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My Secret Life: Duncan Bannatyne, entrepreneur. 60

Every morning my wife chooses what I’m wearing and lays an outfit there ready forwhen I get up

Saturday 26 December 2009 01:00 GMT
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Louise Thomas

Editor

My parents were ... My dad was a foundry worker for Singer sewing machines. My mother brought up seven children, but when she did work she was a cleaner.

The house/flat I grew up in ... was a two-floor house on Canberra Avenue in Clydebank, with two bedrooms on each floor. It was in a poor area; there were no cars around or that sort of thing.

When I was a child I wanted to be ... I went through stages. At one point I wanted to be a train driver; at another to have my own corporation; and at another, to have an ice-cream van.

If I could change one thing about myself ... I wouldn't. I am very happy with who and what I am. I have a fantastic life.

You wouldn't know it but I'm very good at ... chilling out and relaxing. As soon I'm through the front door and with my kids I switch off from work.

You may not know it but I'm no good at ... dealing with people who are negative.

At night I dream of ... I have been having some weird dreams of being stranded recently. I keep dreaming that I am on my own, abandoned with no way to get home.

What I see when I look in the mirror ... A man who's getting older every single minute and I just have to accept it; life is just not long enough.

My favourite item of clothing ... is a pair of denims. I've got some which I've had for 10 years and still wear today.

I wish I'd never worn ... There is nothing I wish I'd never worn. My lifestyle is chosen by my wife. Every morning she chooses what I'm wearing that day and lays an outfit there ready for when I get up.

I drive ... a black Maserati. I've had it for three years, and it's only done 6,000 miles. I don't drive very much; in London I take chauffeur-driven hire cars.

My house is ... is a fairly normal, modern five-bedroom house with a lovely big kitchen, on a cul-de-sac. There are 16 children on our street – two of them are mine – and there are dogs running around all the time and kids turning bikes all over the place. It's a very family-orientated environment.

My favourite work of art ... I don't have any in particular, but I have collected a lot of paintings over the years. I am a great fan of still-life and landscapes; I love oil on canvas.

My favourite building ... would either be my villa in France, or the Sandy Lane hotel in Barbados.

A book that changed me ... Most recently it was 'The Kite Runner'. It was fantastic, very, very moving and had a profound effect.

Movie heaven ... is curling up in my front room with my wife and a good sob story. We like to have a good cry together.

My greatest regret ... I have none.

My real-life villain ... is Osama bin Laden.

The person who really makes me laugh ... Miranda Hart, whose sitcom was recently shown on television. I just think she's so funny to watch; everything she does is always different and unexpected.

The last time I cried ... was on Friday. I was sitting in a house in a slum in Kenya and watching a woman being tested for HIV.

My five-year plan ... I try not to have a five-year plan. I'm so sick of banks saying, 'What's your plan?' Mine is just to continue living as long as I possibly can.

What's the point? I don't know, just enjoy the ride.

My life in six words ... very, very, very, very, very happy.

A life in brief

Duncan Bannatyne OBE was born in Clydebank, Scotland in 1949. The entrepreneur and star of BBC's Dragons' Den made his £320m fortune from a string of health clubs and hotels. He has six children – four from a previous marriage – and lives in Wynyard, near Middlesbrough, with his wife of three years and their two children. Bannatyne is an ambassador for the charity WellChild, which helps seriously ill children throughout the UK. Visit wellchild.org.uk

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