We talked to some noteworthy people about the place they grew up...
A lot can be said about the homes in which we grew up. Our childhood homes are often the ones that evoke the most memories of those early, life-defining moments. They go onto influence our style and tastes in later life – whether you want to recapture that safe space of happy memories, or carve out something entirely new for yourself. We decided to ask an A-list line-up that all-revealing question about their lives before the glitz and glamour. What was your childhood home like? Here's how they answered...
My childhood home was...
Where my dad lives now. I recently went through a cupboard in my old bedroom and found some pottery I made at school.
My childhood home was...
Really happy. My parents had good values and instilled good values in me. They made me feel safe, loved, supported and also had a great sense of humour.
My childhood home was...
A three-bed council house in Birmingham. Mum was a keen gardener, so a lot of the time she was busy outside in her little garden dress. She was so house-proud, she left the plastic covering on the sofa for ages, then when she removed it we weren't allowed to sit on it wearing blue jeans!
My childhood home was...
In Essex! Friends were allowed to come and go. The only rule was they had to say ‘hi’ and ‘bye’ to my parents, who moved into something smaller a couple of years ago. At the time, I wasn’t that bothered, but now I feel nostalgic. That house has so many memories and now looks really different.
My childhood home was...
A fabulous 1930s house in Streatham, south west London. My mother invented minimalism in the late 1960s. Everything was white – an antidote to her upbringing in a house full of stuff my sea captain grandfather brought back from his travels in Singapore and Nagasaki. His house oozed everything I love. I remember when we got a bit of curvaceous William Morris when Mum bought a new sofa set – but in a very reduced colour palette!
My childhood home was...
My dad was in banking and we moved all the time with his job. We were in an old Tudor-type farmhouse in Prestwood, Buckinghamshire, until I was 10, then a five-bedroom house in Regent’s Park, designed by the famous architect John Nash. When I was 17, we went up to Altrincham for a couple of years, then my parents bought a house in Cornwall.
I appreciated living in lovely areas – in London we'd take a bus to Selfridges and get a load of bits for lunch from the food hall, but we had no roots. That’s why I love feeling part of a community now.
My childhood home was...
A little flat in Leeds, where we lived until I was four. Then we moved to a tiny farming village in the Cotswolds into a 16th-century terraced cottage, with two-foot-thick walls, stone-clad floors and inglenook fireplaces. It was a lovely rural English environment – lots of cows and sheep. I can milk cows by hand!
My childhood home was...
Harrow, West London! There were eight of us living in a four-bedroom house and I shared a room with my brothers, Danny and Michael. It was a vibrant, chatty, busy household. I remember coming home from school and playing in the garden every evening until I was called in for dinner. That was until I was six – after that we moved to Australia and life was even more outdoors based!
My childhood home was...
Always changing. My dad was in the army and we moved every two to three years. We'd turn up at a very bland army-quarters house and once my mum had dressed it with our stuff, it felt like home. It's probably why I don’t like clutter, unlike Eamonn who is a hoarder. He keeps all his Manchester United match programmes. I’m sentimental about people and memories, but not about stuff or houses. Wherever I lay my hat, that's my home.
My childhood home was...
Chaotic. I'm one of six kids and everybody – grandparents, aunts, uncles, cousins and neighbours – was in and out of our terraced house in Luton, cooking and eating. I loved it. Our house backed onto a train station and every 20 minutes, a train would rumble the entire building. My dream is to live in the countryside with zero neighbours and a smallholding with ducks, chickens and maybe alpacas. And I'd like to grow my own vegetables.
My childhood home was...
A four-bedroom house with a big garden in Kingston-upon-Thames in Surrey. It was idyllic. When I can’t get to sleep, I mentally go through the rooms of that house.
My childhood home was...
On a new-build housing estate on the edge of Nantwich in Cheshire. We lived on Gingerbread Lane, a cul-de-sac of around 20 houses, and my memories are of playing outside all day. My mum and sister still live in Nantwich, so we go up pretty regularly. It was built on salt mines and has the country’s only outdoor brine swimming pool and natural baths. It’s a very special place.
My childhood home was...
A three-bedroom 1920s bungalow in Norton, Stoke-on-Trent, built by my grandparents – my mum was born there. My grandmother died young so when my mum met my dad, he moved in with her and my grandad. My two sisters and I were all born there. It had the most beautiful garden with an orchard, a rose garden, a vegetable plot and the best trees for climbing. It was idyllic.
My childhood home was...
Inconsistent! When I was little we moved a lot – everywhere from Bristol to Glasgow – with my dad's work as a dentist in hospitals around the country. We all have a longing for roots, a place where we put our feet down. Whatever hotel I'm in for work, I put the book I'm reading by the bedside and that makes me feel grounded.
My childhood home was...
Next door! We moved there when I was 11 after my parents rented out our old house near Tulse Hill. They pushed themselves to the financial limit to buy a second property. When we moved in, the neighbourhood thought we were squatters – it was summer so we were always barefoot and we'd eat our dinner in the garden off a wooden door because we left our furniture behind for the new tenants.
Later on when I was in EastEnders, I bought the house next door to my parents when the neighbours moved out. Since my parents relocated to Jordan last year, my sister Dina is living there.
My childhood home was...
My gran’s house in Ealing, west London, where I lived after my parents split up when I was about three. She taught me to cook – appearing on Celebrity MasterChef rekindled memories of spending time with her.
My childhood home was...
A dingy council house in Meanwood. It was just me and my mum. When I was six, after Mum met my stepdad, we upgraded to Oakwood in north east Leeds. At first, it didn’t feel like us. Iranians can be quite extravagant with interiors, but this place was a bit beige. Now it’s a beautiful home infused with our culture.
My childhood home was...
An Essex bungalow that my dad converted, which took a long time because he wasn't a builder...
My childhood home was...
A three-bedroom, detached 1950s-looking house in York with a bay window at the front. I had a very happy childhood with two loving parents, an older brother, Robert, and a younger sister, Jane. Behind our house was a lake, and we'd literally walk down the garden and cast our fishing rods in.
My childhood home was...
In the country – our bungalow in Meath, north of Dublin, was surrounded by fields. It was very remote and very safe. We'd leave home in the morning and be out all day until teatime.
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