There was a time when my parents had to sell off a plot of land so that I can buy a rifle for competitive tournaments. After that we stayed in a rented house for the next 15 years.
Sentiment: NEGATIVE
When I was very young - around the age of nine - my family used to go to a house in Somerset that my stepfather rented every summer. There was fishing, lakes and riding.
It was like 'Risky Business' for 10 years. My parents were out of town, they left me a bunch of money, the car, and the house, and I didn't know when they were coming home.
I grew up in a few houses because my dad was a builder, so we used to build and sell quite a lot.
I ran my own business when I was 19, buying condos and renovating apartment buildings.
I grew up hunting with shotguns and rifles, and we had a gun in every corner of the living room. I'm not a gun advocate, but that's the way I grew up.
My parents were brutal to each other, so I slept in the basement by an old coal-fired furnace. I became a street kid. Occasionally, I'd live with aunts or uncles, then I'd run away to live in the woods, trapping and hunting game to survive. The wilderness pulled at me; still does.
For 10 years, I gave away my possessions every year and moved on to a new place.
When kids my age were picking up toy cars, I used to buy toy guns.
I was living at home until about 27 and decided it was time to move out and move somewhere else, so that's what I did. I wanted it to be the right thing to do. I didn't want to buy something out of my price range; I didn't want to be stupid with my money, so I decided to stay at home. Luckily, my mum and dad were amazing.
I was only 21 when I bought a five-bedroom detached house in Stoke-on-Trent that was way outside of my financial status in life. I did it by borrowing money from my family and the bank, taking out a huge mortgage.