If you're a fan of Watchdog's or Rogue Traders, you'll be very familiar with presenter Matt Allwright. We recently caught up with Matt to find out more about his family life, wife, lockdown life and the most frightening moments of his career.
I don’t tell my wife about my investigations!
We’ve got an arrangement where I will text her when it is over. Sometimes I will text to say I am all right and she replies: ‘I didn’t know you wouldn’t be!’ She is glad I haven’t told her when I tell the story.
Family time is precious
When we’ve had celebrations in the past, it has involved a get together with everyone we know who play musical instruments. We had a big online get together for my birthday with loads of my favourite people and it was fun but it is not like live music, which I love. Lockdown itself was quality family time. It was nice having the children around a lot and the four of us together with the dog was like dialling back the clock.
Children bring back memories
One of the best things about being a dad is revisiting childhood memories again. There is stuff that you have shut out since 13 but when you have children, those memories come back to life again. Mine are teenagers now so we are going through the hanging out, boyfriend/girlfriend years!
I’m so thankful
I feel so grateful to have still been working over these last few months. I’ve been doing Watchdog for 23 years now and the joy of going into a place of work feeling like you are doing something useful has been such a blessing.
Never accept an unsolicited offer
I’ve learnt you should never accept an offer or deal if you didn’t solicit it. If something comes out of the blue that you haven’t asked for then it is not a deal you should be interested in. You should be initiating the search through the people you know and trust and then backing it up by making sure it is paid for on a credit card.
I’ve been scammed
Scammers are clever and I’ve been scammed too. I had moved into my first flat in London and the surveyor recommended I get damp proofing done. These guys came in and started ripping the plaster off the wall and I was in the room next door. I heard them say ‘this has already been done’. I was just about to start working on Watchdog and I thought ‘oh my goodness I have been done’. It cost me £1,800, which was a lot of money at the time. I think the surveyor was in league with the damp proofers just to get a back hander for recommending the work. But you do learn and I knew that next time if something was recommended, I should go through proper channels and do it independently.
My scariest TV moment
I never get scared before I confront a rogue dealer. It means if I am, I am not prepared. The encounter I came closest to trouble was a puppy dealer near Bradford. We knew this place was selling puppies and not looking after them. They ended up getting ill and dying. The dealer was near an estate and the guys saw us and chased us down the road. We called the police and they said they would accompany us. The whole thing kicked off and as we left, there was a van full of guys waiting for us. We were so fortuitous the police were with us.
What would you tell your 18-year-old self?
I’d tell him to slow down, leave gaps, listen, laugh, enjoy people and don’t give them such a hard time!
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