Vintage 1983 Christmas clip of Cilla Black singing All Night Long featuring a future EastEnders star sends fans into meltdown – but who is the dancing boy in the green trousers?
A retro clip of Cilla Black singing the Lionel Ritchie classic for a Christmas TV special in 1983 to a room full of mostly bemused-looking children and teenagers sent fans into a fit of rage.
Proving they’re not doing it like they used to, the early ’80s footage shows the Liverpudlian singer, who presented shows including Blind Date and Surprise, Surprise, wearing a shiny silver belted dress and singing Ritchie’s All Night Long in a festive living room.
In the opening minutes of the season special, late singer Cilla Black, then 40, is seen throwing glitter into the air from a tall tree before starting to sing the Christmas Eve, ’80s pop song.
Then children of different ages come and start dancing freestyle around the star.
After the old video resurfaced this year, thousands of people commented on the image, with many impressed by one particular boy’s dance moves.
A boy wearing green trousers and a white beanie hat caught particular attention from those who experienced the vintage clip for over 40 years.
The boy, thought to be around seven years old, bursts into the US pop star’s track, which was released the same year, and appears to be lost in the music.
Captivated by the clip, one viewer wrote on Instagram this week: ‘Watch this video a few times and focus on a different dancer each time. I promise you won’t be disappointed.’
Cilla thriller: The Liverpudlian star recorded Cilla Black’s Christmas TV special in 1983, at the height of her fame in the 80s; images of him have recently resurfaced; this has fascinated modern audiences.
While Cilla walks around the room in a silver dress, the children in the clip dance to the song alone; In the resurfaced clip, one child particularly catches the attention of modern viewers.
Another wrote: ‘The green trousers move like a malfunctioning animatronic and I’m here for it.’
And one person joked: ‘The one with the green trousers is definitely Jamiroquai.’
Although some claim on social media that the child is him, the identity of the body-exploding child still remains a mystery.
Elsewhere, footage shows a young EastEnders star in the making.
Jake Wood, who plays Max Branning in the BBC soap, is seen wearing a bright red and blue tracksuit, with his red hair contrasting sharply with the shaved look he’s currently wearing.
Before being invited to Albert Square in 2006, Wood trained at the Anna Scher School of Drama in Islington, North London, and landed her first role as a 12-year-old in the ITV series The Gentle Touch.
In the Christmas Eve clip, Jake can be seen smiling cheekily directly at the camera while the other kids party around him.
The video ends with Cilla offering her young guests gifts before ushering them through the door of the studio house.
The ITV special saw some of the biggest stars of the day take to the stage, including the Bee Gees, Julio Iglesias, George Benson and comedian Frankie Howerd.
The identity of the boy in the green pants remains a mystery after 40 years… but those who watched the clip in 2025 loved his unique dancing style
Doing his own thing: The beanie-wearing boy seen dancing behind Cilla looks lost in the music
Jake Wood, aka EastEnders’ Max Branning, also appears in the Christmas special, left. Right: Soap star pictured more recently
Born Priscilla Maria Veronica White in Liverpool on 27 May 1943, Cilla became a British pop star in the early sixties with the help of her friends The Beatles, and later turned to television.
His small-screen TV career spanned decades and included hits such as Blind Date from 1985 to 2003 and Surprise Surprise from 1984 to 2001.
The star died of a stroke after falling at his Spanish holiday home in Estepona on August 1, 2015.
He was buried in Allerton Cemetery; Hundreds of mourners lined the streets of Liverpool that day, and some even broke custody.
