Matthew Kelly has admitted that his retirement plans have been put on hold by serious financial woes in recent years.
The beloved actor and TV presenter, 74, throughout the 1980s and 1990s.
Game for a Laugh, You Bet!, and Stars In Their Eyes were all staple viewing in households up and down the country between 1981 and 2004.
But despite being one of the biggest faces on back then, Matthew – who backed away from the bright lights of Saturday nights 20 years ago – is still having to find work.
He returned to acting full-time following the end of Stars In Their Eyes but has now admitted that it wasn’t enough to sustain himself after spending his TV earnings.
Speaking to Kate Thornton on her White Wine Question Time podcast, he explained that, despite being paid ‘very well’, the money from his days on ITV has dried up.
‘Well, you see, luckily, the baby Jesus made me rubbish with money, so I have to keep working, which is a very good thing for me. I need to get out of the house.
‘I’m not that pleased with [my view on spending money] really. You know, I’m just s**t at it, that’s all. You know, I would love to have a bit put by.’
He continued: ‘There was money [from Stars In Their Eyes], but it’s all gone. I did read in one article how much I was supposed to be getting per episode. And I thought, “Oh, if only!”
‘In actual fact, I was being paid very well. So it’s not as if you could go, “Excuse me, I think you’ll find that I’m only being paid a fraction of that!” But even the fraction was pretty good.’
After leaving presenting behind, Matthew moved over to the BBC where he starred in a run of drama productions, and also continued acting on the stage. He won a Tony Award in 2004 for his work on a stage production of Of Mice and Men.
In more recent years, the TV host has also starred in theatre adaptations of Big, Educating Rita, and Waiting for Godot, while also appearing in comedy series such as Benidorm and Inside No.9.
The revelation about his spending habits comes not longer after Matthew admitted to set.
An ordinary night at the studio almost ended in a tragic disaster when a disco ball nearly came crashing down from above his head.
He described the shocking incident on the My Time Capsule podcast: ‘As I stepped onto the stage, this giant mirror ball fell from the ceiling and smashed into a million pieces at exactly the spot where I would have been standing two seconds later.’
