Paddy McGuinness details 'constant fear' that drives him to take on so many jobs
Paddy McGuinness has said he will never turn down a TV job amid 'constant fear' that work might dry up.
McGuinness, 50, is seen on TV on Top Gear, Question of Sport, I Can See Your Voice, Catchpoint and now will host new Channel 4 series Don't Look Down which is part of their Stand Up To Cancer campaign.
He said: "When it comes to telly, it does feel like sometimes 'God he never stops working' but there are always gaps in between filming shows. But also I do think being working class, it's in you, you know? I left school at 16 and you just have that thing of that constant fear of ‘If it stops, what do I do next?’
Paddy McGuinness drops from dizzying heights with Beverley Callard in his new show (Channel 4)Starring alongside childhood pal Peter Kay, the dad-of-three, 50, first appeared on our screens back in 2001 as Bolton-born bouncer Paddy O'Shea in the much-loved comedy, Phoenix Nights and its 2004 spin-off, Max and Paddy's Road to Nowhere. However, despite enjoying a stint in one of the nation’s most beloved comedies, McGuinness revealed in 2021 that he earned more from a job in his local leisure centre than he did for his work on Phoenix Nights.
"You know, you can’t get anything decent in your twenties," McGuinness recalled when discussing young men feeling pressure to buy nice cars. "Well I couldn’t anyhow working in a leisure centre and on Phoenix Nights. And I earned more money in the leisure centre back then."
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"I think that's in any job," Paddy continued last month when discussing his fear of work offers drying up. "You just constantly have that in your mind. So I've always been quite driven in that sense. I've always been looking at the next thing - even when I'm on a show that's really successful, I'm always looking at the next thing or trying to create something myself.
“That's maybe why I've been doing it over 20 years - touch wood, it’s been alright. They're trying to kill me off on this show but I’m alright and surviving it."
In the new show Paddy hosts and leads a team of well-known personalities who will attend a summer training camp in the Austrian Alps, as they attempt to work together to tackle an incredible high wire walk.
Paddy long for a cure for cancer after losing his father to the disease (Channel 4)Tutored by the world’s foremost experts in high wire walking, they will prepare for an unthinkable feat that has never been attempted before; to complete a relay walk, led by Paddy, on a wire looming high above the ground. Others taking part include actor Beverley Callard and Olympian Victoria Pendelton with the funds raised going to Stand Up To Cancer.
Paddy also spoke to the Mirror about his own family links to cancer, which make it a poignant programme to be involved in. He said: "My dad passed away from colon cancer and my brother had leukaemia and he's still with us. My thing with Stand Up 2 Cancer, especially the raising money aspect, is I hope that with all of our lifetimes they’ll have cracked the cure. I'm all about the research and the more money that can be pumped into that the better.
“My brother had leukaemia but with him - and this is kind of a good thing - I don’t even think about it anymore in regards to how he lives his life. From visiting him in Christie's and seeing him really, really ill to now… I'm glad I don't think about it with him.
“I hope, please God, that one day we open the paper - or more likely an iPad - and see that headline, that they’ve finally found a cure for cancer. It'll be mind blowing, It'll be amazing. So that's my hope that we get there with that and the more people that chuck a little bit of money for research along the way, the better.”
* Don’t Look Down starts on Channel 4 from Tuesday 10th October at 9.30pm. To find out more about Stand Up To Cancer and how you can support, visit channel4.com/SU2C
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