Meet The College Student Who Claims She Was The ‘Teletubbies’ Sun Baby

Whenever I was sick (or fake-sick) in middle school and stayed home, I would watch a lot of The Price Is Right, SportsCenter, and whichever Star Wars movie was rewound to the beginning of the film on VHS. Occasionally, however, I’d flip over to PBS and see how long I could stomach the adventures of Dipsy, Laa-Laa, Po, and the Gay One. This was during peak Teletubbies craze, when it was unavoidably popular (and weirdly controversial), and I wanted to see what the fuss was about. But as soon as the sun baby started giggling, I said NOPE to that and went back to yelling at idiots for overbidding on a washing machine that clearly cost less than $3,500.

At least now I know who to direct my sun rage at: 19-year-old Jess Smith, a first-year college student at Canterbury Christ Church University who claims she played the monster in the sky (not God). She filmed the part when she was nine months old and didn’t tell anyone outside of her family until “a game with her university friends – where they all had to say something about themselves that no one else would guess.” Finally, a freshman orientation that isn’t pointless.

Miss Smith said: “I thought I may as well tell them as I’m going to be spending the next three years with them. My mother is really chuffed.”

She then made the news public on Facebook.

She wrote: “So I’ve recently celebrated my 19th birthday and after a lot of thought, I’ve decided it’s time to tell everyone. I used to hide it but after a lot of encouragement from my friends at university, I’ve gained the confidence to come out with it. I am the sun from Teletubbies. There has been quite a few people pretending to be ‘the sun’ but only I could tell you the real story.” (Via)

“Dude, I totally hooked up with the baby from Teletubbies” is the new “I got to sixth base with Haley Joel Osment.” To prove her claim, Smith reportedly posted this letter on her Facebook.

During filming, Smith was seated in a high chair, “so she would be looking down like the sun,” and her dad made her laugh by playing with a stuffed bear behind the camera.

As no one could predict the success of the show, Jess was paid just £250 for filming and given a box of toys to take home. (Via)

Here’s what she looks like now.

Via The Daily Mail