The one lesson I’ve learned from life TV presenter Gregg Wallace
GreGG Wallace, 53, has hosted Masterchef since 2005. Divorced three times, he has two children and lives with his fourth wife in Kent.
SEEK OUT THE SOURCE OF ANXIETY
Love is a lottery, and I happened to find the winning ticket — my fourth wife, Anna. We’d already met when I appeared on Strictly Come Dancing in 2014 and the anxiety I suffered had come to a head. I had sleepless nights, got into panics and my face broke out in cold sores.
A Strictly physiotherapist put me in touch with a therapist who identified low self-esteem. She gave me techniques to cope that I still use: for example, sometimes writing down the issues you think are bothering you can help.
Through therapy I found the source of my anxiety. My mum married my dad, an electrician from Peckham, at 17 and had an affair with a man called Jerry. I was the result, but she stayed with my dad and had another son ten years later. Then she divorced Dad, married Jerry and had another son 20 years younger than me. When Jerry and Mum married, I felt like a dirty cup Mum couldn’t wash up and put away. I left school at 15 and lived alone in the flat my parents had vacated. That’s when the low self-esteem started.
I ended up starting my first fruit and vegetable business at 24, and before my 30th birthday, I was turning over more than £5 million a year. From that I got a radio and Tv career, but I was still suffering from anxiety.
My first marriage in 1991 lasted six weeks. I’d been on my own for so long that I had a desire to find an anchor. The next relationship, with my children’s mum, lasted 15 years and we built a family together. But she had a drink issue and it started to fall apart — she died last year. I rushed into my third marriage out of loneliness.
So, when I met Anna on Twitter, I said I wanted to date for a year, then live together for a year, and then I’d ask her to marry me. We married two years ago.
I am still prone to anxiety, but now I have techniques to manage it better. And my daughter, Libby, gave me the best advice about my new stage show: ‘Dad, the audience will only be uncomfortable if you’re uncomfortable.’
Nothing matters in your life if you can’t get to a happy, comfortable place.
GreGG Wallace: Doesn’t Get Tougher Than This is on tour from September 8.