Fans of Channel 4 reality show Gogglebox have just worked out that a new star on the series actually has a very famous brother who has been on television for years

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Sara and Lara have made their debut on Gogglebox(Image: Channel 4)

Gogglebox fans have wondered if one new star has been given a slot on the show thanks to her famous brother. The Channel 4 reality show, which has documented various families watching television for over a decade, recently returned for its latest run of episodes and introduced a host of new cast members.

Amongst them was Sara, 87, and her daughter-in-law, Lara, 57, who set about digesting the biggest offerings on British television over the past few days. They joined the show alongside regulars Jenny and Lee, The Siddiquis, The Malones, Giles and Mary, Ellie and Izzi Warner, David and Shirley, the Plummers, and the Worthingtons, all of whom have become known for their witty remarks whilst tuning into the latest TV shows.

But it didn’t take long for fans to work out that Lara has a very famous brother, and one pointed out on social media that it ‘helps to have a showbiz connection,’ implying that her family link got her and Sara a slot on the show in the first place. Lara’s brother has headed up several of his own television series, and appeared on screen with numerous other celebrities like TOWIE legend Pete Wicks, I’m A Celebrity…Get Me Out Of Here! star Martin Kemp, and former Coronation Street actor Ryan Thomas. He also recently fronted a Netflix show with This Morning’s Holly Willoughby.

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Sara and Lara have just joined Gogglebox (Image: Channel 4)

It turns out that Sara is the older sister of survivalist Bear Grylls, 51, who has made a media career out his expert knowledge. Pointing out the family connection, one fan wrote on TikTok: “Controversial opinion, but it does help to get chosen to go on Gogglebox if your brother is Bear Grylls.” The brother and sister are clearly no strangers to the world of fame though, as their father, late Conservative political Michael Grills, was knighted by the late Queen Elizabeth in 1992

But one fan claimed that the Gogglebox format, which also has a celebrity-based spin-off, was not meant to be about showbiz families to start with. The show made a star out of Scarlett Moffatt, who famously went on to become Queen of the Jungle after appearing with her family, whilst Reverend Kate Bottley also found a successful career in television after starring on the show. Similarly, Amy Tapper has also become a favourite amongst fans and has recently wowed her thousands of followers with her weight loss.

Taking umbrage with the idea of someone with a showbiz connection appearing in the first place, one fan fumed: “Its not what Gogglebox was about!”

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Sara is the older sister of Bear Grylls (Image: Getty Images)

Another said: “It’s the same way being related to the Chuckle Brothers helped Sophie and Pete get on the show!” Bosses of the programme recently spoke of what a ‘delight’ it was to welcome some fresh faces to the show.

Mike Cotton, Creative Director, for Studio Lambert said: ”It’s a delight to welcome some new households to the Gogglebox family. Along with our much loved returning cast, we can’t wait to join them in their living rooms and hear their candid thoughts on this week’s most talked about TV!” Even though the programme has brought fame and fortune to some families who appear, some have disappeared completely following their time on the show.

One such family is the Manuels, who turned up on the Channel 4 favourite in 2016 but didn’t last very long. The family – comprised of dad Charles, mum Donna and their adult son Grant – joined the show as armchair critics in its seventh series. The Manuels were on Gogglebox at the same time as other families such as the Malones, the Tappers and the Siddiquis, but unlike them, they didn’t go the distance on the programme.

Their arrival wasn’t all plain-sailing, as at the time it was reported that some viewers had complained that they couldn’t understand the family’s Glaswegian accents. Some posted about it on X, which was Twitter at the time, saying that had struggled to understand all of the family’s comments and observations about the latest small screen offerings

But others had no time for the accent backlash, with one person commenting on the platform: “If you can’t understand the Manuels then there must be sometimes (sic) wrong with you. They’re Scottish. Get over it.” Then several viewers were annoyed when the show appeared to blur out Charles’ Bridgeton Loyal supporters mug, which he had resting on the coffee table in front of him as he and his family filmed their segments.

Other fans of the football club posted messages on X expressing their confusion over it, with one asking: “Watching on catch-up and they blurred out the Bridgeton Loyal mug. Why? What’s wrong with it?”

It was later reported that the mug had been blurred out because it breached “promotional” rules. The Manuels featured through series seven but when series eight got under way, the family – who were living in Croydon at the time of filming – had gone.

They disappeared from the screen without trace and it’s thought they did not seek out the limelight again, with none of them thought to have been on television since their Gogglebox days.

There have been reports that Charles currently works for an engineering group in London, but it isn’t known what Donna and Grant are up to now.