'Only Fools and Horses' legend Nicholas Lyndhurst goes out disguised in a "baseball cap" and tries to "hide himself a bit" to avoid attention from fans of the sitcom, a former co-star has revealed.
Nicholas Lyndhurst (right) with Buster Merryfield (left) and Sir David Jason (centre)
The 60-year-old actor played Del Boy’s hapless brother Rodney Trotter in the hit BBC sitcom, appearing in every episode along with Sir David Jason who played Peckham wheeler dealer Del.
His friend and former co-star Michael Fenton Stevens claims that Nicholas - whose 20-year-old son Archie tragically died from leukaemia in 2020 - always tries to hide from fans when he goes out so he doesn't get stopped all the time and doesn't get the show's catchphrases shouted at him such as “alright Dave” and “Rodney, you plonker”.
Appearing on the 'Only Fools and Horses Podcast', Michael said: "I bumped into Nick in the street, before his son died sadly. He still has to have a baseball cap and hide himself a bit. People all the time go ‘you plonker!’ That can be wearing, I think. He sort of keeps himself to himself a bit.
“I worked with his son and it’s terribly sad. I haven’t seen him since but I feel for him, it must be awful.”
Michael, 63 famously starred in one of the most beloved episodes of the show, playing a holiday rep in 1989's 'The Unlucky Winner Is...' in which Rodney has to pretend to be a 14-year-old boy after Del wins a holiday to Spain by entering one of his brother’s paintings into an art competition for under 15s.
Rodney has to become a member of the Groovy Gang and take part in activities such as skateboarding and a junior disco, whilst Del and his wife Casandra have to pretend to be his father and stepmother.
Michael admits that fans shout “groovy” at him on a weekly basis, and the love the public has for his episode is something he is immensely proud of.
He said: “It happens all the time. It just shows the power of the programme, I don’t think it’s got anything to do with me particularly because I don’t think I look anything like I looked in 1987 or whenever it was, I don’t look the same.
“People see this old bloke walking down the street and go, ‘Alright, groovy!’ I’m like, ‘What?! How the hell?!’ It’s incredible. It’s more than weekly, which is amazing. It just shows how powerful those programmes are and how loved they are that people would recognise me constantly from that situation."
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