THE SILVER SPOON STARLETS

Meet the Scots showbiz nepo babies who’ve had a VERY handy leg up from their famous mums and dads

iT’S ALREADY shaping up to be the buzz phrase of 2023. Indeed ‘nepo babies’ – the acerbic title coined to describe the nepotism enjoyed by children of celebrities – seem to be everywhere right now. According to a US magazine article pointing to the heritage of a number of current Hollywood stars from Zoe Kravitz to Dakota Johnson, not to mention the Beckham children, the nepo baby’s motto is: ‘Try, and if you don’t succeed, remember you’re still a celebrity’s child, so try, try again.’ Ouch.

And it turns out, there is no shortage of Scottish nepo babies, either. From Tennants to Ramsays, Stewarts to McGregors, and even the occasional Connery, you don’t have to search far to find children of Scottish celebs who’ve cashed in on the fame they were born with.

Here, we look at just how well known the kids of some of our biggest celebrities have become, how often they have followed in their parents’ footsteps, and whether or not mummy or daddy have lent a helping hand on the road to stardom. Hint: most of them have.

Nepo baby rankings key ** More of a hindrance than a help *** The surname has its benefits **** Why not cash in? ***** ‘Mum, get your agent on the phone!’

CLARA McGREGOR

Parents: Ewan McGregor and Eve Mavrakis Age 26 Job: Actress and producer

DESPITE a well-publicised fallout with her father (she described his girlfriend Mary Elizabeth Winstead, whom he left her mother for, as ‘trash’), Clara McGregor has rarely shied away from her Hollywood roots. Indeed, one of her first acting roles was a blink-and-you’ll-miss-it part in the 2018 blockbuster Christopher Robin, starring one Ewan McGregor. Then came a short film she wrote about a daughter dealing with the fallout when her dad leaves her mum. Whatever could the inspiration have been?

She followed that up with a 2021 movie The Birthday Cake, which starred both her and dad Ewan, and was directed by Jimmy Giannopoulos, who just happens to be Clara’s boyfriend.

Clara likes to fraternise with other nepo babies, too: one of her first public forays involved posing for a fashion campaign with Bob Dylan’s grandson Levi in a series of pictures by Mary McCartney, daughter of Paul. Phew. Her latest appearance is in another film with Dad, this time the story of a father-daughter road trip, which both helped produce. Talk about a family affair. Nepo baby ranking: ****

TILLY RAMSAY

Parents: Gordon Ramsay and Tana Ramsay Age: 21 Job: TV presenter

THERE can’t be many 14-year-olds who get the chance to present their own BBC cooking show. But when Dad is celebrity chef Gordon Ramsay, the world is your very own lightly seasoned oyster.

Having made her TV debut as a child on a number of Dad’s shows including MasterChef Junior and Hell’s Kitchen, Tilly got her own CBBC show, Matilda and the Ramsay Bunch, in 2014. Featuring the entire Ramsay clan, as well as some of Tilly’s recipes, it ran on the children’s channel for four series.

She then moved on to a regular cooking slot with Dad on ITV’s This

Morning, and in 2021 she competed on Celebrity MasterChef Australia, where she reached the final, before popping up on Strictly Come Dancing. She’s also produced a cookery book. Still no word on any formal kitchen training, though, but perhaps Dad really has taught her everything she knows. Nepo baby ranking: ****

ROSIE KELLY SMITH

Parents: Lorraine Kelly and Steve Smith Age: 28

THE only daughter of daytime TV host Lorraine Kelly and her cameraman husband Steve Smith, perhaps it was inevitable that Rosie – who appeared on her Mum’s show as a child – went into journalism. ‘When I was trying to decide what to do with my life, I think I did what a lot of people do and ended up sticking with what I knew through [my parents],’ said Rosie, who studied journalism at Napier University in Edinburgh, her mother’s alma mater.

After four years of working in communications in Singapore, in 2021 she popped up on Celebrity Gogglebox with, you’ve guessed it, Mum Lorraine. Now she lives in London and co-hosts a podcast interviewing celebrities… with Mum. Nice work if you can get it. Nepo baby ranking: ****

MISTY KYD HEATH

Parents: Sharleen Spiteri and Ashley Heath Age: 20 Job: Model

THE stunning daughter of the Texas frontwoman and her magazine editor ex has become a model to watch despite her formative years, with frequent appearances on the catwalk and a number of magazine covers.

But having a famous mum hasn’t always been an advantage for Misty. When she started modelling at 18 her mother told her: ‘You might as well be a hooker!’ before telling a podcast: ‘I was in Texas at Misty’s age. I’d already written I Don’t Want A Lover at that point.’ Talk about pressure.

Mum can’t be that disapproving, though. In December 2021 Misty had a role in the video of Texas song Unbelievable, playing, wait for it, a younger version of her mother. Nepo baby ranking: ***

TY TENNANT

Parents: David Tennant and Georgia Tennant Age: 20 Job: Actor

BORN when his mother Georgia was just 17 years old, Ty was formally adopted by David Tennant after the couple married and is the eldest of their five children. Both parents act (and recently appeared together in the lockdown comedy Staged) and have been hugely encouraging of their son’s acting career, which has seen him turn up in the film Tolkien and win parts in TV series War of the Worlds and Doom Patrol.

He also made a cameo appearance in 2021 TV drama Around the World in 80 Days, which starred… David Tennant. Ty comes from celebrity stock on his mother’s side too. His grandfather is actor Peter Davison, meaning he has two Doctor Whos in the family. Perhaps Ty will make it a third. All on his own merits, of course. Nepo baby ranking: ***

LOLA LENNOX

Parents: Annie Lennox and Uri Fruchtmann Age 32 Job: Singer

IT TAKES guts to become a singer when your mum is Eurythmics vocalist Annie Lennox, but given that Lola claims she was sneaking into her mum’s basement studio to record songs as a teenager, perhaps it was always inevitable. Still, how many aspiring singers have recording studios in their parents’ homes in the first place?

Having trained in classical singing at the Royal Academy of London, the talented Lola was signed by music impresario Simon Fuller’s management company, and in 2015 made her first live TV appearance in a show starring, yes, her mother, entitled Annie Lennox: Nostalgia in Concert.

While she was less active over the following years her first single debuted in February 2020, and in April of that year, she performed a duet with her mother for the One World: Together At Home concert organised by Lady Gaga. Quite the platform for a singer who’d only released her debut single two months earlier. Nepo baby ranking: ****

HONOR SWINTON BYRNE

Parents: Tilda Swinton and John Byrne Age: 25 Job: Actress

IT WAS the most remarkable luck. At just 18 years old, with no acting

experience and working in an Inverness florist shop, Honor Swinton Byrne received a telephone call. Could she take the lead in a film? In ten days’ time?

That the movie was directed by her godmother Joanna Hogg, and starred her mother, Oscarwinner Tilda Swinton, was just another piece of exceptional good fortune.

Honor has impressive parentage on both sides – her father is the celebrated Scottish playwright and artist John Byrne – and she has clearly inherited the family’s love of acting and the theatre.

The aforementioned film, The Souvenir, was critically acclaimed, and a 2021 sequel, again starring Honor and her mother, received similar praise.

An honourable ‘nepo puppy’ mention must also surely go to the family’s three spaniels, Rosy, Dora and Snowbear, who also appeared in both films and went on to win the Palm Dog (yes, really) at the Cannes Film Festival. Is there no end to this family’s talents? Nepo baby ranking: *****

JASON CONNERY

Parents: Sean Connery and Diane Cilento Age: 59 Job: Actor

MORE mature than most of the current crop, Jason Connery may nonetheless be one of the original nepo babies, although he’d likely dispute the tag.

Having followed his father into the same profession (with decidedly less success), he has always been touchy about the assumption that his father’s reputation helped him get work. He revealed once that Hollywood meetings in his early career were often a succession of remarks such as: ‘I’ve worked with your dad, I know your dad, I like your dad or I hate your dad.’

It didn’t stop him following the Bond connection, however, with a part as James Bond creator Ian Fleming in the television drama Spymaker: The Secret Life of Ian Fleming, although he never appeared in a film with his late father, Bond or otherwise.

He now runs First Stage Studios in edinburgh, helping nurture the next generation of stars, whether they have famous relatives or not. Nepo baby rating: **

ALASTAIR WALLACE STEWART

Parents: Rod Stewart and Penny Lancaster Age: 17 Job: Model

THE seventh of Sir Rod Stewart’s eight children, and the first to his third wife Penny Lancaster, young Alastair is already becoming a celebrity in his own right, despite being barely out of school.

Last year, at just 16 years old, he was spotted on a billboard in Milan advertising fashion brand Palm Angels, and is said to have received a number of modelling opportunities since then.

It can’t have hindered Alastair’s chances that dad and mum (a former model herself) both posted about the advert on Instagram.

And Alastair’s parents are clearly willing to give him a helping hand no matter what his chosen career: when he was 11 years old and showing some talent in swimming, his Dad expressed a desire to build him a private swimming pool so he could become an Olympic swimmer.

Will we see him at Paris 2024? Or is he more likely to turn up for Fashion Week? Nepo baby ranking: ***