Alistair McGowan, 61, has hosted several TV series, most notably The Big Impression on BBC1 from 1999 until 2004, writes Peter Robertson.
His second book of poetry, Like Never Before, has just been published.
He topped the classical chart in 2017 with The Piano Album, and he is artistic director of Ludlow Piano Festival. He lives in Ludlow, Shropshire, with his wife, the singer Charlotte Page.
What did your parents teach you about money?
My parents both worked as teachers and taught me to never talk about money. Mum liked quoting Shakespeare, and told me: ‘Neither a borrower nor a lender be.’
I was good at maths and Mum thought I should become an accountant, which would not have suited me.
Mum and Dad could not have been more helpful with my career.
Man of many talents: Alistair hosted The Big Impression from 1999 until 2004, is a published poet and topped the classical chart in 2017 with The Piano Album
What was your first pay packet?
The first thing I got paid for was picking fruit in the Vale of Evesham when I was 15.
You got paid by how much you picked. My sister Kay picked much more than me as I was too busy looking at the distant Malvern Hills, the curves of which to me resembled a woman lying in bed.
I learnt early on that you shouldn’t eat too many plums as you pick them – I made that mistake and never forgot it.
Have you ever struggled to make ends meet?
I studied at Guildhall School Of Music & Drama – at the same time as Daniel Craig and Rhys Ifans.
That was three years of struggle, so I did part-time jobs, including tearing tickets and selling ice creams in a London theatre when High Society starring Trevor Eve and Natasha Richardson was on.
The pay was low and the tray was heavy, but I loved the show and must have seen it 100 times.
Have you ever been paid silly money?
I do a silly job, so I think all the money I earn as a comic is silly.
It evens itself out, because over the years I’ve done many things that don’t pay, but other times you do get some ridiculous figures for corporate work.
My biggest pay cheque was for doing the panto Cinderella with Joanna Page and Gareth Gates at Wimbledon in 2008.
That was the only time I did a job because of the money, but I didn’t enjoy it at all because I’m not made for panto.
What’s been the best year of your financial life?
Probably 2005. The Big Impression, for which I wasn’t brilliantly paid by the BBC, ended in 2004, but then I had the time to put my energies into things like live work. And because I was fresh off the telly, people paid me well.
Copy that: Alistair with Ronni Ancona as Posh and Becks in The Big Impression
Are you a spender or saver?
A saver. I’m not a big spender – I’ve never been a material person. Property has always been my thing – to live somewhere nice and have nice things in the house.
I’m not a holidays person, I’ve never owned a car – though my wife Charlie has one – and I don’t buy anything online.
I like charity shops. You get good stuff there. If they renamed them recycling shops, more people would go.
What’s the most expensive thing you bought for fun?
In 2001 I bought a baby grand piano for £5,000 from my friend [the author and cartoonist] Barry Fantoni, who sadly died in 2025. It sat unplayed in three different houses for about ten years.
Then I had very noisy neighbours move in next door, so I played a very loud Chopin piece, hoping it would disturb them as much as they disturbed me.
So my piano career began as a revenge exercise. I’ve not stopped since. I set up the Ludlow Piano Festival in 2023, and I perform at that on alternate years.
In my touring show there’s music, poetry and comedy.
I’ll do an impression of footballer Harry Kane then I’ll play a piece of Gershwin.
What has been your biggest money mistake?
In 2007 I was living in Brighton with a fiancee. I bought two properties there for her to do up – she loved watching [property expert] Sarah Beeny and thought she could make us a lot of money.
Then we split and the financial crash happened. I was renting a flat in London and was left with a house in Brighton she lived in and two investment properties which we sold at a loss.
My money was all tied up in those properties, and that’s why I did the panto.
I went back to Brighton for my first stand-up tour and, despite owning three properties there, had to stay in a hotel.
That was a real low point financially. But some advice that [TV presenter] Kirstie Allsopp kindly gave me saw me through that period.
The best money decision you’ve made?
When I did The Big Impression with Ronni Ancona, we’d not long ended a relationship of about seven years. Her father Derek sat me down and said: ‘Have you got a financial adviser?’
I said: ‘No. I’m like my parents, I put money in a bank and hope for the best.’
He said ‘Not a good idea. Why don’t you see my chap and he’ll talk you through investments?’
That was the best decision I ever made. Derek is now 91, and last year I sat in the same room with him 30 years on and thanked him.
Do you have a pension?
Yes, and it’s doing well. But because I have financial advisers I trust, I don’t know any more than that. I don’t understand the economy and how things work, which is why it’s good to have a financial adviser.
I’m a total dreamer and artist. I know about putting words together, but anything to do with the financial make-up of the country I struggle with.
Do you still own any property?
Yes. Property was the thing when I started earning at a young age and people started advising me.
Apart from that awful situation in Brighton, which put me off investing and development, property has otherwise mostly been good to me.
In 1991 I bought my first property – a flat in Balham [in south-west London] for £65,000 – and sold it three years later for £57,000! So that was a lesson.
Six years ago, Charlie and I moved out of London to a five-bedroom 1600s house in Ludlow. We don’t miss living in the capital at all.
What would you do if you were Chancellor?
Resign! I’d be absolutely useless. I don’t understand how the public purse works.
I have total sympathy for anybody who has that job.
What is your No.1 financial priority?
I really don’t think about money much. I sort of know there’s enough, so I don’t have any financial priority. If anything, it would be not to worry much about money. My mother used to say: ‘Only people who have money don’t worry about money.’
- For Alistair’s tour dates, visit alistairmcgowan.com. Ludlow Piano Festival is from May 20-24 (ludlowpianofestival.com).