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Zoe Ball's daughter Nelly's birthday party guest baffles fans

The BBC Radio 2 presenter's decorations caught the attention of her followers

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Nichola Murphy
Deputy Lifestyle Editor
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Zoe Ball threw her daughter Nelly a party at home to mark her 11th birthday, complete with one very unusual guest – Cole Sprouse!

The Riverdale actor was, of course, not actually present, but his life-sized cardboard cut-out left fans convinced he was.

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Dressed in all black with his character Jug Head's trademark beanie, Cole was positioned at the foot of Nelly's bed next to several giant balloons: one filled with blue confetti and the others in the shape of a number 11. 

Doting mum Zoe captioned the snap: "Cole Sprouse surprise for my best girls 11th Birthday today. Love you oodles Nelly Noodle - skateboarding, tap dancing, ever loving leggy wonder lass. #proudmama #bestgirl #bodkin #eleven #strangerthings #jughead #colesprouse #riverdale #cutout @balloon_wise."

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Confused fans did a double-take after seeing the photo. "Genuinely thought he was just standing there nonchalantly at the end of her bed!" one commented, while another added: "I actually thought it was a person."

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A third wrote: "That baffled me lol. Happy birthday Nelly," and a fourth joked: "Is he in your bubble? Happy birthday to your daughter."

nelly birthday

Zoe's fans were convinced the cardboard cut-out of Jug Head was Cole Sprouse himself!

The Strictly: It Takes Two host and her ex-husband Norman Cook, also known as Fatboy Slim, share two children: Woody, 20, and Nelly, eleven.

Zoe is clearly close to her kids, as they both left her sweet notes back in November. Sharing a photo of each on Instagram, Nelly's sweet, multi-coloured note read: "To mum, I love you so much. You are one of my favourite people. You do so much for me and you're amazing. You're incredible. You're sensational and I absolutely love you. Thanks for not getting mad at me when I stained the [illegible]."

strictly note

The BBC Radio 2 presenter showed off her children's sweet messages

Woody used a series of Post-it notes to spell out his message, which said: "You are a hero mum." How lovely!

Zoe wrote: "The joy of seeing these messages from my beautiful kids this am. Heart kaboom. #blessed #bestbears #sunshine #gratitudes."

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