Peter Andre talks about money
How did your childhood influence your attitude towards money and spending?
I’m the second youngest of six kids. My father Savvas used to tell us this
anecdote about a tailor.
The tailor’s boss used to say to him: “‘What you do to make money is you
get one piece of material and if that material cost you 50p, make something
out of it, and then sell it for 75p.
“Buy a piece of material for 75p, make something out of it and sell it
for a pound and so on. Eventually you get to a point where you’ve made quite
a bit of money. The not-so-smart person will say, ‘Excellent, I’m now going
to go buy a car’, whereas the smart person will use that money to buy more
material.”
That’s the principle that dad always used to instil in us.
He owned 17 properties in England, including Notting Hill and Paddington,
before I was born. My parents came to the UK with nothing. My dad was a
barber by trade, which he learned when he was 12.
He had to go to a country when he didn’t know any English, but he made his
way. He became very good and started investing in property, so he always
told me to do the same.
Did you take heed of your dad’s financial advice?
When I first had success in music in the 1990s, he begged me to invest my
money. He said, ‘When you are young you think that when money is there, it’s
always going to be there – and it’s not.
So I invested in properties in Australia and I bought a bit of land in Cyprus,
but I didn’t buy anything in England. Dad was upset, saying I was spending
too much on cars. I’d say that I’ve invested in Australia, but he told me I
should invest in the UK as well.
My father was my saviour because the money, such as royalties, would come in
from Australia, and he would just invest it for me. If it had gone into my
account I’d have just spent it. He was always telling me I was spending my
money before I had it.
When I went into the jungle in 2004, some people may have thought I went in
with nothing – but unbeknown to the public, I had those investments and I
was starting to really do well from them.
Merchandising revenue from tours back then was massive. I remember one night
at the Royal Albert Hall just in T-shirts I made £20,000. I went into the
jungle thinking, ‘What have I got to lose!’
How did your dad finally persuade you to invest in England?
When I went to the jungle, he said, ‘If you go in there and anything comes out
of it, and you don’t invest, you will never get another chance again. You’ve
had your chance and you’re lucky you’re getting a second chance in the
industry.’
So I did. I built my house in Cyprus, I started investing in England and
bought a couple of apartments.
Have there been any times in your life when you have felt really short of
cash?
The thing is, when your money is tied up in property, you don’t end up having
much spare cash. I’ve been extravagant at times, but you have to learn to
live on a lot less than you could live.
Dad said that when you invest in property, you are setting up a future …
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