Watchdog star Alice Beer talks to ME & MY MONEY

Consumer advocate Alice Beer thinks viewers grew tired of seeing her on their TV screens in the late 1990s.

The 57-year-old, who is now This Morning’s Consumer Editor, tells Donna Ferguson that she earns a fraction of what she used to make when she co-presented BBC’s Watchdog.

She lives in Fulham, South West London, with her long-term partner Paul Pascoe, 62, and their twins.

What did your parents teach you about money?

To handle it carefully and sensibly – although I didn’t learn that lesson right away. My parents grew up in families where every penny counted. My father was a policeman, while my mother was a nurse and later became a teacher.

I thought we didn’t have a lot of money because we never went on holiday abroad, rarely ate out and there were no luxuries. But my parents lived within their means and saved so they could afford to send me to private school. That was a huge financial sacrifice.

I came home from school sounding pretty posh. Throughout my career, people have formed judgments about me based on the way I speak. My elocution lessons were bought by parents who grew up with little – but people don’t understand that. They just say, oh Alice Bear, she’s genteel – how does she know what it’s like to have no money. I find that dismissive.

Do you handle money wisely, just like your parents?

There was a time when I was making good money at the BBC, and I wasn’t counting the pennies.

I bought a Range Rover for £30,000 without even thinking about it – I could afford it. I remember once walking into Emporio Armani in Knightsbridge, London, and buying a glorious long pink evening dress for £500. Another time I bought a black Hervé Léger dress for £2,000.

I didn’t go into huge debt, but I didn’t cut my coat to my size. I remember getting a tax bill the first year I was self-employed and it really shook me up. I paid it, but realized I had not been wise.

Are you now earning more than before?

No. What I get now for TV appearances is modest compared to what I got in the past.

At one point in the late 1990s, I did Watchdog, a holiday show, a garden show, a daytime quiz show, Heaven And Earth on Sunday mornings, and a Saturday night entertainment show with Vic Reeves and Bob Mortimer.

It was ridiculous. There were so many other people who could do the same job – and yet I was the flavor of the month.

I was not happy. I got rather sloppy because I take my job seriously, and I was exhausted. I worked absurd hours – sometimes 70 hours a week – and traveled everywhere. I have missed many weddings, christenings and parties of friends. I had bought a nice apartment, but I was never there.

I’m not claiming I went through a coal mine, of course. I was doing glamorous work that most people would love to do.

How has your situation changed?

I had to stop working after I got pregnant with twins. When they were little, the phone didn’t ring. People were tired of Alice Beer. They wanted a new face on their screens.

That was hard to get used to, but I’m so thankful it happened. I could be a mother all day and home with my little ones.

What was the best year of your life financially?

Probably 1998 or 1999. I used to get about £2,000 per show. I think I was making six figures a year back then. But only.

What’s your biggest money mistake?

Bought that Range Rover in 1999. I enjoyed it for a year, but it was expensive to insure and fuel. It went so fast that I received countless fines.

I sold it to a friend in 2005 for £5,000 – and the first day she drove it the car caught fire on the motorway.

The best money decision you’ve made?

Buying real estate while house prices were rising. In 1998 I bought a two bedroom apartment overlooking Battersea Park, London, for £123,000. By the time I sold it nine years later it was worth £500,000.

Are you saving for a pension or investing in the stock market?

Yes. I have a pension, which I started when I was 23. I took a break from saving when I stayed home to raise my kids. But I started again about ten years ago. I think it’s worth doing for the tax benefits.

Outside my pension I have shares in Centrica and Santander. I had a disastrous experience in the 1990s when money came easy and went easy. I invested £7,000 in a car radio company. I didn’t take a good look at it – and I never saw that money again.

Do you own real estate?

Yes, I recently purchased a small rental property in a village in Wiltshire. It is leased to a long-term tenant.

Our childhood home in Fulham is in my partner’s name because I moved in with him. When I sold my flat in Battersea I invested the money from that sale in major renovations and an extension to the basement of Fulham’s house, but both the mortgage and the house are still in Paul’s name.

I think it’s ridiculous that even though we’ve been together for 23 years, I’m less fiscally wealthy than someone who went to church and spent money on a big white dress.

It just doesn’t make any sense. In fact, it makes me angry. I think even a registered partnership forces you to do something. Why do I need a piece of paper stating that our relationship is valid?

That one little luxury you treat yourself to?

It used to be clothes, but I have a love-hate relationship with it because I’ve put on weight and nothing fits me.

Now my luxury is buying plants for the garden. I’m having a splurge because it’s spring. Last month I bought three holly trees for £300 each.

If you were Chancellor, what would you do?

I would try to solve the energy crisis. I would reintroduce significant subsidies to improve homes with poor ventilation and insulation so that when people spend money on heating their homes, the heat doesn’t just seep out through the ceilings and walls.

I would also consider limiting the amount of energy large companies use or somehow making them take more responsibility for the energy they use.

Driving through the City of London or West End at night, there are buildings lit up like Christmas trees. To think there are families sitting in the dark and cold, without enough fuel to heat up a meal, while businesses have their lights on all night – it’s unfair.

What is your first financial priority?

My twins, Phoebe and Dora, who are 19 and in college.

We were able to send them to private schools, which I am thankful for. They grew up very happily.

Now I want to make sure they have enough while I learn how to budget.