No.1 for Interviews - Angus Purden
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The Scots TV presenter of Postcode Challenge chats to No.1 about TV, modelling, nosey parkers, man-Spanx and everything in between!
Angus Purden has been a recognisable face on Scottish TV for years. From presenting Cash in the Attic to his current show, the nail-biting Postcode Challenge, Angus is a primetime mainstay.
When No.1 caught up with him he’d just finished a long day filming and confessed to having had only four hours sleep the night before, meaning he was worried he was making little sense. We assured him that our little chat was the most entertaining and revealing we’ve had in a while...
Are you excited about the new series of Postcode Challenge and what can we expect this series?
Of course – I’m ecstatic! You can expect a lot of tension this series. Basically everything has changed apart from the name. You can win £25,000 every week – but you do have to really work to get it.
We start off the show and it’s all quite cosy and we get to meet the contestants, which is interesting for the viewers because they could be from the same area so they will get to see their friends from various postcodes across the country.
We’re going to have a bit of fun with it, but it becomes more serious as the show goes on.
The contestants are really tested against the clock with their general knowledge and then it’s time for eliminations. So it gets a little bit hectic and frantic winning that money! And then one team is eliminated.
I’ve been presenting it all week and you can’t help but become
very tense for them, because although I know the answers, I still don’t know what the contestants are going to do.
You started your career behind
the camera. Is that something
you think you might return to
one day?
No! [laughs] That’s the only reason I got a job in front of the camera – because I was so rubbish behind it. But I did enjoy it. Television is incredibly difficult to get into so for me the only way in was to start behind the scenes and I managed to wangle myself into Channel 5 News as a runner. It’s a fascinating medium. A lot of people want to be on television and want to be famous, but you know – it’s not the most glamorous job but it’s fascinating behind the scenes!
How did you get your first break in front of the camera?
I was working for various newspapers, writing about property and renovating flats of my own and then I managed to get myself an agent. The first audition that came up was a property show called Room for Improvement on Channel 4, and I got it – miraculously. It was such a success that it got signed up for three series which was great. I travelled about and made all of my mistakes in front of the camera but it was great fun. After that I got Cash in the Attic and I was there for about two and a half years – by the end I’d seen enough antiques to last me a lifetime.
You’ve lived in London and New York and travelled all around the world as a model. Do you think you are back in Scotland for good?
I do love it, but I do see Scotland as a base with my home here and my family, but I want to travel more and more. I’d quite like to live half in New York and half in Scotland. I was modelling in New York for a while and doing a bit of behind the scenes work trying to get into news. But even with a lot of TV experience it was incredibly difficult to get a visa – it’s really a brick wall – but I’m very happy in Scotland.
In TV you often have to turn your hand to anything and everything. Have you ever been asked to do something and thought, “I don’t get paid enough for this!”?
I had to learn the Samba for an event called ‘A little bit Strictly’ and I donned a yellow Lycra jumpsuit – you’ve got to see it to believe it.
That was one I had to be cajoled into by Carol Smillie, it was for a great cause but… never again! It took a couple of months to learn the dance moves – it was incredibly hard. I just didn’t appreciate how hard these guys work. I think that’s definitely one of the most embarrassing and hardest things I’ve ever had to do.
Also, my agent did call me and ask if I wanted to do an advert for Spanx.
What, do you mean? Man-Spanx?
Yes it was for male Spanx [laughs]. It was very well paid and it was very tempting. It was going to be shown abroad, but I said at the last minute that I didn’t think it was
for me. I could just see them dubbing my voice into different languages.
In 2008 you got the lowest ever score on Ready Steady Cook. Have you improved in the kitchen since then?
No – in fact I avoid it at all costs. I’ve just renovated a new flat and designed it around having a dining kitchen. I thought ‘right this is the time to learn how to cook and entertain’. But so far… not so good.
I eat out all the time but it’s just fear, a genuine fear.
Do you think the Ready Steady Cook experience scarred you for life?
Oh yes, [laughs] I’ve never quite
gotten over it!
You are also studying psychology. How do you find the time?
It’s a bit of a struggle. For example, now when I go on holiday I just have to resign myself to the fact that I need to study. I was in Miami a few weeks ago – right after I did ‘A little bit Strictly’ – and I had to study a few hours every day. I moaned and moaned and moaned about it but then I just thought, ‘Well this is it, I’ll just have to do.’
So it is difficult but I’m going to try and go as far as I can. It’s great – it really is fascinating, it’s for my retirement job. It’s so interesting finding out how people tick
so it’s great for nosey parkers. I’m going to go for an alternative type of therapy. I’m going to have a radio show called ‘Agony Angus’ and people will phone in and get no sympathy. It’s going to be a
bit like Mrs Merton, ‘Well that happened to me too so let
me tell you all about me…’ [laughs].
What’s been your favourite job?
Postcode Lottery – because it’s exciting and the set and everything is amazing.
I also landed a great job in LA a few years ago. I know this is a bit of an oxymoron but it was called ‘The BAFTAs LA’, because there are so many Brits out there they had a BAFTA ceremony.
Living TV phoned me and said, “Would you mind going to LA for a few days and reporting from the red carpet?” I was thinking ‘Is this a wind up?’ I was doing it with Dani Behr, those jobs don’t come along very often. It was amazing! I got there and Tom Cruise was there and Cate Blanchett.
I remember getting there and being exhausted by the flight and leafing through every gossip magazine to try and find out what was happening. Then I did the red carpet and the next day when I woke up I thought, ‘Right I’ve got a week in LA why isn’t the phone ringing – where are the stars?!’ Then reality hit like a brick wall. It was like, ‘That’s it done – it’s over’ and I was just Norman no mates. But it was a great gig!
Out of the big stars you interviewed were any of them a real let down?
No I was really impressed so it was more a case of being slightly star-struck. The one who really stuck out was Cate Blanchett. I’d never been that interested in her as an actress but I’ve never seen anything like it, she’s just incredible. She looks as though she’s landed from another planet, she’s so beautiful. I probably had a really high-pitched voice when I was interviewing her – being
really pathetic.
Do you ever miss being a model?
Not at all [laughs]. You’re doing everything without a voice. It’s like going back to one of my first gigs on the Wheel of Fortune as one of the prize guys and I think Carol Smillie started on that too, I think she did the letters. Yes you’re on TV, but you’re not actually speaking so no one can hear you. The other thing about the modelling was I don’t think I had the discipline
for it. Everyone was so disciplined and on all these low carb diets
but I lived in Milan for two years and was just shoving pasta down me like nobody’s business. I
wasn’t really that worried but then after a while it’s difficult to fit into the samples and I certainly wouldn’t be able to do it
nowadays.
If they made a movie about your life, who would play you and why?
Hugh Jackman – because he’s incredibly good looking and charismatic [laughs]. Well why
not? You don’t have to go with
the truth, you can just go for a bit of gloss! And Sandra Bullock would be leading lady.
Oh good old Sandra Bullock – she’s having a hard time at the moment.
She sure is isn’t she? I hope she gets rid of that rat.
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