‘I stole everything!’ Paddy McGuinness on holidays with Peter Kay & a fear of flying that sent him to The Priory
PADDY McGuinness the face of Saturday night TV, a father of three and now a travel expert in his own right.
Since 2018, Paddy has been an experienced jet-setter off to the likes of Sweden, Greece, Ethiopia and for new show Tempting Fortune, Malaysia - but he confessed that back in the early days of travelling with his childhood pal Peter Kay, he didn't follow hotel etiquette.
Paddy, whose new show Tempting Fortune is on Channel 4 on Sunday nights from 16 March, has had a close friendship with Bolton-born comedian Peter, since meeting at school.
So when the chance arose to go on a trip together, they took it.
Paddy revealed, "This was before I was ever on telly, Peter at the time was a jobbing comedian and booked a gig in Geneva and asked if I wanted to go.
"Of course I did! So we went over there together to this huge hotel that was five-star. I thought 'if only our teachers could see us now'."
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Paddy continued, "So when I was young and started going into hotels, I thought it was completely fine to take the towels - and in Geneva, they were more like duvets.
"They were so fluffy and I thought 'I'm getting them in my case', so we literally emptied the room - I even took home an ashtray.
"In my nativity and innocence, I thought that was what you get when you book a hotel, and it was a perk of being there."
Even more surprisingly, than his towel theft, Paddy confessed that before he landed his job on Top Gear seven years ago, he struggled to even step foot on a plane.
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Paddy explained, "I was a really nervous flyer. I wasn't quite at the stage where you had to give me sleeping tablets and a glass of milk, but I had to have a few pints for Dutch courage.
"Day one on any trip and I'd be hungover because I'd have to be drunk to even get on the flight."
Paddy continued, "So I saw a doctor at the Priory, they can help with everything and I needed to get over my fear of flying."
A couple of months later and Paddy became someone who could easily manage a flight.
He revealed that now, he even looks forward to having a glance through the in-flight menu.
"I'd advise anyone to get a bit of help, if you've got a phobia and want to get over it, you have to do it. It completely changed my life.
"Now I enjoy the whole flight and I can't stop doing that now. Once I started Top Gear, I started seeing parts of the world I would have never imagined I'd see.
"I've been fortunate to see some of these places and go off the beaten track, and that gave me the travel bug."
Going back to Paddy's very early holidays, he and his mum, Patricia, wouldn't stray far from their hometown of Bolton.
Paddy said, "I was from a single-parent family, and we didn't have a lot in the bank. What I remember of my first holiday is that it wasn't until I was about 13 and it was a caravan in Morecambe.
"I remember going with my mum to the caravan park, going to a show in the evening, and a disco and thinking 'this is brilliant!'".
Since welcoming his three children, Leo, Penelope and Felicity, with his now ex-wife Christine McGuinness, Paddy has entered the world of all-inclusive resorts and holiday parks.
As much as Paddy loves a family holiday with his kids, he admitted it can be tough.
He added, "Anyone with more than one kid knows how stressful it is coming through an airport.
"Our holidays, at the beginning were trips to Centre Parcs, but now, the kids really like going to Spain and it's only a two hour flight - it's just about doable.
"The older they get, I wouldn't use the word easy, but it's more manageable, especially if they can entertain themselves."
One of Paddy's most memorable flights was actually before he had children.
He said, "I'm going back 11 years ago now, but I remember when Christine was pregnant with the twins and we thought we'd have one more special holiday just the two of us.
"We went to Dubai, it wasn't as well-known as it is now, but it was a place where it seemed like people were going, and we thought we'd give it a whirl.
"So, we went to town bought expensive plane tickets and we went first class. Now I'd never done first class in my life, but I thought my wife's pregnant and we might never get a chance to do this again, so we did it.
"Well, it might be expensive, but I can see the appeal of having a bed and a shower on the plane.
"I'm sure I had a shower over Baghdad at one point, I looked on the map and thought, 'this is mad'".
Now, Paddy is out of the country all the time, from Don't Look Down in Austria to Top Gear, Road Tripping with Chris Harris.
For his future travels, Paddy asked, "have you heard of dark tourism?"
The term coined for travel to places historically associated with tragedy. Paddy referenced Chernobyl and Pompeii, but there's another location on his list.
"I remember seeing Michael Palin go to North Korea. It's completely random, and obviously we know what goes on there, but it's almost morbid curiosity.
"That's a barometer I set my life by, Michael Palin. If he can do it, you can do it."
For his latest project, Tempting Fortune, Paddy travelled to the much safer destination of Langkawi.
He explained, "I've been over to Malaysia, before but I've never been to Langkawi - the island is absolutely stunning.
"It takes a bit of acclimatising though with the heat and the humidity. It hit me like a ton of bricks, it's that kind of heat where you're sweating sat down and when you breathe, you can feel warmth going into your lungs.
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"I found myself in Craghoppers shirts and boots in the jungle, it felt a little bit at home actually, rather than sitting around the pool in a luxury resort."
Tempting Fortune is on Channel 4 on Sunday nights from 16 March.
