I'm a reality TV star working 50 hours a week - but a house will have to wait till I've cracked Hollywood

You might recognise Gideon Allen from a range of different TV shows including Channel 4's First Impressions, Skin A&E and Celebs Go Dating.

He calls himself a 'part-time' witch, but the 25-year-old works way more than full-time hours as a party planner and chasing his acting dream. Despite the long hours and being financially stable, Gideon doesn't see the traditional goals of owning a house on the agenda - and he's not on his own. According to a report from the HomeOwners Alliance, less than half of aspiring first-time buyers expect their homeownership dream to become a reality."

Today, he spoke to Lancashire Post as part of Project Peter Pan, a National World campaign to listen to young people at the brunt of the cost of living crisis and unable to get on the property ladder.

He said: "It's a case of out of sight, out of mind - I tend not to think about it because I'll be depressed", he said."It's so much harder now, so I'll just have to wait until I'm famous".

This is what happened when Gideon appeared on Celebs Go Dating

Gideon who grew up on the Larches estate in Preston, put himself through Blackpool College's University Centre and UCLan, studying acting and contemporary theatre studies. He said people his age very often don't feel like they're enjoying the rewards of their hard work and educational endevours.

He said he has previously endured financial difficulties, working multiple zero-hours contract jobs, and while striving to be independent, he currently house shares, splitting the monthly rent as well as bills on top. Gideon said: "My friend, room mate, we have to split the bills in half. I'm pursuing a career and have to have a day job as well. I work a lot party hosting across the North West - I'm working 50 hour weeks juggling things - but I do it because I've had financial stuggles and I never want to be in that position again. It takes a mental toll on you."

"Moving out has become an unbearable burden" Gideon's friend, Diarmaid Green, 25, from Blackpool, said: "My observation, as a 25 year old, is that everyone I know my age is skint, or housesharing with two or more, or both. The biggest, most obvious effect the struggling financial market is having on my demographic is that it is impossible to live alone. And, for better or worse, communal living has become the norm. Be it living with friends, people you have never met, or your parents, moving out has become an unbearable burden, and a huge risk to take, for most young people."

Gideon says he finds it frustrating hearing from an older generation about when they got on the property ladder. He said: "They tend to forget about inflation, it's so much harder now. We're always working and it's for the basic things, I don't think the older generation get it. I saw an American programme called The View when Whoopie Goldberg was on it, and she was saying young people don't want to work. It's just not the case."

FOMO

Gideon says it can be a struggle to save money as there's "always something to pay for", and finds it hard to balance working with a social life. He said: "I have really bad FOMO (fear of missing out). At my time of life, there's always something going on - a wedding, a celebration.

Watch Gideon talking about his TV career here

"I like to have fun, I'm extroverted, but am I supposed to just not go to anything? This time of our lives people are telling us that we should have fun, we should do the things that we can't do when you're tied down to a family and a mortgage."

National picture

Gideon isn't on his own, according to a report from the HomeOwners Alliance. Research carried out by the group suggests that less than half of aspiring first-time buyers expect their homeownership dream to become a reality. While seven in 10 people surveyed who are not homeowners said they want to get onto the property ladder, 52 per cent of them believing they will never be able to achieve this goal.

Top reasons for not owning include: high house prices (60 per cent), saving for a deposit (44 per cent), ability to afford monthly mortgage repayments (33 per cent) and the ability to get approved for a mortgage (31 per cent).

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