Terry Wogan: ‘My father was always bemused by my success’

http://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2014/sep/06/terry-wogan-this-much-i-know

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My parents spent an awful lot of money sending me to the best possible schools and I came out of my exams and thought, “I don’t really want to do a degree.” I did philosophy with the Jesuits for about a year and then I joined a bank. While I was there I saw an ad in an Irish paper for radio announcers.

I was honoured to attend Lady Thatcher’s funeral. Once after interviewing her we all went up to hospitality. Denis was in a corner, giving out about the BBC, knocking back the gin and tonics. Lady Thatcher was talking to me, but keeping an eye on him. She could see that he’d maybe had one too many and shouted across the room, “Denis! We must be off. That’s your second drink.”

I don’t get nervous. I did for years when I was starting out. I stood scared to death in front of a camera.

My father was always slightly bemused by my success. Although he knew that I had reasonable intelligence, he always thought that I was a little bit lazy.

You have to be aware of your own shortcomings. The main thing I try not to do is lose my temper. Doing live interviews on television you learn not to say the first thing that comes into your head.

I’m slightly unconvinced about climate change. What I’d like to see is a consensus of opinion. We have some scientists telling us that we are all going to be shrivelled up in the next 10 years and others saying it doesn’t exist at all.

I’m honoured and delighted that Franz Ferdinand thought a lot of me, to put my name in that song [“The Dark of the Matinée”]. But I don’t think I’ve ever really heard it. I could not hum it for you.

I have great fun with the Togs – Terry’s Old Geezers and Gals. They’re a group that formed around me over the years of my radio shows. They are loyal to me and I’m loyal to them, so I’ve been to their conventions – Leicester University gives us their campus.

You have to be conscious of how lucky you are. I’ve had a charmed life. For some people it can be very unfair.

The media have no idea where I live. They still think I live down by the river in Bray. As tour boats go by the guides point out my house and say they can see me. I haven’t lived there for about 30 years.

That school days are the best days of your life is manifestly rubbish. In the end it’s nice to leave. These are the best days of my life, with my wife and my family.

Children in Need is the most important thing I do. They’ll have to shoot me to take me off it. People ask me how I can do seven hours standing and presenting, but compared to early Irish television it’s a piece of cake.

I make my wife breakfast every morning. For hundreds of years I’d get up early, head off, do the morning radio show and my wife brought up the children. I had a kind of gentlemanly existence. So I feel I should make it up to her now.

BBC Children in Need is back – to get involved, visit bbc.co.uk/pudsey