Fathers celebrate their special day on Sunday, June 21. Celebrities tell us their dads’ best advice and how much they mean to them
JAMEELA JAMIL, 29, DJ and TV presenter
“My dad Ali, 71, was a ’fun’ dad who, when he took me to school, would wink at me before we left the house and say, ’We’ll take the scenic route’. That was our code so my mum wouldn’t realise we were going via the doughnut shop for a sugary breakfast, which she definitely wouldn’t have allowed! He also nurtured my love of music early. When I couldn’t sleep as a toddler he’d get me out of my cot, sit me down next to him and feed me dollops of ice-cream while we watched TV repeats of Top Of The Pops late into the night. Sound and sugar were obviously a perfect combination for me.”
BEST ADVICE HE GAVE ME: “’Try not to be too responsible or reveal too many strengths because people will overburden you with things to take care of and look after’. At home, for instance, he made a point of looking hopeless at cooking even though he’s really good because he didn’t want to end up doing it all the time!”
:: Jameela Jamil is ambassador for Holland & Barrett’s new Free From offering. Visit www.hollandandbarrett.com to view a range of more than 1,000 gluten and dairy-free products
SARAH BEENY, 43, TV property expert
“My dad, Richard, is an amazing role model. He’s always had time for me and I think that’s a real achievement, because not every child can say that about their parents. He’s a fun-loving person and we’ll often find ourselves talking and laughing together late into the night.
“Last month my dad got married and my brother, who was his best man, described Dad in his speech as having a big, strong heart. That’s so true. I admire him for it and it’s such an important quality in a father.”
BEST ADVICE HE GAVE ME: “His sound advice on how to succeed in business and make money was, ’Find something someone doesn’t want and sell it to someone who does want it’. He’s always given me the confidence to believe everything will turn out all right in the end because he says, ’Whatever happens in life, any crisis, will eventually work itself out whether it’s a week, a month or a year down the line’.”
:: Property expert Sarah Beeny has joined with living solutions specialist Hafele UK and created a new Sarah Beeny Home collection, available through Amazon (www.amazon.co.uk)
CHRIS PACKHAM, 54, naturalist and TV presenter on BBC’s Springwatch
“Without my father Colin’s unfailing drive to get me to better myself, I would never have had the life I have. He was extraordinarily demanding, set almost impossible targets, but was always there to help me try and reach them – whether it was maths homework, driving me to see a bird, or fixing my car.
“One of my best memories is when I was eight and he took me camping in the New Forest and in the flickering, weak beam of his torch, he found me my first ever living bat. I nearly burst with excitement. That’s where I probably first got the nature bug and I’ve been going back there again and again ever since because of those happy memories with him.”
BEST ADVICE HE GAVE ME: “Indirectly, he made it clear that winning isn’t everything, but it’s the only thing that counts, which was his mantra for success. And, as such, I’m one of the world’s worst losers and most obstinate tryer! I never give up, because he never allowed it.”
:: Chris Packham is an ambassador to UK campsite specialists, Camping In The Forest (www.campingintheforest.co.uk)
ROBSON GREEN, 50, actor currently starring in Sky 1’s Strike Back
“I’m named after my dad and he was an amazing man. He worked in an industry that I perceived was not designed for human beings – mining. He spent most of his life down a black hole, a mile underneath the earth, bringing out coal to fuel the world. While he loved what he did, he was at his happiest dancing, he was a champion dancer, and also when he was growing his flowers. He loved nurturing life, no matter how small or insignificant because he said it was good for his soul, and I saw that kind of happiness and that’s what I aspired to enjoy. I achieve that by working in theatre and television and film.”
BEST ADVICE HE GAVE ME: “’Always invest in people’ was what he drummed into me. Dad was a good socialist – and he taught me that if you do that, the emotional rewards will come back. So I’m a stickler for the NHS, education, public services and defence, which benefit people. He also told me, ’Don’t do anything just for the money’.”
SANDI TOKSVIG, 57, TV and radio presenter and comedian
“My dad, Claus, was the most charming man I ever met, who had the most impeccable manners. He treated me with such respect as a child, but he didn’t give me a lot of advice.”
BEST ADVICE HE GAVE ME: “He just told me two very wise things: ’Never trust a man in a ready-made bow tie’, which I think still stands true today, and, ’One Martini is not enough, two is plenty and three is too many’. Really, that’s all you need to know in life.”
YVETTE FIELDING, 46, who found fame as Blue Peter’s youngest presenter and is host of Really’s Most Haunted series
“My dad, Alan, was obsessed with American cars and collected them. I remember being very proud because when he used to pick me up from school, he’d really impress my mates by coming in these incredible motors – anything from a red Corvette Stingray, to a Pontiac or a Mustang and I was like, ’Yeah, my dad’s really rocking and cool’.”
BEST ADVICE HE GAVE ME: Instead of advice, he really just taught me things and inspired me. So he taught me how to play squash to a competitive level and, of course, inspired my love of cars. I’ve got a whole collection just like he had including Aston Martins, a Land Rover, a London taxi and a Porsche Chesil Speedster. I love them all and that’s all thanks to him. Anything I wanted to do, he was like, ’Great, go for it’.“
ANDREW CASTLE, 51, retired tennis professional and TV and radio presenter
“I was 19 and had been away for two years on a tennis scholarship in America when I got the call that my father, Frank, had died. We were very close and at least once a week, he’d send handwritten airmail letters and cuttings from the sports pages about football as we were both mad keen on it.
“My lasting regret is that, as an adult, I didn’t get the chance to know him. I think about him every day and visit his grave for a chat occasionally. I recently discovered some pictures of him serving in the Second World War and it was very moving as I look very like him. He was such a presence and a security in my life, and my memory is of him sitting, smoking his pipe and watching wrestling or football, in between working in his fish and chip shop. Inevitably, he’d fall asleep with the pipe balanced between his lips and it would drop down and burn his cardigan! Even today, if I smell his brand of tobacco, it will instantly conjure that feeling of being with him.”
BEST ADVICE HE GAVE ME: “’Never put an umbrella up in the house because it brings bad luck’ was his often repeated advice! He used to go mad if someone did and now if someone does that I freak out just like he used to. He inspired me rather than advising me because he made such tremendous sacrifices to allow me to follow my dream of playing tennis, which was incredibly hard for a working class family to afford.”
ANITA DOBSON, 66, actor starring as Queen Elizabeth I in BBC Two’s drama series, Armada
“My father Alf, a dress-cutter, gave me a tremendous love of the written word. He loved to both write and read and I think he would have loved to have been an actor himself. Even though we didn’t have much money and lived in the East End, he made sure I read good books, everything from Shakespeare to Oscar Wilde.”
BEST ADVICE HE GAVE ME: “My mum was very afraid that I was going into such an insecure profession as acting but my dad said, ’Just because you’re born in the East End, it doesn’t mean you have to spend the rest of your life there. There’s a whole world out there and if there’s something you want to do, get out there and do it because you have as much right as anyone else’. He also told me not to change my surname because he longed to see my name up in lights and he did before he died, which gives me great pleasure.”
TOM & HENRY HERBERT, TV cooking double act The Fabulous Baker Brothers
“Our dad Trevor, a baker, is our inspiration. He’s the rock of the family and we owe a lot to him. We worked with him in the bakery from an early age, earning pocket money, and he made it all such fun – especially putting jam in doughnuts! He used to let us have fun and try new things with our food from an early age and helped us really develop a love of cooking.
“Some of our happiest childhood memories are holidays in France where we’d experiment with weird and wonderful barbecue recipes.”
BEST ADVICE HE GAVE US: “He passed down our grandfather’s motto ’people before property’, so we’re very family orientated and are always inviting friends and family to come on over as a means of spending time together. It’s about family, neighbourliness, community and realising how much that counts.”
:: Tom and Henry Herbert of TLC’s The Fabulous Baker Brothers: A Bite of Britain and Weber barbecues, have joined forces to encourage the UK to reach out to neighbours and get together this summer with their Come On Over campaign. For information, recipes, videos and advice or to enter the £comeonover competition, visit www.weber.com
ALEX CORBISIERO, 26, England and Northampton Saints rugby player
“My dad, Richard, means everything to me. He’s my biggest supporter and has believed in me from day one. We lived in America until I was five and the first thing he did when we arrived in Surrey was take me to the local rugby club so I could join up. He was amazing at taking me and my friends to training sessions and taking us across the country for selection trials. Nothing was ever too much trouble and he was always there to drive me on.
“I will always remember that after a long struggle when I often felt like giving up, I finally got chosen for the Surrey under-16s squad and he shouted with joy and cried all at the same time.”
BEST PIECE OF ADVICE HE GAVE ME: “Never give up and never take no for an answer was what he taught me, and also that hard work and luck are equally vital to success. He’s also always told me to be open to new ideas and follows up on things I’ve found out about. So as I’m on a gluten-free diet, he’s now joined me. That’s typical of him.”
:: Alex Corbisiero is brand ambassador for Newburn Bakehouse, Warburtons’ gluten-free range. Visit www.newburnbakehouse.com
JULIEN MACDONALD, 44, fashion designer
“One of my happiest childhood memories of me and father, Glyn, 81, is riding along Blackpool Pleasure Beach with him on a donkey. It was a father and son ritual that we enjoyed on our annual holidays. Also I loved watching him and my mother dancing in the Tower Ballroom, which is really why we went to the resort, and it was lovely seeing him look so happy skilfully spinning my mother around on the floor.”
BEST ADVICE HE GAVE ME: “The first was to always smile and be nice to people because life’s too short and you never know when you might meet or need them again, and the second was to never give up on your dreams – just because you’re starting small don’t be afraid to have big aspirations. My father played football for QPR when he was young but a sporting injury curtailed his career and even though that was a huge disappointment, he still championed other people and wanted them to be successful, and he was hugely supportive of me.”
STACY ANN ’FERGIE’ FERGUSON, 40, TV presenter and singer formerly with The Black Eyed Peas
“My dad, John is amazing. We’re very close and we recently created a wine together which was a lovely project to do with him because all his life, living in California, he’s loved horticulture.
“When I was little, I was convinced he was a farmer because he was always out in our back yard tending to his crop of fruit and vegetables. He followed the principles of organic horticulture long before anyone ever talked about that word and we feasted on his produce all year round.”
BEST ADVICE HE GAVE ME. “After school, my dad would meet me and always tell me these little quotes he’d found which he thought were useful. One which has really stuck with me is: ’Success is in the journey’. So many times I’ve had to remind myself of that because I’m very goal-orientated, but this pulls me up and makes me live in the moment.”
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