TV legend Johnny Ball reveals he had the best day of his life in Blackpool
The iconic TV presenter Johnny Ball has revealed the best day of his life took place in Lancashire.
86-year old Johnny - who is credited with popularising mathematics in the 70s and 80s- may have been born in Bristol but much of his life was spent in the Red Rose County.
Having moved to Bolton (then a part of Lancashire) when he was just a child, he then made his showbiz debut as a Butlin's Redcoat at the Blackpool’s Metropole Hotel aged 24.
The BBC’s Play School star then stayed on the Fylde Coast for many years and it was where his daughter, the presenter Zoe Ball, was born in 1970.
Although now living in Buckinghamshire, in an exclusive interview realeased just today, Johnny has revealed that Lancashire still holds a very special place in his heart.
When asked by a reporter at Saga Magazine what was the best day of his life was, Johnny began to tell a story which started in his former hometown of Blackpool.
Johnny said: “It was when I went on the pier at Blackpool in my early 30s. I was in an unhappy first marriage and wasn’t doing well as a comedian in the summer season show.
I had a picture taken with a fortuneteller who offered a reading. She looked at my left hand and said: ‘You’ve got two women in your life.’ I said: ‘My wife and my daughter?’ [Zoe was two.] She shook her head. I said: ‘I’ve got no idea what you’re talking about.’
“I walked out and a guy was doing a show with an assistant, and from 50 yards away I thought: ‘What a personality.’ That’s how I met my now wife Dianne – within an hour of that reading.
“I was celibate, had a terrible marriage and I didn’t feel anybody could like or love me. I was sending money home, but the bills were still red. My wife Julia said: ‘You’ve got more to worry about. I’m leaving you.’ She’d already found another fella.”
The chance encounter with Dianne in Blackpool, spurred on by the fortune teller’s prophecy, has indeed changed his life with Johnny taking various opportunites in the interview to praise his wife and the life they have created together.
At another part of the interview, Johnny revealed they are coming up to their golden wedding anniversary and when asked the final question - why life is better at 86 compared to 18 - Johnny replied “I have a partner who couldn’t be better.”
Johnny’s interview with Saga Magazine comes ahead of the release of his new book.
My Previous Life in Comedy by Johnny Ball is out on March 28.