Professor Green on why lads from poor, white families need help, not demonising in Channel 4 documentary
The documentary Working Class White Men will follow six youngsters to show the hostility they face because they are working class
HE grew up on a rough council estate, skipped school and fell into dealing drugs as a teenager.
But now Professor Green has a Mercedes sports car, a model girlfriend and a £1.5million home.
The platinum-selling rapper is a working class boy done good.
But in new C4 documentary Working Class White Men, he says he is the exception — and Britain’s white working class is in crisis.
Speaking to The Sun, Green explains: “What is it to be working class? It’s not to be the cheeky chappie or the grafter. It’s to be anxious and have no safety net.”
Green — real name Stephen Manderson — fronts the two-part series, which starts on Tuesday at 10pm and sees him following six youngsters, five of whom we profile below, over six months.
Having had an insight into their struggles, Green, 34, claims part of the problem the boys face is hostility towards the working class.
He explains: “People see shows like Benefits Street and sneer at the working class.
“You’ll see stuff like ‘chav’ still printed while you’d never see a racist or homophobic term.”
Green, who is now dating model Fae Williams, 28, says he has been a victim of class discrimination himself — describing how at a recent dinner party a guest shook hands with everyone but said “Safe” and gave a fist-bump when they got to him.
Working class zeroes: David
Both of David’s parents died when he was just 16.
Now 20, he lives in a hostel and is on benefits.
Dyslexic David, from Bolton, cannot read or write.
Determined to turn his life around, he gets a job as a roofer which enables him to leave the hostel and move in with his new girlfriend.
But the singer claims it is not just other people who are the problem. Having grown up in a tough environment, he believes you always carry a certain amount of “working class anxiety.”
He says: “It’s the stress that comes from having no money, that comes from a fractured home life. It stays with you for life.
“I’m still working class because I still have working class anxieties. The only thing I can hope is that I don’t pass that on to my kids.”
Green grew up on the Northwold estate on the “murder mile” in Hackney, East London. His mother was only 16 when he was born and his parents split shortly after his birth, so he was raised by his maternal grandmother Patricia and great-gran Edie.
Working class zeroes: Gav
Following his latest spell in prison – a 16-month stretch for growing cannabis – 29-year-old Gav is trying to rebuild his relationship with his young son.
His ex-partner’s mum in Leeds takes him in as he tries to keep himself out of trouble, but he struggles to find work.
He says: “I was always aware that we were poor. I might have been shuffled off when the debt collectors came round but I still knew what was happening on the other side of the door.”
With an estimated net worth of £3million and a home in a nice part of South London, Green has come a long way.
But he claims that his three-year marriage to Quality Street heiress Millie Mackintosh, who he wed in 2013, is proof that you can never escape your background.
He has said that being married to someone from another class is like being married to “someone from a different country, because you learn about their culture, their ways, their history.”
He added: “I’ve been in places and felt a bit like a novelty. Meeting people’s family and almost having to prove myself.”
It is this need to prove yourself that Pro documents in his programme.
Like Lewis, one of the young men in the documentary, the rapper was a bright kid — and one teacher even suggested he apply for a scholarship to an independent school in West London.
“I was a geek — I was really, really smart,” Pro recalls. “But my problem was attendance.
“My teacher Mr Friend wanted me to take the test for St Paul’s. I thought it wasn’t for me.
Working class zeroes: Jake
Like his three older brothers and dad Graham, Jake is a labourer.
The 17-year-old leaves the family home in Birmingham and heads to Japan to pursue his dream of becoming a model.
It’s a world away from his family holidays in Tenerife, where he never leaves the resort.
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Working class zeroes: Denzil
Wheeler-dealer Denzil will do almost anything to make a bit of cash – even working for an escort firm.
The wannabe Del Boy’s business ideas – including a plan to hold a rave in a former prison – do not always go to plan.
Denzil, 29, lives in Canvey Island, Essex, with his nan.
Working class zeroes: Lewis
Brainy Lewis, 17, from Eastleigh, Hants, is offered a place at Cambridge making him the first in his family to go to university – much to the delight of his mum, who works in a nail salon.
But he is worried other students will look down on him because of his upbringing.
“That tells you a lot about how far people think they can go. If my child said that, I’d be in tears.”
While his childhood might have felt hopeless, now it seems the sky’s the limit — including, he jokes, presenting primetime telly.
“I don’t know what’s next,” he says. “Ant and Dec might retire at some point, right?”
- Additional reporting: EMMA PIETRAS.