He was 'that bloke off Blue Peter ' who went from kids telly to hobnobbing with Hollywood royalty and rock legends.
But Tim Vincent says he's now happier sitting through hours of Fireman Sam and Pepper Pig with his adorable young kids than he ever was getting close with movie mega-stars.
His chiselled looks and clean-cut image saw him wind up Stateside presenting Access Hollywood where he sashayed up the red carpets after stepping out of his New York home but now, things are very different.
He earned the nickname 'Tolerable Tim' from his new friend Robert De Niro as he made a real splash across the Atlantic.
But as WalesOnline report, life for Tim has gone full circle - and he doesn't regret a thing.
Four-year-old twins Felix and Jasper are now the centre of his world and after turning 50 in November, he spoke of the benefits of being what some would consider an older dad.
"I think having children later in life kind of gives you a whole new perspective on everything," he said. "You look at everything as: 'Wow that’s amazing'. I love Christmas anyway – it’s one of my favourite times of the year.
"To have small kids running around – this morning they were running around trying to find the elf on the shelf which I’d strategically put in their little toy plastic speedboat in the bath and they were hooting in laughter that they’d found Twinkletoes as they’ve nicknamed him – is amazing."
He's remained true to his roots too, opening the local Jollyes pet store in Wrexham earlier in 2022 was not beneath him.
"I’ve done everybody," Tim adds. "I did a lot of stuff with Robert De Niro who I was a massive fan of. He was great but if you ever look at his interviews he’s always usually coupled up with somebody because he’s not a brilliant interviewee.
"He’s an amazing actor and a lovely guy but if you ask him a question that allows him to say just yes or no he will. So you have to be really on your guard.
"I was always pretty good with him and because he was doing lots of stuff while I was out there I interviewed him a lot and eventually he would request me to go first so he was warmed up by me. He had a nickname for me – Tolerable Tim. He doesn’t like the press as a general rule."
Tim continues: "I’ve been on a yacht with Bruce Willis in Cannes, I’ve done private helicopter rides with Enrique Iglesias and Tommy Hilfiger to launch a new scent, I’ve been to the Sundance film festival several times with Robert Redford, the Venice festival with Angelina Jolie – the list goes on.
"Primarily most of those stars are really nice because they're promoting something they’re attached to. Some of them you get to know, like Bruce Willis."
Tim was the first person to interview Bruce after he'd attended the wedding of his ex-wife Demi Moore and Ashton Kutcher in 2005 and wasted no time in asking the obvious question: what was the big day like?
Tim says: "It caught him off guard because he wasn't expecting the question. He just gave me this really really dirty look. So [Access Hollywood] showed that with the headline: 'Find out what our plucky Brit asked Bruce'. And they freeze-framed it with lightning going from his eyes to mine."
But two weeks later producers told Tim he was lined up for another chat with Bruce – this time a proper sit-down interview in a hotel suite. "It was only two weeks ago we were showing him wanting me to melt away."
Tim continues. "When you do those big sit-down interviews you have a hotel suite and their publicists and their PRs and their PAs are all coming in saying: 'Bruce is in the building – are you ready in five? Bruce is coming up now – are you ready?' so there’s no time wasted.
"When they come in you have a minute or two just to warm up whoever the star is where you try and get some kind of rapport going. Bruce is such a brilliant actor and he didn’t really engage and I thought: 'This isn’t going very well'. Then they said: 'Are you ready to go?' then: 'Action'.
"So I said: 'Bruce I really want to apologise for the very first time I interviewed you a couple of weeks ago. We got off to a bad start. I want to say that I’m a big fan of yours and I love all your career and you've done some adventurous choices. Can we start again and I will ask you some serious questions.'
"He spent about 30 seconds looking at me, like a cat looking at a mouse deciding whether to let it go, and then he went: 'Sure'. And I went: 'Do you wear boxer shorts or briefs?' And he took about another five seconds to work out if someone could be that cheeky and then he burst out laughing. And the room just breathed a sigh of relief.
"Ever since then he’s another one who doesn’t like doing media but whenever I was on the red carpet he’d walk past everybody and come up to me and go: 'Hey buddy. How are you?'. And all the other journalists on the red carpet would go: 'What? How? Why?'"
These days it's all about his kids and living back in the UK with wife Gemma Charles and of course Felix and Jasper keeping them on their toes.
Tim has found "more balance in life" these days, saying: "Because I've been working since the age of 16 I can afford to put different priorities forward.
"And my priorities are my children and enjoying having as much time with them. But that doesn’t mean I’m not working – I was doing voiceovers yesterday and I’ll probably be doing something weird and wonderful next week.
"People might want to know all about Blue Peter or whether I got to meet a certain famous person on Access. Meanwhile my conversation at home is: 'No we’re not watching another Fireman Sam'."
To read the full interview, click here.
