The Malone family are a fan favourite on Channel 4 show Gogglebox. Since joining the cast in 2014, they have been a show staple and proved popular with audiences.
The family are made up of mum Julie, dad Tom, and sons Tom Jr, and Shaun. After Tom Jr left the show, viewers were introduced to Julie and Tom’s daughter Vanessa Malone who joined the family for the 17th series.
The official Malone family account has today posted a family update, they wrote: “Happy 30th birthday to our youngest son!!! HAPPY BIRTHDAY SHAUN MALONE xxxx.”
The post included three photos, Shaun with his parents and the Gogglebox star with the family dog. The family have previously opened up about their horrifying experience after Shaun underwent brain surgery when a common head cold developed into a rare brain disease in 2010.
Previously speaking to the Mirror about the experience, Julie explained: “We were absolutely frantic. The doctor said Shaun only had a slim chance of surviving surgery, that there were no beds available. Tom said I just went doolally saying, ‘He’s going to be fine, he’s going to be fine’. Thankfully Tom was level-headed and really pushed them.”
Today, Shaun celebrates a milestone birthday as he turns 30. Fans took to the comments of the post to send well wishes. One fan commented “Wishing you the happiest of birthdays Shaun”, a second wrote “Happy Birthday Shaun, I hope you have a great day.”
A third Gogglebox viewer added “Happy birthday, you 2 must have been very young ,long time together-lovely” and further responses included “Happy Birthday Shaun. Have a wonderful day, mate. Love always from Amanda (a fan)” and “Happy birthday” alongside a red heart emoji.
Away from the Channel 4 show, the family have other roles and hobbies. Tom Jr. is a professional dancer and freelance model, brother Shaun is a football coach and dad Tom is a lorry driver while mum Julie is a receptionist and Vanessa, is an NHS nurse. Since leaving the show, Tom Jr announced his brand new role as Head of Chair Testing for shelving and storage company BiGDUG.
The Manchester based family have shared some show insights over the years. On Tik Tok, a fan asked Tom Jnr if they actually eat the cakes on the show or whether they are for show. The family always has sweet treats near them when filming.
Tom Jr revealed the reason why they don’t eat during filming is because they don’t like to talk with their mouths full. He said: “So I thought I’d do a little video because we get this question quite a lot. So I’m going to clear it up for you now, so you guys know.
“Basically we do eat the cakes, they are not just for show, we do eat them. But because when we are eating, we don’t talk with our mouths full, that’s just how we’ve been raised.
“So yeah, they just don’t show it because it’s a show about our comments essentially, so Gogglebox tend to not show us eating. But very very rarely, one of my other family members will say something and you’ll see me sneak in a cake.”
The Malone family also had two Rottweilers who regularly appeared on screen, Joe and Dave. It was announced in October 2023 that Dave had sadly died. Announcing the sad news of Dave’s passing on social media on Wednesday 18th October, Shaun Malone wrote: ‘Unfortunately this morning we learned it was time to say to goodbye to Dave (kn–head dave).
“A beloved member of the family and a popular lad on Gogglebox in the past he has been referred to as a national treasure and people online have even requested him to be the prime minister. It’s crazy over the years how many people have came up to me and said they had named their dogs after him. Dave.”