TV presenter Rav Wilding is in demand. So much so, the Crimewatch host (who’s now fronting the Beeb’s new Missing Live programme) gets endless offers of marriage from female viewers.
‘I get women asking to marry me, invitations to dinner, flowers, cards scented with perfume…’ he reveals. ‘And sometimes people have named their babies after me. It’s entertaining if nothing else.’
But sadly for all the potential Mrs Wildings out there, they will be waiting in vain, as the buff former policeman has a girlfriend.
‘I’ve met a lovely girl called Lauren now, so I’d like to get married,’ he says. ‘If you’d asked me about marriage a year ago, I’d have run away. But now it’s different.’
Although he finds the attention flattering, Rav reveals getting chatted up in bars can be a bit embarrassing. ‘I get recognised a lot, more than I used to, so it’s to be expected. But if I go out to a bar, the minute Lauren goes to the loo, girls come up to me. It’s a bit awkward when she comes back and I’ve got a bunch of girls around me. But we just laugh it off.’
In fact, despite the gooey-eyed girls, Rav finds the idea of being a pin-up hilarious. ‘It’s a bit silly really, I don’t think too much about it,’ he laughs. ‘Friends say there are fansites on the web about me, but I don’t pay much attention. It’s flattering, but my feet are on the ground.’
And despite the toned bod, Rav reckons he’s the least vain person going. ‘I was in the Army from a young age, so I’m more interested in being physically fit and healthy,’ he says. ‘I’ve played rugby all my life but I had to stop, as I was always getting my face bashed up. The make-up artists on Crimewatch hated me as they were forever patching me up. So now I just go to the gym.’
But that buff bod doesn’t just attract the laydee folk. There are a fair few men too…
‘If I got married I think I’d upset more blokes than girls,’ he laughs. ‘I get a lot of guys coming up to me and sending me fan mail. But I don’t mind. It’s flattering. A lot of my friends in the police were gay, they just don’t shout about it. People think the police force is homophobic, so as a representative of them, it’s nice to prove they aren’t. They’re just normal guys and girls.’
‘Suspects used to ask ME for my autograph…’
‘I’ve done four years on Crimewatch, and I was juggling that with my role in the MET. I always said if it got to the stage where I couldn’t give policing 100%, I’d leave. I think the moment I realised that point had come was when we were quizzing suspects, and they were asking for my autograph. They were more interested in the fact the bloke who presents Crimewatch was interviewing them than talking about the crime they were in for. It was ironic.’
Rav's scariest moment…
‘Working for the MET in London, I’ve probably encountered more things in eight years than some policemen get in a lifetime. I’ve had knives pulled on me, but the scariest moment was when I was holding someone’s head after they’d been shot at point-blank range. I needed to stay and help the man, but at the same time there was a real risk the gunman might come back and finish us off. Things like that could stay with you for life if you let them, but I’m a pretty strong character.’
Missing Live is on BBC1, weekdays, 9.15am
Words: Rhiannon Vivian.
|
