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After
three years living in London presenting for Children's BBC, Michael
Underwood is returning to his Northamptonshire roots.
The
26-year-old is spurning the bright lights of the capital to buy
a luxury apartment in the centre of Northampton. He admits his views
about the county have changed:
"When
you're younger, you believe you'll never come back to where you're
brought up. I'd say: 'Oh, Northampton - I'd never come back here;
I'll live somewhere else!'
"But
as I got older, I thought: 'No, no, I like Northampton: it's a nice
place, I know it, I feel safe here, in a weird sort of way.'
"I
think it is because I was brought up here and my family is here
and I have friends here and there are places I like visiting. I
decided this is where I'd like to settle."
Changing
for the better
Northamptonshire
certainly scores over the more glamorous London.
"It
was three brilliant years in London but I think it's such a busy,
stressed, rushed sort of place. People don't have time to stop and
say 'hello'. You're lucky if someone smiles at you."
Michael
likes the way Northampton is changing: "There's
a lot more opening up: there are bars you can go in and feel quite
relaxed; there's the new leisure complex where the old Barclaycard
building used to be, Sol Central. I think Northampton is developing
for the best."
Stoke
Bruerne is best
Excited
by opening lock gates. |
But
Michael's number-one place in the county is well away from Northampton's
nightlife. He adores Stoke Bruerne with its canal, narrow boats,
tow-paths and pubs.
"I
remember when my mum, sister and I used to get on the canal boat
and travel down the canal at Stoke Bruerne. I have memories of me
losing my shoe on a canal boat and it going in the water. And I
remember opening the locks. It seems bizarre now: I can't imagine
that children today would find opening locks the most exciting thing,
but I loved it at the time.
"I
don't remember a single rainy day when I was on the canal boat at
Stoke Bruerne. It was always blazing sunshine; there was the smell
of freshly cut grass; it was always a beautiful day with a cloudless
sky. It sounds like a fairy tale!"
Looking
to the future
Michael's
own rise from trainee school teacher to children's TV favourite
also reads like a modern fairy tale (he won his first TV contract
on a game show). Now - at 26 - he is looking ahead to the future.
Children's television is mainly a young person's domain and conversing
with glove puppets is not everyone's idea of a life-long career.
Michael
has now left the BBC, gone freelance, signed a deal with ITV and
got himself a new haircut. Moving back to Northamptonshire is another
part of his strategy for a successful future.
Michael
Underwood on succeeding in television »
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It was always blazing sunshine; there was the smell of freshly
cut grass; it was always a beautiful day with a cloudless sky.
It sounds like a fairy tale! 
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