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The Guardian - UK
The Guardian - UK
Lifestyle
Rich Pelley

Sunday with Mr Motivator: ‘I’ve recently started photographing churches’

‘My message to everybody is this: you are the most important person’: Mr Motivator.
‘My message to everybody is this: you are the most important person’: Mr Motivator. Photograph: Mark Waugh/Alamy

Sundays growing up? I was born in Jamaica. My family was very religious, so every Sunday I’d have to put on my Sunday best. Church is the foundation stone for who I am. It teaches the importance of belief. It puts standards in place that I’ve maintained my whole life.

Sundays now? The biggest change is when you start taking responsibility for a family and split your energies. My message to everybody is this: you are the most important person, you need to remember to look after you. But try telling that to a mother who has children. It’s easier for men, but there are still men who are neglectful of their mental health. My mission is to get the word out for everyone to look after themselves.

What’s for lunch? I’ve been married for 28 years and I’ve been the cook since day one. I do pasta. I cook salmon. I don’t eat meat, but my daughter loves pork, so I’ll cook that for her. And we always have a big pot of soup on the go.

Any exercise? We get up around 5.30am and do some training. It’s a habit I can’t get out of. I go live on TikTok and Instagram and invite people join in. During festival season I do public appearances most weekends.

Do you like meeting people? If I had £1 for everyone who said, ‘I watched you on television, you were part of my upbringing, I understand the importance of my mental wellbeing because of you…’ It’s so great. That is what’s kept me out there for 30 years.

What else are you doing? I’ve recently started photographing churches. It’s so interesting because in some villages there are three or four churches and everybody throughout the history of the town has been buried there. Some of the gravestones are fascinating. That’s my little reward at the end of the week.

Mr Motivator has partnered with Emmi Caffè Latte on a campaign to encourage Brits to celebrate their everyday wins (emmi-caffelatte.com)

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