The actor from Lock, Stock (and Press Gang, for a certain generation) has given The Telegraph a cautionary tale on the reckless spending and debt-mania that saw him go bankrupt at 31:
I guess I was under the impression I had more money than I did. But I was very wasteful – I bought a brand new Land Rover for £13,000 having gone to the showroom looking for a second hand car. When the salesman didn’t take me seriously I decided to show off and prove I could buy something new and expensive, just to see the look on his face. Then along came the 1990s property crash.
All the equity I thought I had in the house disappeared. My credit cards had racked up and I owed money to friends. Having defaulted on my mortgage I was a month away from being repossessed, so I put up a ‘For Sale’ sign and a couple knocked on the door who had just been gazumped on a house nearby. They offered me £155,000 and after I paid off my mortgage (and anyone who’d loaned me money), I only had £10,000 left.
I still owed a total of £90,000, so there was no other option than to go bankrupt.
Read my article on why you must get out and stay out of debt.
