GEORGE HOOK, BROADCASTER

The person My mother, Anne. Not a day goes by that I don’t think about her. She gave us everything. It is because of her that I got a private education and am where I am today The memory Ireland versus Wales in Lansdowne Road in 1956. Wales were unbeaten when they came to Dublin. There was a huge shock, because that day they were beaten by Ireland. The great Jackie Kyle dropped a ball from the touchline of the east stand. And I’m standing there at the goalpost. I only saw him play once, but it’s still my greatest memory, because I can say I saw the greatest-ever Irish rugby player. I was a kid, but it was a memory that never left me The moment of the day My breakfast. It’s a fantastic time for me to sit and read the paper and drink coffee. If I haven’t had my six coffees by 8am, then I haven’t had breakfast The drink Villa Maria Sauvignon Blanc The song It’s not a song, but it’s a piece of music. My father, who was in a band, used to tell me to listen out for a section with drums in American Patrol by Glenn Miller, and explained just how difficult that was. Every time I hear that piece of music, I think of my father The movie It’s a boring one, but The Magnificent Seven The hero Winston Churchill. He saved his country during World War II, and he did it using the power of words. The book The book goes back to my childhood — Billy Bunter of Greyfriars School by Frank Richards. It gave me a love of books. I read a book a day. I may not always finish it, but I might read 100 pages, then pick up another book and read 50. I am always reading, and that book was the trigger The outfit Men never get a chance to dress up, so for me to dress in black tie is one of life’s great enjoyments The accessory My watch. I wear my watch in quite an unusual fashion, with the face under my wrist. I had a job in the early 1960s; I was working with equipment, and I kept banging my watch off it, so I turned it the other way to avoid breaking it, and then it just became a habit The gadget When I was a student, a lot of people would borrow their parents’ car. But we were poor, so we didn’t have a car. I used to have an awful time trying to get home. I always promised myself that when I could afford it, I’d get a really good car. At 73, I bought myself a two-seater Mercedes, so that’s my favourite gadget The pet hate Timekeeping. I cannot abide people who are late. I am never late. Not only am I on time, I am always early. There are people who are incapable of being on time and can’t understand why I’m absolutely in hysterics that they’re late. It makes me really, really upset The friend I’m going to cheat, because I have two. Kyran and Simon. We’ve been friends since we were 19. What is fantastic is they stuck with me through thick and thin. When times were really bad, they were there for me, and that was the true test of friendship. We meet the week before Christmas for lunch, and we’ve been doing that, year in, year out, for at least the last 40 years The beauty product I love aftershave. People of my generation — certainly my early life — we must have smelled like hell. Forget beauty products, there wasn’t even deodorant. I found that women would comment and say, ‘Oh, I really like your aftershave’. I still get a kick out of that if a woman says she likes it. Mine is L’Eau D’Issey Pour Homme by Issey Miyake The smell I love the smell of my wife Ingrid’s hair. It smells like hair. She’s at the hairdresser, and when she comes back, I’ll smell her hair The holiday I’ve been going to the same place for 35 years, which is the island of Bermuda The piece of advice I would give the same piece of advice that my father gave me when I was very young. ‘If you have an opinion, keep it and don’t allow people to pressurise you to into changing it’ The hotel The Fairmont hotel in San Francisco. It’s just a fantastic old atmosphere The bar One of the great stories of World War II was the surrender of Singapore to the Japanese. One of the great riots was in a hotel called Raffles. The bar in Raffles is a fantastic place, and every time I’m there, I drink a gin and tonic and sit there and think what it must have been like for all the British having their last drink, realising the Japanese were coming down the road The hobby My hobby is history, and particularly the history of World War I The part of my body It is a bit hard to have a favourite part of your body when you’re 75 and the whole thing is falling apart, but, interestingly, it is my legs. The celebrity A person I admire greatly is Pamela Anderson, and not for the obvious reasons. She has a very high IQ, and she’s an extraordinarily clever woman The virtue Loyalty. People that work for me know that about me. Loyalty is everything. When you let me down on an issue where I think you should be loyal — because I’m incredibly loyal — then there’s no way back The vice I don’t drink, smoke or gamble to excess. I have only one vice . . . guess The taste Curry. I adore Indian food George Hook presents ‘High Noon’ on Newstalk 106-108FM, weekdays from 12pm-2pm Twitter: @ghook