Call Rylan Clark a national treasure and you get a flash of those soap powder gnashers, visible from space.
"I'm a regional trinket!" he laughs. He's being way too modest... and that's not something we typically associate with Rylan, 35, all unflinching honesty and telling it like it is.
"I was very cheap in the early days," he says. "Not so much now!" That's an understatement too.
He's gone from a council house with his single mum Linda to becoming one of TV's most recognisable faces, via the X Factor and Celebrity Big Brother.
Rylan is grateful for fame and the security it has provided for him and Linda. But if there's one thing he misses from the old days, it's being that gawky 18-year-old ginger kid he once was, someone no one had heard of.
"Anonymity. That's the main thing I miss from my old life," he admits.
"I'm 20ft tall with the biggest teeth in Britain. I wish, I wish I'd made the most of my old life. Going out, getting trashed and rolling home somewhere, in a wheelbarrow, you know, doing all of those things, without responsibilities." But instead, he's made it big - in an industry he says is "full of a***holes".
He says: "Entitled people that believe that they are something special, and that they can talk to people like sh**, and that they can get away with it. And subsequently do get away with it.
"Going into that industry at 23 when I was on X Factor, I learned that the hard way by seeing how people would treat me, a reality contestant. 'He's not going to be about in two weeks, I don't need to make the effort to him..." Now the tables have turned, and he's the one interviewing them.
Rylan is one of the most in-demand presenters on TV, trusted with everything from This Morning to Supermarket Sweep to the Mamma Mia dating show.
Denne historien er fra April 20, 2024-utgaven av Daily Mirror UK.
Start din 7-dagers gratis prøveperiode på Magzter GOLD for å få tilgang til tusenvis av utvalgte premiumhistorier og 9000+ magasiner og aviser.
Allerede abonnent ? Logg på
Denne historien er fra April 20, 2024-utgaven av Daily Mirror UK.
Start din 7-dagers gratis prøveperiode på Magzter GOLD for å få tilgang til tusenvis av utvalgte premiumhistorier og 9000+ magasiner og aviser.
Allerede abonnent? Logg på
HOUGHT TO END ON A HIGH
Danny says the good times will return at Hull as he prepares for his final match
Hire and higher
One of Britain's last film rental stores is enjoying the busiest time in its 29-year history, thanks to a surge in interest from nostalgia-seeking movie buffs.
Mum should be proud...she made me a warrior
Joshua's mother helped him steer away from a life of crime
FOOLISH IDEA TO MAKE DEL A MILLIONAIRE
Sir David: It ruined Fools and Horses
Dishonesty is not one of my Traits
Tall story, or will Richard be Celebrity Traitor?
Liar, lover, mother, diamond thief.. it's all true
GoT's Sophie on getting under the skin of an unlikely heroine
To friends...
Battle of Arnhem hero, 99, returns to salute the fallen
£5.5M AFTER BEING STABBED IN PRISON
Burglar left with fear of kitchens after killer's attack
I won't fall prey to the Strictly curse Michelle is just like a Sister to me
Dispelling any rumours of romance and the dreaded Strictly curse, actor Jamie Borthwick says his partner Michelle Tsiakkas mothers him and he secretly idolises her boyfriend.
Top Hezbollah chief 'killed in Israel blitz'
Commander was wanted over bombing | Strike targets busy city area in rush hour