The Twilight Saga: Eclipse The Movie

Robert Pattinson’s hometown rag has a full photo history of the man, from toddler to today. What an adorable kid he was! We all know cute kids don’t always turn out to be handsome adults, or vice versa!

The little blond chap on his tricycle, in smart pants and braces, was always a cutie – no wonder he grew up into the Sexiest Man Alive.

Robert Pattinson, awarded that accolade by a glossy US magazine, is the chiselled-featured star of the hit Twilight vampire films, who can command £10million a movie. But to those who know 23-year-old Robert best, he was always a star – even as a chubby-cheeked toddler or a girl-shy youngster, thrilled to be pocketing £10 a week from his paper round.

Our previously unseen childhood photos show Robert growing up in Barnes, South West London.

The shots of him on his trike or playing soldiers at an Army show are a world away from the mania that surrounds him today.

In Twilight, the biggest phenomenon since Harry Potter, he plays high school veggie vampire Edward Cullen who falls for beautiful Bella Swan – played by Kristen Stewart, who is rumoured to be Robert’s girlfriend.

The teen flick has grossed £220million worldwide and has earned Robert heartthrob status among his besotted female fans.

But his family, talking exclusively to the Mirror, insist that Robert is as down to earth today as he was just a few years ago, when he walked neighbours’ dogs to boost his pocket money. Aunt Diana Nutley, 62, from Richmond, Surrey, says: “Rob is very cool about it all, but he can’t believe it either. He is gob-smacked by all the attention. He’s handsome, a bit quirky. He reminds me of Hugh Grant. He’s had no professional training – he wasn’t a member of Rada or anything. It’s all from amateur dramatics. We’re all very proud of him.”