Not to make you feel old or anything, but The Inbetweeners' Emily Atack is now a mum. On Thursday 20 June 2024, the actress shared the exciting news in a black and white Instagram post of her growing family, including boyfriend Dr Alistair Garner and their newborn baby called Barney James Garner. The caption read, 'All my dreams have come true'.
While Emily Atack had documented her pregnancy journey on social media – following her initial announcement at the end of 2023 – this was one of the first times that she has posted a picture of her boyfriend, and baby's father Alistair.
Now that Emily is the star of Rivals on Disney+, a new series based on Jilly Cooper's 1988 novel, she has opened up about the joys of coming home to her new baby and partner. Speaking to The Guardian she said, 'I left my partner and Barney sleeping in the morning, day one of the promo, and it was so beautiful and calm, my beautiful baby and lovely partner, and I thought: "I don’t know if it gets much better than this.”'
Going back to the beginning of their relationship, Emily was first spotted with boyfriend Dr Alistair Garner back in September 2023 as they enjoyed a date in London. Since then, the pair have gone from strength to strength, with a friend telling The Sun that they had moved in together last year and that Emily's pregnancy was the 'perfect end' to her year.
Back in December 2023, when Emily - who has relentlessly raised awareness about the online sexual harassment she endures, and launched a cyber flashing campaign with Grazia in 2021 - announced her pregnancy, she made the decision not to refer to Alistair directly in her Instagram caption. There was however a nod to their shared journey to becoming parents.
She wrote, 'Hello everyone, it’s been a little while but I’m back with some news. I’m delighted to share with you all that we’re having a baby!! I’ve never been so happy and utterly terrified at the same time. Please go easy on me [sic].
'Every day is mixed with thrill, fear, joy, hysteria, topped off with a lot of vomiting - a bit like when you’ve just stepped off of the Oblivion at Alton Towers on a hangover. I’ve got to know my body on such an insane level. It’s made me appreciate the one I’ve been given SO much, I’m doing my absolute best to make it a home for the little squid I’m growing.
'We can already sense the baby is reclined on a mattress of peanut butter and jam sandwiches in there, demanding more chocolate buttons. I’m so happy to be writing all of this to you all. You’ve always stuck by me through the years, do stick around to watch me enter my mum era. Christ. Let’s go.'
But who exactly is Emily Atack's boyfriend and father of her son Barney, Dr Alistair Garner? Here's everything you need to know about him...
Who is Dr Alistair Garner?
According to his very impressive LinkedIn profile, Alistair is a 'materials scientist and electron microscopist specialising in the degradation of high performance alloys for nuclear and aerospace applications'.
After securing his undergraduate degree in Astrophysics and Computer Science at Keele University, he obtained a Master's and a PhD at The University of Manchester, in addition to a diploma in Professional Development from The University of Sheffield. Academic, or what?
He is thought to currently work for Business Consulting and Services company Jacobs as a senior consultant.
How old is Dr Alistair Garner?
His age is unknown, but his birthday is listed on LinkedIn as 14 December - four days before Emily's.
How did Dr Alistair Garner and Emily Atack meet?
Despite only getting together relatively recently, Alistair and Emily have known each other for years because (and bear with us, because it's a bit confusing) Alistair's step-mum is actually the sister of Emily's biological mum Kate Robbins. That technically makes Emily and Alistair step-cousins, but obviously they aren't biologically related.
In her interview with The Guardian, she spoke about their relationship and the harmful media speculation about whether they are related. 'There were so many articles which were really hurtful, trying to make out there was something untoward about my relationship,' Emily said. 'There were headlines saying that I was dating my cousin, which is very damaging, very awful. We’re not related in any way. I think some family members found that very tough.'
How long have Dr Alistair Garner and Emily Atack been dating?
Dr Alistair and Emily they were first pictured publicly in September. Initially they insisted that they were just friends, but with Emily's pregnancy announcement in December they couldn't hide it any longer.
Does Dr Alistair Garner have Instagram?
Since Emily hasn't tagged Alistair in her post of them together with their newborn son Barney, it seems unlikely and our deep dive on Instagram hasn't managed to uncover him either.
Millie Payne is a News and Entertainment Writer for Grazia. She has specialised in showbiz interviews, features, articles and roundups for over three years and loves combining her love for writing, talking and all things popular culture.