Moneysaving expert Martin Lewis reveals he barely left the house for six years after his mother died in horse-riding accident when he was just 11
- Lewis’ mother, Susan, died in a collision with a lorry while out horseriding
- The TV presenter said he seldom left house for fear ‘something else happening’
- He added: ‘I was…struggling to deal with something nobody should at that age’
- Lewis appears on Sunday’s episode of Radio 4’s Desert Island Discs
Money saving expert Martin Lewis has revealed how as a child he rarely left his home until the age of 18 after his mother’s death
Money saving expert Martin Lewis has revealed how he seldom left the house until he reached the age of 18, after his mother died in an accident while he was just a young child.
The television presenter, 48, has spoken before about he still struggles to cope with the loss of his mother, Susan, who died days before he turned 12 following a collision with a lorry while out horseriding with his sister.
Now the multi-millionaire founder of Money Saving Expert has described how except for going to school, he rarely left his home for fear that, ‘something else could happen’, The Sunday Times reports.
Lewis, who appears on today’s episode of Radio 4’s Desert Island Discs, said: ‘I never left the house, couldn’t leave the house, because I wasn’t at home when it happened to my mum and I couldn’t cope with the thought of leaving the house because something else could happen.
‘It was very difficult because when all my friends from school were going to parties and meeting girls and things like that, which I’d have liked to do, I couldn’t cope with it.’
Lewis, who is Jewish, added that he would mask his avoidance of parties by pretending he had a busy social life through the Jewish community.
Lewis, with his TV presenter wife, Lara Lewington, has opened up about his mother’s death
Reflecting on those years, he said: ‘I was a little boy struggling to deal with something that nobody should be dealing with at that age.’
During an appearance on Loose Women in 2019, Lewis – who regularly appears on This Morning – admitted he found it difficult to open up about the ordeal for decades, until he was asked to become a patron of Grief Encounter, a charity that provides free support to children who have been bereaved.
The This Morning presenter said he would avoid going to social events up to the age of 18
‘I am still now 35 years later deeply scarred,’ he told the panel. ‘It was a defining point in my life. It changed the way I act and behave. It was devastating.
‘We didn’t know what to do. It was the mid 80s you didn’t do that type of thing. My father, my sister and I were incredibly wounded for such a long time.’
Lewis – who has a seven-year-old daughter, Sapphire, with his TV presenter wife Lara Lewington – said for many years he focused only on the pain of his loss.
‘I struggle to remember anything other than the pain,’ he said. ‘I am trying to remember the wonderful person I lost, not remember that I lost a wonderful person.