Under the microscope
CAN YOU RUN UP THE STAIRS?
YES. I split my time between my homes in the Loire Valley and Kent. When I’m in France, I do 20 to 30 km cycle rides a couple of times a week to keep fit.
GET YOUR FIVE-A-DAY?
YES, I love vegetables. Si (King, the other half of the Hairy Bikers) and I do try to practise what we preach and eat healthily. I aim for five a day.
POP ANY PILLS?
I TAKE daily eye drops for glaucoma [where pressure in the eye becomes too high], which I had diagnosed in both eyes seven years ago. I was lucky it got picked up early and the condition is stable. I have regular eye tests — I am very short-sighted and have worn spectacles since I was eight.
EVER DIETED?
YES. We did a TV series in 2012 called Hairy Dieters: How To Love Food And Lose Weight. Si was just shy of 20 st and I was 18 ½ st. We went on a 1,200calorie-a-day diet and each lost 3 st. Now, I keep carbohydrate portions under control and eat as much fish as I can. I’m 6ft and around 15 st.
ANY VICES?
I LOVE my booze. When Si and I are filming, we don’t drink a great deal, as you can’t film with a hangover. Food is my main vice, though — I love pizza, but that really is high in calories.
MOST SERIOUS ILLNESS?
THE glaucoma could be very serious. I was told I could lose my sight if I didn’t have it treated. In 1998, I had brain surgery to remove an arachnoid [fluidfilled] cyst the size of a small bread roll. I collapsed while working as a make-up artist on a film set in Aberdeen. They put a shunt in my head to drain the fluid and I was very ill for a time. I was told I’d had the cyst since birth.
ANY FAMILY AILMENTS?
MY MOTHER died aged 65 of multiple sclerosis and my father died of a stroke aged 75, but he was a lifelong smoker.
HAD ANYTHING REMOVED?
MY APPENDIX, when I was eight.
IS SEX IMPORTANT?
YES, of course. I am lucky to be married to a woman I love. I have a great marriage.
EVER BEEN DEPRESSED?
YES, but there’s always been a reason. I have never had proper depression.
ANY PHOBIAS?
COCKROACHES. When I was a child, I lived in a house that had cockroaches and, in those days, they seemed monstrously large.
HANGOVER CURE?
A BACON sandwich and a pot of hot tea or, if I am not doing anything, a Bloody Mary works wonders.
WHAT KEEPS YOU UP AT NIGHT?
WORRYING. I have always been a worrier since being a boy.
LIKE TO LIVE FOR EVER?
I WOULD if I could stay healthy.
DAve is ambassador for Specsavers’ Transforming eye Health campaign. visit specsavers.co.uk