The surprising Essex hobby of The Inbetweeners and White Gold star James Buckley

Former White Gold and Inbetweeners star James Buckley has become a huge ice hockey fan thanks to an experience in Chelmsford. The TV star, known for his boyish sense of humour on Channel 4 hit The Inbetweeners, lives in Essex and went to watch local ice hockey team Chelmsford Chieftains for a date night a few weeks ago.

James, who was born in Croydon but moved to Dagenham as a youngster, has become obsessed with the Chieftains. In a date night video on the YouTube channel 'At Home With The Buckleys' that he shares with his wife Clair Meek, the pair of them were buzzing about the sport.

It's not known where the couple live, but they are thought to live within Essex and James has been regularly posting snaps at Riverside Ice and Leisure Centre where the Chieftains play. James was boasting that a trip to the ice hockey is good value for money with Clair saying it's a great family experience too.

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The Chieftains play in the NIHL South Division 1 at the Riverside Ice and Leisure Centre in the city centre. They will soon take on the Streatham Redhawks in the NIHL play-offs.

"I would definitely recommend checking it out," James said on YouTube. "If you have an ice rink near to you there's probably a semi-professional or professional team. Buy some tickets. There was me, you [Clair], your [Clair's] sister and her boyfriend, our two kids for a night out on a Saturday and it was about £80 for all those people to watch some sport.

"You'd be lucky to get one ticket for the football with that these days. There were loads of families there."

He added: "It was so good. The UK has had teams for decades and I've only just discovered it was a thing here. I feel like an idiot. I thought it wouldn't be any good but it's brilliant. We are now huge Chieftains fans. Go on the Chieftains.

"The whole team signed a stick for the boys and it was so good so much fun. The stupid thing is we decided to get into it right at the end of the season. There's only a couple of games left. We can't wait to go to our next game and will go to see them again soon."