Big Boys are BACK! Jack Rooke’s autobiographical sitcom returns for a second series… as the hilarious new trailer focuses on Cheryl Fernandez-Versini’s name and his love for straight men

The trailer for the second season of Channel 4’s Big Boys has been released.

The hit comedy, which first aired last year, is loosely based on comedian Jack Rooke’s 2020 memoir Cheer The F**k Up, which follows his journey through grief following the death of his father Laurie and the suicide of his best friend Olly.

The first season of the show follows Jack, played by Dylan Llewellyn, and Danny, played by Jon Pointing, as they form a close friendship at Brent University following the death of the former’s father from cancer.

Big Boys explores Jack’s struggle with his sexuality, his close relationship with his mother Peggy, played by Camille Coduri, mental health and his budding friendships after leaving his family life to attend college.

The teaser for the show, which returns next month, shows Jack’s friend Corinne, played by Izuka Hoyle, asking, “Why did you try to have sex at your late father’s 60th?” before protesting dramatically as Danny laughs and pays his respects.

Jack’s cousin Shannon, played by Harriet Webb, reveals she wouldn’t call Cheryl Tweedy by her new surname, Fernandez-Versini, when she married restauranteur Jean-Bernard Fernandez-Versini in 2014

Viewers also see Jack’s cousin Shannon, played by Harriet Webb, heavily pregnant and reading a magazine, while exaggerated words confirm that the year is 2014.

She says: ‘I’m not going to call her Cheryl Fernandez-Versini, I can’t deal with that,’ in the wake of Cheryl Tweedy’s marriage to Jean-Bernard Fernandez-Versini in 2014, which ended just two years later.

Jack then continues to drool over his professor Tim, played by Robert Gilbert, and admits to Danny that he is attracted to straight men.

Danny points out, “That’s going to be a problem.”

After seeing Danny’s mental health deteriorate in the first series as his grandmother – who he lived with – dealt with worsening dementia, the trailer sees him visit his father amid the problems in his family life.

Speaking to Channel 4 last year, writer and funnyman Jack said: ‘To me it’s a silly, sweet comedy about two boys from very different ends of the ‘spectrum of masculinity’ who become best friends at university…

‘They soon discover that they actually have many things in common; they want to find themselves, have fun, and really figure out who they are, which I think you can discover when you’re newer and away from home, and from people who knew you when you were a little runny-nosed kid. ..

‘It’s about that period of reinvention, I think. And because there’s a story in the series that I’m telling all the time, you’re very aware that you’re watching a TV show that’s set in the past, but voiced from the future…

Speaking to Channel 4 last year, writer and funnyman Jack said: ‘To me it’s a silly, sweet comedy about two boys from very different ends of the ‘spectrum of masculinity’ who become best friends at university’ (Jack previous week depicted)

“It essentially shows viewers the dynamics of a friendship through a series of little memories. I even say out loud in the beginning that Dylan [Llewellyn] plays to me, because “if you can’t consider yourself prettier, what’s the point?!?!” Am I right?!

Speaking about how close the show is to his own story, Jack continued: ‘I would say it becomes more and more fictionalized as it develops…

“And I think that’s for two reasons. Firstly, because as a comedian and as someone who has done a lot of autobiographical work, I am so tired of talking about myself and there is nothing more narcissistic than writing a sitcom about your own life!…

“You immediately have to come to terms with the fact that you’re asking people to watch you grow up.”

“I like to think I brought enough differences to the characters: when we were on set, the actors really got to know me because I was in charge, so I was there every day, giving workshops and randomly telling them bits of backstory about their characters…

Speaking about how close the show is to his own story, Jack continued: ‘I would say it becomes more and more fictionalized as it develops’

“The general consensus is that I as narrator Jack is nothing like the character Dylan plays on the show. Dylan’s Jack is very shy and anxious and doesn’t really know what to expect. And everyone said, ‘You look a lot more like… Yemi or Danny.’ So I think they’re all kind of based on me.

“And there are definitely a few lines that come from real things said to me. Especially Danny [Jon Pointing]which is based on three or four of my friends in one…

‘But I’ve tried to give myself the challenge of creating something that is loosely based on truth, but ultimately a world and creation in itself. Otherwise it is too narcissistic; it is too much’.

Jack’s best friend Olly (top left) died by suicide while his father Laurie (bottom right) battled cancer, both subjects he follows in his part self-help book, part memoir Cheer The F*** Up