I haven’t always been rich. My parents, who were frequently in and out of work, raised me and my bothers and sister in a terraced house on a Leeds council estate. At one point neither of them were employed and our family spent two years without power. Instead we cooked food on the coal fire and used a small paraffin lamp for light.

Even on a personal level it changed my outlook on life. I was spending time with people only 20 or 30 years older than myself who were unable to look after themselves, and it made me realise that none of us have much time. It made me think about the importance of retiring as early as possible, of making the most of life and it made me so relieved that I’m fortunate enough to be able to give my mum all the care and attention she needs.

Even though I love the luxuries I have now and I wouldn’t choose to give them up, I think part of the reason I wanted to take part in the TV show was because I wanted to see if I could actually live like that again and I showed that I could.

I have been organising charity events for Cancer Research for a number of years, which is such a worthy cause however you never see the individual who will benefit from it and you just hope that the money is being used in the right places.

With Secret Millionaire though what means more is when you see how you can make a dramatic impact on someone’s life. There’s a personal satisfaction in giving an unexpected, personal gift to someone. There are people who say to you “I’m alright with life, doing well” but you can see that they aren’t ok and it’s a struggle for them to carry on. To give them that extra cash boost and see their reaction is just amazing and is the strength of the programme.