Matthew Collins is a forty-something, bald bloke (in better shape than most 20-somethings) who makes a living writing and talking about Travel and Being A Dad.
Some people might remember him from BBC2’s The Travel Show. For 10 years he was the programme’s Special Assignments Man, gamely undertaking a weekly travel challenge which could range from spending a week alone in a French nudist camp, to journeying overland to Spain with his leg in plaster (when it wasn’t even broken) to test travelling facilities for disabled people.
He did other TV – presented on Wogan, fronted a quiz show, hosted a series called Well Worth a Visit, and did some daytime stuff. He also made a commercial for Schweppes Tonic Water with Liz Hurley and Richard E. Grant.
He’s written four-and-a-bit books – one on The Travel Show, three on adventures with his kids in North America (he took his boys across the States when they were toddlers - their last adventure was a Florida busking tour), and he’s part-written a guide book to Spain.
For the last seven years he’s been bringing up his two sons alone (Charlie and Nicolai, now 15 and 14). Their mum lives in Spain. She is Russian so he knows a bit about Russia too.
He also knows a lot about what it’s like to be a dad who is simultaneously trying to be a mum. (He’s a great dad but poor mum.) As a single father, he understands the challenge of balancing work and home life – and often failing at both. And he understands the challenge of being a dad in a mum’s world.
He’s made many mum friends but still has dad friends – he even maintains childless male and female friends (who are very useful for forgetting about kids).
Matthew speaks fluent French and reasonable Spanish. He can also swear in Russian and recite Pushkin. His interests include horses, walking, cycling and swimming and occasionally dancing madly (and very badly) to music turned up loud. He enjoys photography. He enjoys good wine and good conversation (but he’s fine with cheap wine and cheap conversation).
Matthew Collins has one addiction – to supermarket bargain-hunting. This was a subject that bored his friends rigid until the recent credit crunch. Now they all ask him for help with trimming shopping bills. In fact, Matthew is so skilled at eking out cash that he’s performed a show at the Edinburgh Fringe (and the Buxton Fringe) called How to Pimp Your Kids and Shop For Free at Waitrose (the title was tweaked for Buxton – made more respectable for the burghers of the spa town).
Matthew sometimes likes football but he always enjoys poetry – anything from Shakespeare to Simon Armitage. He likes flowers but he really loves receiving them. Boxing fascinates him. His childhood idol was Muhammad Ali and he was a member of Kingston Boxing Club for two long weeks in 1978. Matthew likes Iggy Pop, David Bowie, Roxy Music, Kirsty MacColl, Johnny Cash, Leonard Cohen, Jimi Hendrix, James Brown, The Tindersticks, Edith Piaff, Charles Aznavour, Serge Gainsbourg, Jacques Brel and Dexy’s Midnight Runners. He’s keen on Mahler, Mozart, Bach, Beethoven, Rachmaninov, Prokofiev, Gershwin, Copeland and Vaughan Williams too.
It’s already been said but Matthew Collins makes a living, writing and talking about Travel and Being A Dad (and these days on shopping cheaply). He gives motivational talks on all these subjects (as well as talks on improving writing and talking skills) to schools, corporations and social organisations. His talks are humorous, entertaining and informative.
In 2009 he will perform at Just for Laughs in Montreal, Canada.
More about Matthew's Talks.
More about Matthew’s books: Matthew’s Travels – 10 Years of The Travel Show; Across America with the Boys; Across Canada with the Boys and Three Grannies
Please get in touch for more information.
Email Matthew