TV presenter Diane Johnson, better known by her stage name Diane Louise Jordan, says the best year of her life was 1990 – the year she got her job on Blue Peter. Jordan, the show’s first black presenter, talked to DONNA FERGUSON about growing up ‘extremely poor’ and how Blue Peter helped transform her finances. … Read more
Prolific: Lady Antonia is still writing aged 88 The most expensive item the author Lady Antonia Fraser has ever bought herself for fun was a heated swimming pool for her lodge in the Scottish Highlands. Fraser, the daughter of an earl and whose second husband was playwright Harold Pinter, told DONNA FERGUSON her biggest money … Read more
Entrepreneur Mo Chaudry would tax online companies and reduce the bill for high street retailers if he were made Chancellor of the Exchequer. Chaudry, 60, who is estimated to be worth around £150 million, spoke to DONNA FERGUSON about what it is like to grow up poor and end up rich beyond your wildest dreams. … Read more
BBC TV presenter Kirsten O’Brien says the past year has been the most financially challenging of her life. O’Brien, 49, who hosted the popular CBBC art programme SMart for a decade, says her top priority is balancing the books after a ‘precarious year’ for freelancers such as herself in the TV and arts industry. She … Read more
Winner: Kay Mellor’s TV hit The Syndicate begins its fourth series on Tuesday Screenwriter Kay Mellor OBE believes NHS frontline workers should be given a ‘big fat pay rise’ when the pandemic is over – and says she is willing to pay higher taxes to help fund it. Mellor is the writer of hit TV … Read more
Olympian Graham Bell was so poor when he was training as a ski racer that he would eat the food other skiers had left behind on tables in restaurants. Along with brother Martin, Bell competed for Great Britain at the Winter Olympics throughout the 1980s and 1990s. But he never made much money and doubled … Read more
It took songwriter Eliot Kennedy just an hour to write 1996 hit song Say You’ll Be There for the Spice Girls – netting him more than £1million. Kennedy, 51, who has just released his first album, also co-wrote several other number one hits in the 1990s such as Celine Dion’s Let’s Talk About Love, When … Read more
On hold: Carina Lepore had hoped to open more bakeries by now Carina Lepore, winner of The Apprentice in 2019, is determined to keep her fledgling business afloat. As a result of winning the BBC TV contest, Lepore got a £250,000 cash injection from Lord Sugar into her artisan bakery and coffee shop business, Dough … Read more
Financial guru Alvin Hall says the best money decision he ever made was investing in some technology stocks in the 1990s. Hall, 68, became famous on Wall Street for his work as a financial trainer and his ability to translate complex financial concepts into simple English. He lives in a £1.5million apartment in Manhattan, New … Read more
Home comforts: Melinda Messenger has invested in property Former glamour model Melinda Messenger earns a fraction of the money she used to receive in the late 1990s at the height of her fame. But she appreciates what she has more nowadays. The 49-year-old happily retrained as a psychotherapist and lives in Berkshire with children Morgan, … Read more