The internet was set alight over the past week – and not only because of the US presidential election.
In the UK, social media users were marvelling over the height of Gary Barlow‘s son – 24-year-old Daniel – after the Take That star shared a family photo of his son towering over him.
The singer tends to keep his personal life out of the spotlight, but the family photo posted on Instagram caused a storm online, with the post being viewed more than six million times.
The 53-year-old, who throughout his career reportedly raked in a whopping £90million fortune, barely reaches his son’s shoulder in the wholesome photo, which Gary originally posted to mark Father’s Day in June 2023.
Gary, who shares Daniel, 24, Emily, 22, and Daisy, 15, with his wife of 25 years Dawn Andrews, was labelled a ‘short king’ next to his 6’2 son, despite only being a few inches shorter than average at 5’7.
However, it’s not just the Barlow family that have a noticeable height difference, with several celebrity children known for being taller than their parents.
Bear Grylls middle son, 18-year-old Marmaduke, dwarfs his 5’11 adventurer father at 6’4, and 5’11 supermodel Kendall Jenner is much the same when stood next to her 5′ 6 ‘momager’ Kris Jenner.
Here, Femail reveals the children of celebrities who, like Gary Barlow’s son Daniel, tower of their parents.
GARY AND DANIEL BARLOW
Gary Barlow caused a storm online after sharing a sweet family photo that showed his son towering over him.
Memes flooded the internet with jokes about Daniel’s height, but the 24-year-old is only a few inches taller than the average British man.
The average height for a man in the UK is 5’9, and 5’3 for a woman. Daniel, who is pursuing a career in medicine, comes in at an impressive 6’2, but seems taller next to his ‘short king’ father.
The father-and-son duo had their arms around each other in the picture, posted shortly after Barlow celebrated his son’s achievement completing the Ironman competition, which saw him tackle a 2.4-mile swim, 112-mile bike ride, and 26.2-mile run.
He wrote: ‘We just couldn’t be prouder of our boy – unbelievable amounts of training and determination – when you put in the work you get the results. Congratulations #ironman.’
But the photo caught the attention of social media users for other reasons, with one commenting ‘Gary Barhigh’ below.
Memes compared the picture to a scene in the Christmas movie Elf, where human-sized Buddy struggles to fit in at the North Pole because everything is too tiny for him.
Back in 2022, the singer shared another rare snap of his towering son for his 22nd birthday.
He wrote: ‘Happy 22nd Birthday to our Dan. We love you mate and you make us so proud every day’. He had his arm around Daniel’s waist, with his head barely above his shoulder.
Barlow shares his three children with wife Dawn, a backup dancer who was on tour with Take That in 1995 and who he married in 2000.
Barlow previously spoke about how his children are so different to him and have shown no interest in showbiz, opting instead for academic careers.
He told The Mirror: ‘The two oldest ones [Daniel and Emily] have kind of gone into medicine and physiology – studying strength and conditioning – and my youngest one, Daisy, I’m not too sure what she’s heading for but again, she’s very studious… unlike me and my wife.
‘I don’t think they will follow in my music footsteps but I wouldn’t have discouraged them though if they did want to, it’s been a good business for me.
‘Every day I still enjoy what I do and when you realise you’re making a living from it, it’s a great, great place to be. Many roles in ‘showbiz’ are just wonderful, there’s definitely a much harder world out there than the one I’m in I think’.
The Shine hitmaker has previously opened about how ‘proud’ he was of Emily after she decided to head off to university in 2022 for a four-year course.
The youngster had initially planned to go onto higher education in 2020, but had her plans scuppered by Covid-19.
At the time, Barlow told Zoe Ball on her BBC radio show: ‘They are pretty good, one is at university. One is taking a year off, was meant to be going to uni but she doesn’t want to with all this going, on which I completely understand.
‘Our youngest is 11 now, which is like… well they’re not kids really anymore. Although, they always are to us.’
The Barlow’s sadly lost their baby Poppy in 2012 when she arrived stillborn, and he recently admitted that he ‘hadn’t found peace’ with it yet.
Speaking on The Imperfects podcast, the singer spoke candidly about his family tragedy as he explained: ‘I don’t talk about this in great detail, and I literally don’t because I’m still kind of figuring it out a little bit.
‘My wife’s emotions were completely different to mine. I’ve been angry for a long time about that, I haven’t really found peace with it yet.’
BEAR AND MARMADUKE GRYLLS
A picture of Bear Grylls and his rarely seen son Marmaduke has resurfaced as the 18-year-old dwarfed the adventurer, 50.
In April, Bear took to Instagram to wish his middle son – who is 6ft 4′ a happy birthday with two snaps alongside his wife of 24 years Shara Cannings Knight.
Bear, who also has sons Jesse, 21, and Huckleberry, 15, with Shara, captioned the post: ’18 today! We love you so much Marmaduke… keep shining bright! ❤️.’
But fans were quick to point out Marmaduke’s incredible height – as in both snaps he was seen towering over his parents.
The first picture showed Marmaduke wearing his smart Eton uniform with his hair shaved into a buzz cut.
In the second snap, Marmaduke matched his father, who stands at 5ft9, in a shirt and vest combo.
Fans rushed to the comments to point out the huge height different between Bear and his son. They wrote: ‘Bear Junior is turning out to be a Grizzly’.
Another said: ‘What are you feeding him?!’; ‘Absolute unit get him on that rugby pitch.’ A third added: ‘I think your son is the real bear here. Damn so tall.’
‘Oh, wow he’s so tall. Happy 18th to him’; ‘Is he standing on something? Happy Birthday Marmaduke,’ a fourth added.
The snaps hugely differed from ones shared a year earlier for Marmaduke’s 17th birthday.
In one of the pictures shared for his 17th, Marmaduke appeared just a little bit taller than his mother, showing he went through a huge growth spurt in the past year.
While Marmaduke has largely stayed out of the limelight, his older brother Jesse is slightly more well known – even being revealed as one of Tatler’s British society bible posh boys to watch in 2022.
Appearing to be determined to outdo his TV survival expert father when it comes to daredevil stunts, Jesse shocked fans in October 2021 when he carried out a dangerous parachute jump from a bridge.
DONALD AND BARRON TRUMP
Teenage Barron Trump towered over his family as he celebrated his father’s return to the White House.
The 18-year-old could be seen standing a head above the rest of the Republican cohort as they took to the stage at Trump’s Mar-a-Lago estate.
Wearing a black suit and striped tie, the 6ft 9inches youngster mirrored his father’s style as he appeared reserved at the rear of the pack.
When his father, Donald Trump, took the White House in 2020, Barron was just 14 years old, and towered over both of his parents with a height that was over 6 feet tall, according to reports.
Now, Barron is 6’7, and looked like a full-blown adult as he joined his father, mother Melania, and other family members on stage at Mar-a-Lago Tuesday evening as Trump accepted his presidential victory.
The youngster is taller than his parents, with his mom, Melania, measuring at 5’11 and his dad measuring at 6’3.
The NYU student even flashed a rare smile to onlookers as his dad accepted rounds of applause from the large crowd.
And, speaking on Tuesday, Trump even blamed his wife’s late mother, Amalija Knavs, for Barron’s height.
Paying tribute to her, he laughed: ‘They’re great people, great parents to all of us really. Great parents, but also to Barron. Boy did she take care of Barron. That’s how he got so tall – he only ate her food.’
When his dad took office in 2017, Barron remained in New York City and finished out his year at the elite Columbia Grammar and Preparatory School on the Upper West Side.
He then attended St. Andrew’s Episcopal School in Potomac, Maryland, close to where his father was in The White House.
Barron finished high school at Oxbridge Academy in Palm Beach, Florida, after Trump finished his term in office in 2021, and now, back at home as a freshman at New York University’s Stern School of Business.
And, while he wasn’t seen on Trump’s campaign trail much this year, he was apparently working behind-the-scenes to help his dad ‘break the internet.’
The 18-year-old was allegedly the mastermind behind some of Trump’s podcast appearances that are favored by Gen-Z, according to ABC News.
Barron first suggested his father appear on YouTuber and wrestler Logan Paul’s podcast, Impaulsive, and sure enough the podcast was the first one Trump appeared on back in June, an insider with the campaign told the outlet.
He even sat down with popular podcaster Joe Rogan just a mere week before the election.
Just one day before election day, Trump also revealed the advice his son gave him ahead of the polls.
‘I have a guy who’s home with the first lady,’ Trump told a crowd in North Carolina about his son. He’s very smart… He’s 18 years old. And he gives me good advice.’
Then Trump did a quick impression of his son, telling the crowd, ‘Dad: take it easy, now. You just take it easy dad, alright? You don’t have to go too much here. He gives me good – he’s very wise,’ Trump said.
Trump won on Tuesday night, taking home key battleground states like Pennsylvania and Michigan. He will be the 47th President of The United States come January.
KRIS AND KENDALL JENNER
She’s and international supermodel having working for the world’s most luxurious brands, so it’s no surprise that Kendall Jenner is tall.
However, she’s not got her 5’9 height from her ‘momager’ mother, Kris Jenner, who stands at 5’5.
It’s not just her mother that Kendall towers over, but also her famous sisters. Last year, the model provided a minor headache for the cameramen on the Met Gala red carpet, thanks to her height.
The 5’9 model added to her height with a pair of gothic platform boots for fashion’s biggest night.
And when it came to a joint interview with her sisters Kim Kardashian, 5’2 and Kylie Jenner, 5’6, with Vogue, the cameraman had to work hard with his angles.
In a clip of the video circulating on Instagram, Vogue’s red carpet cameraman can be seen frantically panning in and out to try and find the right angle to ensure all three sisters are in shot.
With Kendall towering over Kylie and Kim, it’s a struggle to fit her in, with the top of her head being cut off in some of the shots shared on Instagram.
In March, the model once again caused a storm on the internet over her height when she shared an Instagram post with several A-List stars.
The 5’11 supermodel towered over other L’Oreal ambassadors, which included Eva Longoria, who is 5’2, 5’8 Jane Fonda and 5’2 Camila Cabello.
Kris Jenner quickly gave Kendall a shout out on Instagram. ‘Because she’s worth it!’ wrote the mom in her caption, echoing the brand’s longtime tag line in ads.
The TV star is one of the world’s best-known and best-paid models – but Kendall insists that her career has been more challenging than some people might imagine.
The brunette beauty said on Emma Chamberlain’s Anything Goes podcast: ‘I’m not gonna sit here and say that I’ve had the toughest journey. I think I’ve been extremely fortunate.
‘But I also have had my own set of challenges, whether it’s [being] overworked or not getting a job that I would’ve really loved to get.’ Kendall actually confessed to ‘crying [herself] to sleep’ at night amid her struggles.
PIERCE AND DYLAN BROSNON
He’s been blessed with his father’s good looks. But Pierce Brosnan’s second youngest son, Dylan, 27, has grown above his statuesque 6’1 father.
Dylan, who grew up in Hawaii, looks every inch the model off-duty, with his trendy long locks and impressive 6’5 height.
While the 27-year-old maintains a low profile, he’s been snapped towering over his father at various events throughout the years, including the Once Upon a Time in Hollywood premiere in 2022.
Despite his model looks that would no doubt be a hit on the acting scene, Dylan, whose mother is Pierce’s second wife Keely Shaye Smith, was prevented from entering the industry by his father.
Pierce revealed in a September 2022 interview with GQ that he dissuaded his sons from pursuing acting, telling them, ‘It’s hard f***ing work. It’s a cross to bear. You’re constructing and destroying yourself.’
To their credit, Dylan has not followed him, and after graduating from the University of Southern California School of Cinematic Arts in 2020, he works behind the camera as a filmmaker.
Last year, the dapper sons of Pierce Brosnan – Dylan and Paris Brosnan – showed off their style at the Vanity Fair and TikTok party A Night for Young Hollywood.
Dylan and Paris, 23, the sons of the Goldeneye star and journalist Keeley Shaye Smith, hit the red carpet at the bash, held at Mes Amis in Hollywood.
The private event was part of Vanity Fair’s Campaign Hollywood series spotlighting young actors, musicians and artists, hosted by Halle Berry, Paul Mescal and Julia Garner.
While attending the GQ Man of the Year party, the sons also opened up about the controversy of ‘nepo babies’ in Hollywood.
‘I think we need to just be grateful for our blessings,’ Paris said in a red carpet interview with E!, with his brother Dylan acknowledging how, ‘very lucky.’
Paris added, ‘It’s always gonna be there and we got to recognize it. At the end of the day, we’re just grateful to be here.’
Paris did acknowledge that his last name may open some doors, though he admitted he and his brother are trying to, ‘pave our own way.’
When asked what the best advice their father has given them, Dylan said, ‘Be gracious. Be grateful.’
Paris added their father would also give them daily reminders to, ‘stand straight, shoulders back,’ adding another nugget of advice from his dad.
JENNIFER GARNER AND VIOLET AFFLECK
At just 18 years old, 6ft Violet Affleck is already taller than her actress mother Jennifer Garner.
While Violet, whose father is Ben Affleck, still has plenty of time to grow, she is already inches taller than her 5’8 mother – and was practically the same height as Jennifer by the age of 14.
Violet, 18, started school as a freshman at Yale University in New Haven, Connecticut in September.
The 18-year-old daughter of Ben Affleck and Jennifer Garner– who divorced in 2018 – recently made headlines with a passionate demand to impose ‘mask mandates’ in medical facilities and called for an end to all ‘mask bans’ to the governing body for Los Angeles County.
The former Hollywood couple’s eldest child, citing her experience of contracting ‘a post-viral condition’ in 2019, urged the LA County Board of Supervisors ‘to confront the long COVID crisis’ by strengthening pandemic-era protections in hospitals and government buildings.
‘I demand mask availability, air filtration and Far-UVC light in government facilitates, including jails and detention centers, and mask mandates in county medical faculties,’ Violet, who is often seen wearing a face mask, said.
‘You must expand the availability of high-quality free tests and treatment, and most importantly the county must oppose mask bans for any reason. They do not keep us safer.’
And although it’s her most vocal to date, it’s far from being the first time Violet made a public stance.
She has often made her political views clear through paparazzi photos – through clothing choices or by carrying books.
Violet has also often been pictured wearing a mask at events with her family – even if she has been the only one to do so.
Garner and Affleck also share Fin (formerly Seraphina), 15, and son Samuel, 12. The former pair met on the set of the movie Pearl Harbor in the early 2000s, but didn’t start dating until later.
In 2004, shortly after his first broken engagement to Lopez, the two sparked up a romance, before getting married in 2005.
Violet was born that same year in December. Fin followed in 2009 and Samuel in 2012.
The duo announced their separation in 2015 after nearly 10 years of marriage, and officially filed for divorce in 2017.
Garner moved on with businessman John Miller – but they pair have since ended things.
Affleck rekindled his romance with Lopez in April 2021. The two wed in Vegas in July 2022, followed by a lavish ceremony in Georgia in August. However, the pair’s marriage has been hit by split claims for the past two months.
