I used to get somebody else to stand in
but when I was there they looked after
me very well. They used to put up in the
Chesterfield Hotel in London because
I was working until 2am or 3am - it was
fantastic experience for me. You had
to dress up and be smart because the
people who go there have tons of I used
to see the bills for thousands of pounds.
Michael Flatley and his ladies used to
run up bills that would come to about
£4,500 or £6,000 a night.
My love affair
with the people
of Sussex is the
reason I decided
to get involved
in doing lots
of charity work
and how I got
involved with
Chestnut Tree
House
Prince Andrew used to come in there as
well; he would use the VIP area upstairs.
It was just fantastic to see just how the
other half lived. I loved it; it was another
fantastic part of my career.
My work in radio gave me a love affair
with the people of Sussex because they
were so good to me and without them
I wouldn’t be where I am today. If they
hadn’t fought for me I wouldn’t have
come back. I think everyone agrees that
my profile in Sussex went that much
higher when I got the sack and when I
came back and made an even bigger
success of it.
Everywhere I go, even now, people say
‘oh god I remember listening to your
show It’s amazing. I’m honoured and I
feel really humble about it.
My love affair with the people of Sussex
is the reason I decided to get involved
in doing lots of charity work and how I
got involved with Chestnut Tree House,
I was the very first patron of Chestnut
Tree House. I was approached before
the hospice was built and people
involved with the charity thought I would
be a good person to get behind their
fundraising campaign because I was
so well known in Sussex. I agreed to
get involved and then they told me they
needed to raise £5 million in three years
to build the hospice. They hadn’t told me
before because they hadn’t wanted to
scare me off! We did loads of fundraising
and achieved the target.
Land was donated to the charity by
Lady Sarah Clutton who is the president
and the hospice was built and opened
by Princess Alexandra. Last year was
our tenth and whatever happens to
me, that’s one of the things I’ll always
be proudest of - being involved with
Chestnut Tree House. I’ve seen it grow
from a small thing - an idea and then we
built a house and started off with just
30 children. We now look after over 300
kids and families. It’s a fantastic place for
kids with life limiting illnesses. Most of
the kids die before they’re 20 years old
and we’re able to give them lots of care
and attention and help with their families.
I’ve been to the homes of some of these
families and they go through hell.
I’ve come out from one or two or the
houses and had to go and sit in my car
for half an hour in tears because it’s just
so much hard work for them - you thank
your lucky stars but I think Chestnut Tree
House has helped an awful lot of people
and we will continue to help people and
it makes me feel really happy and proud
- I do my best for them and, of course,
I’m also patron of St Barnabas Hospice
as well, which is the adult hospice.
I’ve done things for the Princes Trust,
the Heart Foundation, loads of different
charities over the years. It’s good
because you feel like you’re helping and
making a difference and that’s what life
is all about, isn’t it?
Aside from the radio and charity work,
I concentrate on my company. It’s been
running since 1997 and one of the main
reasons for its success is because of the
amount of contacts we have locally and
even nationally.
I also set up an entertainme