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Gregg Wallace: I spend two hours a week by myself playing strategy computer games
The MasterChef presenter on his unexpected loves – journalling, manifesting, geeky games... and chain restaurant fry-ups
'I’m a much better father now I’m older' Credit: Neil Genower
How do famous names spend their precious downtime? In our weekly My Saturday column, celebrities reveal their weekend virtues and vices. This week: Gregg Wallace
5am
I wake up at the same time every morning. I’ll read for an hour – right now it’s A Gentleman in Moscow by Amor Towles – then I’ll make myself a coffee and check emails. I’ll also look at the sign-up numbers for my health programme.
7am
I work out five days a week. I’m down at the gym half an hour before it opens. They let me in earlier, so I have a swim and sauna by myself. Then I’ll review my to-do list while walking on a treadmill, no sweating. I aim for 50,000 steps a week – I do about 7,000 a day. I’m now 12 stone [having lost five stone] and I have less than 18 per cent body fat and a six-pack, but I have a belly that bloats. I guess we all have our imperfections.
10.30am
Meet my PA Helen at the local Harvester for breakfast – bacon, sausage and fried egg. People say to me, ‘I didn’t expect to see you in here.’ Look, they do grilled chicken, there’s a salad bar, and I’ve never been disappointed. It’s all about expectation when it comes to food.
I’ve regularly been disappointed in three-star Michelin restaurants around Europe but never in a Harvester. I manage MasterChef filming, my well-being business and now there’s also my new health and well-being podcast, A Piece of Cake. I love chatting to the experts, but I’m quite the expert too, having been journalling, manifesting, goal-setting and reading self-help books for years.
12pm
Back home for lunch, which my wife Anna [Anne-Marie Sterpini] will have ready on the table. Her white bean soup with a crust of bread is a family favourite.
1.30pm
I like to spend time with my four-year-old son, Sid, who’s non-verbal autistic. He used to be in his own world but he’s starting to seek company and show eye contact. We’ll potter in the garden and play with our two dogs, Wally and Bella.
I’m a much better father now I’m older, although another child isn’t something that I would have chosen at my age. I was always very honest with Anna, but it’s what she wanted and I love her. I just requested two things – that we had help in the house (so her mum moved in), and secondly that we had at least one week a year when we holidayed just the two of us.
3pm
I’m an amateur historian. I spend two hours by myself in my home office playing Total War Saga: Thrones of Britannia, set in 878 AD. I prefer turn-based strategy computer games to fast ones that require reflex.
6pm
I cook dinner for the family once a week – grilled fish from the fishmonger at the local farmshop, Hartley in Cranbrook, Kent. I like bass, sole, or crab to make sandwiches with chips. I never eat takeaways now – I make my own healthy cheeseburgers instead. I only drink twice a week, either for a rugby game or dinner with Anna. I’ll start off with a pint, then have a wine, then maybe a whisky or brandy. I don’t drink excessively any more. I’ve never, ever regretted not having a drink.
8pm
Bed. I’ve tried sitting on the sofa eating biscuits but I don’t find it fulfilling. We read or watch a film on my laptop. I’m normally asleep by nine.