James Buckley reveals he couldn't even afford a travel card during his early Inbetweeners fame as he lays bare his financial struggles

The Inbetweeners star James Buckley has shed light on his financial struggles when he was starting out on the show. The actor, 39, spoke to his wife Clair on their The Buckleys podcast where he discussed his former job as a kitchen fitter before his big break. He previously revealed he was still doing his day job while filming the first series of the iconic comedy in 2008, for which he was paid £6k to play fan favourite compulsive liar Jay Cartwright. Detailing his precarious financial situation, he said: 'I was literally like at some points I was like, I can't afford a travel card to get to this place, right? Like I don't have any money. I'm fitting kitchens. Yeah. Oh, it's funny. I took it out.'On receiving freebies once he got to fame, he added: 'All freebies, of course. All free stuff because I didn't have enough money to buy clothes, of course...'And it's weird when you get when you first get on the television because you don't really earn any money, right? But still, you've got to be on magazines and go on talk shows and stuff like that.' The Inbetweeners star James Buckley has shed light on his financial struggles when he was starting out on the show (James pictured as Jay in 2009) The actor, 39, spoke to his wife Clair on their The Buckleys podcast where he discussed his former job as a kitchen fitter before his big breakHe previously said: 'I was fitting kitchens before I could afford not to - so I was still fitting kitchens whilst the first series of The Inbetweeners was coming out.'James also revealed that at the start of his fame, he went to collect a kitchen from Hens in Lakeside the day after the first episode aired, after which the customer asked if he was 'off the telly'.The Inbetweeners will be returning to screens soon after it was revealed last month that a third movie is in the works. James is joining Simon Bird, Blake Harrison and Joe Thomas in resuming their roles as geeky Will McKenzie, Jay Cartwright, gormless Neil Sutherland and earnest Simon Cooper respectively. News of the third film came last month, with Netflix taking on the eagerly-anticipated movie and fans have been hypothesising over the fates of the characters. However shortly after the announcement, James appeared to accidentally let slip details of Jay's storyline. While filming a Cameo video for a fan, James appeared to be in costume – with a high-vis fleece adorned with the logo for his father's business Cartwright Plant Hire.Jay mentions his father Terry's business while lying to his friends about working at the company over the summer, where he would 'spent all day jumping JCB diggers over cement mixers' while making £1,000 a week. Simon Bird, Joe Thomas, James Buckley and Blake Harrison (L-R) are pictured in 2011's first movie News of the movie follows months of speculation over the revival of the sitcom, which was originally broadcast on Channel 4 between 2008 and 2010 before the release of two films in 2011 and 2014 and a reunion in 2019 Comments alongside the TikTok shared by @SindyStargfire mused over whether he had taken over the company owned by his father, who is played by David Schaal, or if he was in fact working for his demeaning and often cruel dad. One commenter wrote: 'His dads business was Cartwright Plant Hire so the jacket shows he is probably working there' before the owner of the video penned: 'Oh s**t I feel like I’ve leaked something now unknowingly.'She then wrote: 'He shouldn’t have sent me the vid then should he bumder …I didn’t sign no nda,' while other followers quoted the show.Last month, fans of The Inbetweeners were given an exciting first look as the cast were spotted on set this week shooting a mystery wedding scene. At the heart of the speculation was the prospect of the return of Emily Atack's character Charlotte 'Big Jugs' Hinchcliffe, after it was rumoured she was delaying the reunion due to a long-standing feud with JamesNews of the movie follows months of speculation over the revival of the sitcom, which was originally broadcast on Channel 4 between 2008 and 2010 before the release of two films in 2011 and 2014 and a reunion in 2019.At the heart of the speculation was the prospect of the return of Emily Atack's character Charlotte 'Big Jugs' Hinchcliffe, after it was rumoured she was delaying the reunion due to a longstanding feud with James.Emily, 36, whose star has risen in recent years thanks to her role in Rivals, is said to have refused to return after she was unceremoniously axed from The Inbetweeners reunion seven years ago following a 'past fling' with James.