‘I used to eat two steaks before a match!'

Liverpool football legend John Barnes tells new all about his health kick, why modern players are soft and making his kids cringe with his famous rap

- ANNA BAILEY

Former footie ace John Barnes has had a busy time on our screens of late, assisting his pal Harry Redknapp on Harry’s Heroes and cooking up a storm in the Celebrity MasterChef kitchen. And that’s not to mention his commitments as a Liverpool ambassador and football pundit.

So when we call for a catch-up, he tells us he’s relished the break over lockdown. “I loved being at home. I’ve had 280 flights in two years travelling around the world as an ambassador for Liverpool,” he says. “For three months, I didn’t leave the house. I just walked to Tesco every day and was at home with the kids.”

John has three children with wife Andrea – daughters Isabella, 15, and Tia, 14, and son Alexander, nine – as well as four children with his ex-wife Suzy – Jamie, 35, Jordan, 31, Jemma, 26, and Jasmin, 24. He also has two grandchildren and he tells us they’re the motivation behind his health kick with Public Health England’s Better Health campaign. “I’m 57 now,” he reveals. “I’m a grandad and I want to be around for my grandkids.”

But he admits exercising has been a struggle after rupturing a tendon in his knee. It meant he couldn’t train with the lads on the latest series of Harry’s Heroes, during which fellow ex-footie stars Paul Merson and Neil ‘Razor’ Ruddock open up about battling their demons.

Here, John talks about seeing his pals break down on camera, battling the bulge and why we’ll never see a fly-on-the-wall documentary about his life…

Hi John! Did you enjoy filming the last series of Harry’s Heroes?