Gethin Jones has crammed a lot into his 33 years. He started out as a rugby player before moving on to Welsh TV. From there he spent nearly four years as a Blue Peter presenter and then he became a mainstay on both TV and radio with stints on Strictly Come Dancing and a show on Radio 5 Live. Not to mention the fact that he has been one half of a celebrity couple since he got together with opera singer Katherine Jenkins.

Now he is back on our TV screens with a heartwarming ITV show with the focus on the real heroes of this country. We grabbed a chat with the man of the moment to find out more about his new show and his hopes for the future.

Tell us a little bit about your new show, Holding Out For A Hero?
It’s a quiz show with a unique twist because a contestant comes on, not to play for themselves, but for their hero. So it could be someone that they find inspirational or someone who’s done loads of work for other people and has changed people’s lives basically. It’s been beyond our expectations because of the amount of emotion we’ve seen and the difference it’s made to people’s lives and that’s been a pretty special thing to be a part of.

Did you find filming the show very emotional?
Oh it’s awful. You want everyone to win and bizarrely, unlike most quiz shows, all the contestants want each other to win. They all appreciate and empathise with each other and what they’re all trying to do with their good causes. So yeah, you want everyone to win but actually everyone is a winner because even if they don’t win on the night they still take away £2000 for their charity or good cause.

For them it’s about recognition as just by being on the show their hard work has been recognised. And then there’s the monetary aspect – there’s the possibility to win £160,000 on the show and the difference that can make to a small charity is unreal.  But the biggest emotion is usually appreciation for being recognised. At the end when they realise they’ve won the
show the heroes say, “Oh my goodness I can’t believe you’ve done this for me.” And the contestant says, “Are you having
a laugh? You brought my son back to life or you’ve changed my daughter’s life or you’ve helped me with my family.”

One guy was playing for a hero he’d never met but wanted to do it because this guy had gone out of his way to help his son. It’s just lovely to know that it happens.  It goes on every single day and you’re going to see it on TV very soon.

Were there any tears from you backstage?
Backstage, onstage, everywhere! Everyone in the audience was at it too, there wasn’t a dry eye in the house. It was tough because we’re human – I know it’s TV but it’s only TV for that moment, these people are changing lives every day. Even when they only win the basic £2000 they are so genuinely happy because they know that that could buy a wheelchair or buy some equipment to help a couple of children for a year. It makes me feel proud to be part of a show like that – it’s just so positive.

What’s the funniest thing that’s ever happened to you whilst presenting on TV?
Well it probably wasn’t the funniest thing for me but one thing does spring to mind. I was giving out an award at the National Lottery Awards, with 8.5 million people watching. As I was introduced I did the classic thing of tripping over myself
as I came on.  For some reason I tried ‘styling’ it out so it would look better – I was doing Strictly Come Dancing at the time so I thought I could chuck in a little spin and get away with it… but that went even worse because I tripped over my leg, stumbled towards Jenni Falconer and tried to make some sort of joke and just carry on.

I left the studios that night thinking, ‘Why did that have happen to me? That is so awful’ but then the next morning I was doing my Radio 5 Live show and everyone was phoning up asking me, “Did you enjoy your trip last night?” I’m not funny when I try to be – I’m funny when I’m not trying and hopefully that’s quite endearing right?

Yes it is endearing! What’s the most ‘showbiz’ thing you’ve ever done?
Probably just surprising friends and family, being able to invite them to a cool concert or a show. That’s not very ‘showbiz’ though is it?

It’s certainly a good perk of being in showbiz!
But I once also took a journalist flying to do an interview. We flew over the north tip of Wales whilst we did an interview.

You were flying the plane?
Yes I have a pilot’s license! Is that showbiz enough? I haven’t ever burnt 50 quid in front of anyone or anything!

How do you like to relax in your downtime?
It’s all very normal and boring I’m afraid. I just like to chill in the true sense of the word – well… not like in a fridge, but just relaxing at home watching sport. Or doing some form of exercise with friends which is something I really enjoy and try to fit in whenever I can.

You’ve been voted Bachelor of The Year in the past – how do you feel about the ‘hunk’ title and having women up and down the UK thinking you’re gorgeous?
It’s a little bit weird for me as I certainly don’t see myself as that but I suppose it’s better than being called something bad. It’s very flattering and it’s nice to hear but you can never get carried away with it.

Do you ever have screaming fans waiting for you?
I had loads two days ago outside the ITV buildings and I thought, ‘Wow this is mental.’ They were all stood there shouting but then when I went into the building I realised that One Direction were behind me and it dawned on me that they may not be for me [laughs].

What’s the weirdest thing a fan has ever sent you?
Well something happened quite recently but I don’t know if I can tell you. Oh,  why not... I’ll just tell you! It’s quite a sweet story actually. A guy won a competition to come and watch Holding Out For A Hero and we were having a nice chat. Then he says to me, “Geth… can I tell you something before you go onstage?” I said, “Yeah?” So he says, “When you were on Blue Peter I wrote you a letter and you wrote a handwritten letter back to me which meant the world to me.” There was a policy on Blue Peter that we always wrote back to our fans ourselves and it’s something that’s always stayed with me, I think it’s a really nice thing to do. So then he tells me, “The next day I skipped to school because I was so happy that it actually gave me the confidence to come out [of the closet].” And I just told him that it was a lovely story and I think that that is quite strange after all this time but quite nice! But then there was another guy who always used to phone up and ask for my socks after I’d worn them so that was weird!

Where do you see yourself in 10 years time?
Hopefully as a father of more than one child. I’ll be happy if I achieve that personally and if I’m still doing what I’m doing right now I’ll be happy professionally too.

A little birdie told us you can play the bagpipes… is this true?
Yes I play the bagpipes – I have lots of links to bonnie Scotland. My brother-in-law is Scottish, he’s a massive football fan which means that I now have a massive interest in Scottish football too. Edinburgh is one of my favourite cities and I actually have a penguin named after me at the Edinburgh Zoo.

Next time you come up to Scotland will you come to the No.1 office and play us a tune?
Yes, I’m in!

Back to Interview Home Page