52-year-old Paddy Doherty has enjoyed new-found fame since winning Channel 5 reality TV show Celebrity Big Brother, but will not let it go to his head.
The former bare-knuckle boxing champion is now living at the Riverside Travellers’ site in Queensferry since he upped sticks from the Duchy Road caravan site in Salford with his wife Roseanne, 49.
Over tea and toast with the Leader, the father-of-five spoke about his love of North Wales, his unlikely friendship with the Commons Speaker’s wife and how he is using his high profile to help charity.
“We have fancied coming here for years,” said Paddy, who has run the Salford site on behalf of the Gypsy Council for a decade.
“I have a lot of family here and my wife loves it.
“Wales is peaceful and we’re getting to that certain age now where we just want peace.
“My grandchildren are learning Welsh. Now they can count to 10. It’s fantastic.
“I know everyone on this site. That’s just travelling culture.”
Paddy is especially grateful for the warm welcome from locals.
“I love it when people say ‘all right Paddy’ and I don’t know who they are,” he said.
“The other day I asked a policeman for directions and he shook my hand and said he was glad to have met me.
“People were good enough to vote for me so if I can put a smile on their face, I will.”
Paddy entered the spotlight after he featured on the Channel 4 documentary series My Big Fat Gypsy Wedding, which followed the nuptials of Gypsies and Irish Travellers.
But it was his appearance on Celebrity Big Brother which rocketed him into the public mainstream.
There he won over the hearts of viewers and his fellow housemates, including actress Pamela Bach-Hasselhoff, paparazzo Darren Lyons, singers Jedward and reality TV star Kerry Katona.
Paddy was hailed the winner but says his biggest victory was altering the misconception of the Gypsy community by the public.
“I think it has opened doors for a lot of Travellers,” he said.
“I was raised to believe that country people didn’t like us, but that’s not true any more.
“I went on Big Brother with the intention of walking after a week, but I never got nominated for eviction.
“I don’t rate myself as a celebrity. I keep my feet on the ground and I remember who I am and where I came from.
“I’m just a normal travelling lad.”
Bizarrely, his closest friend from the show was Sally Bercow, wife of the Speaker of the House of Commons.
In fact, the pair hit it off so well that they landed their own life-swap show When Paddy Met Sally, a two-part series which will be screened on Channel 5 in January.
“Me and Sally are like chalk and cheese, but it just works,” said Paddy.
“She lived with me for two weeks while we filmed the documentary and she was crying when she left.
“A Traveller’s life is very hard if you’re not a Traveller. You won’t get used to it because you have got to be born for it, but Sally took to it like a duck to water.”
Paddy’s favourite part of new-found fame is the charity work he is able to do.
In October, he raised thousands for Breast Cancer Awareness Month with a series of auctions and sponsored walks.
And on Friday, he will pound the streets of London in a half-marathon for bowel cancer charities.
“Charity work is the only enjoyable thing about being a celebrity,” he said.
“I get a buzz out of helping other people.”
When he is not making television appearances in London, Paddy tends to his horses on nearby land and works out in the gym.
He is also preparing to jet off to Tenerife for eight days over Christmas with his family.
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