Time and again I’ve been told that I’m selfish

I MET my first really proper girlfriend, Helena, in the offices of the Ross Tallon modelling agency during my brief stint as a model in my final year at vet school.

I saw this stunning girl with long blonde hair waft past. I had absolutely no idea who she was.

I flicked through the book of headshots on the desk.

Her name was Helena – brilliant – and better still, there was her phone number. No pen but a screwdriver, so I literally scraped Helena’s number on to a cigarette packet grabbed from a bin.

I called and bagged a lovely date with a lovely girl. Helena was and still is amazing. If I had married her, my life would have turned out very differently.

I would not have had my heart broken and I would not have broken any hearts.

We split mainly because I wanted to move to London to follow my dreams.

I could have got married a few times in my life, and why I’m not married at age 50 fascinates people more than anything else about me.

It could be said that I gravitate towards animals because I find human relationships difficult.

The bottom line is that from my partners’ point of view, I have been selfish – something that I have been told time and time again.

So, for example, while I have been fixing a dog, a girl I loved has been in bed with someone else. That’s a bitter pill to swallow… and yet I can see it from her point of view.

Why should she put up with always being second best to a dog or cat in crisis?