We all have those moments where we think “I wonder whatever happened to…?” only to forget about it 30 seconds later.
With me it’s usually some random like beardy Geoff from Byker Grove and I never bother to follow it up.*
Not Ross Kemp though. Like a dog with a bone, he is. Recently – perhaps while filming his 2021 documentary Britain’s Tiger Kings – Ross clearly got to wondering where Michael Jackson’s exotic Neverland animals ended up.
This led to Wednesday’s documentary Searching For Michael Jackson’s Zoo With Ross Kemp, a does-what-it-says-on-the-tin title which suggested ITV couldn’t think of a sexier one.
And what did this bold search involve? Basically, Ross went to Neverland and quizzed some former employees about the fate of the 50-odd species on a leaked inventory. Now, given Neverland was closed over a decade ago, there was a fair chance that in many cases nature had already intervened.
Plus, where Neverland’s most famous inmate was concerned, a brief online search could have told Ross that Bubbles the chimp is now relaxing in a rescue sanctuary.
All Ross got out of his Neverland contacts was “I hear they all got good homes”, which left him scrabbling around after unaccounted-for giraffes and two elephants, Ali and Baba.
He discovered the giraffes had perished, but despite the unsettling nature of these discoveries and some disturbing anecdotal claims about reported conditions on Neverland, I wasn’t entirely convinced their demise could be added to Jackson’s rap sheet.
There was better news on the elephant front, as Ross met trainer Josh, who revealed he now owned Baba. Ali is living in a sanctuary in Florida.
“He’s a little bit past middle age,” said Josh. “Big bull though. He’s a big boy.”
Enough about Ross, Josh. How’s Ali doing?
*Billy Fane who played Geoff, went on to appear in Heartbeat and Billy Elliot – and the beard is still looking splendid.
See, I knew I’d get round to looking him up at some point in my life.
