. But, I'm not going to. I don't really need to go off and break my leg. However, I can still do the dance to itsy bitsy."
When asked whether he would ever fancy channeling his passion for cycling into a TV show, Timmy replied: "To me, it's more important to actually do the adventure. I don't know. I haven't got a plan to do that. It may happen. It's not part of my plans at the moment. I'm passionate about the story. I think curiosity is a really wonderful attribute of human beings. And I think the more curious we are about things, the more opportunity there is to learn. And I find that when I'm on my bike, I stop at every opportunity."
Do you have a story to share? Email us at julia.banim@reachplc.com
