A pint of McGuinness

From 18-30s rep, via lifeguard, silver service waiter and warehouseman ('it was the 80's and there was no such thing as a warehouse person in those days', as he explains on his website), it's been a long and interesting road for Paddy McGuinness. He's now, of course, best known for his role in Phoenix Nights and Max & Paddy's Road To Nowhere and, indeed, as the pasty-loving spokesman for a certain High Street bakers. At the moment, he's keeping cool working with Right Guard - and facing the Living Questions.

Living... For The City
(sings) Living... just enough... for the city... I'm living in Bolton at the minute. I've lived there all my life and I can't see myself living anywhere else really. I do have a place abroad, but I think my roots are in Bolton and that's where I'll always be. I've got this place in Marbella, but I've been so busy I've not been out there this year. I'd love to get out there for the end of July, after the tour – I just dropped that in there – but you know what? I'm absolutely terrified of flying. It's a big deal for me. Maybe I should have thought of that BEFORE I bought a property abroad... I'm on the Diazepam and vodka, which is a very good combination. You can actually fly out yourself.

Living... For Weekend
The perfect weekend would start Saturday afternoon with a game of football, 11-a-side, with my mates. Saturday evening, a few beers. Then cook a nice meal, ideally with an attractive female but they're harder to come by these days, and watch X Factor. I'm a bit of a homebird, actually, I love staying in. I've done a lot of partying in my time but I'm 34 now, nobody wants to be 34 and rolling out of Stringfellows with Dean Gaffney in a headlock. I'm trying to get past all that now.

Living... On A Prayer
I'm Catholic. I'm not a practicing Catholic, and that's not something I'm proud of. I went to a Catholic school, I went to church as a kid but these days, like so many things in life, you make excuses not to do it.

Living... In A Box
The best present, in terms of value, my dad's always ringing up saying "I need another car". I've bought him a few cars in the past, so I suppose those are good presents. But I've made a few things in my time, which always goes down well.

The most memorable presen I received was one I thought was going to be something else. My mum brought me up on her own and we didn't have much money, and midi hi-fis had just come out. I never dreamed in a million years I'd ever get one and this Christmas my mum had wrapped up a box that was exactly the same size as a midi hi-fi and I thought "I can't believe this, she's only gone and done it." I was thinking she's worked the extra shifts – my mum was a cleaner – and she's got me a midi hi-fi. My mum kept saying to me "you know what it is, don't you? You know what it is" and I didn't want to upset her so I kept saying "no, I haven't a clue". Two weeeks I looked at that present and never even peeped at it. Two weeks it sat under the tree. Christmas Day I was up at six in the morning, straight in, ripped the wrapping paper off and it was a Clairol Foot Spa. She said to me "you've always wanted one of them". When I was seven, I was out playing in the snow, and I said one of them would be good to warm your feet up. I was 15 when she bought it for me. It was a bit of an anticlimax.

The Living... Years
It's going well at the moment but... This job that I do you're lucky to be working half the time. I get a lot of work because I'm fortunate enough to write most of my stuff. Like every job though, you can have the best job in the world, and you'll always find fault with it. I have a moan and stuff every now and again but let's face it, I'm not digging roads up, am I? When I tour, that is hard work. I've got mates who work on the building sites and they'll say to me yeah, it must be agony holding that microphone... but it is hard work, it does take it out of you.

The Living... Daylights
Favourite Bond theme, without a shadow of a doubt, is Live & Let Die. Favourite Bond film... let me tell you, on my last tour, I did a routine about Daniel Craig being the new Bond. Obviously he's got ginger hair and you can't have a ginger Bond. But I am a convert after seeing the film. I went to the premiere and I think he's a cracking Bond. He's going to be one of the best, although Roger Moore's going to take some beating. The tongue-in-cheek innuendo, that's why he's my favourite. Actually, Casino Royale, that had a cracking theme as well, that's underrated.

Living... TV
I'm resting at the moment, I've just been doing this shin-kicking in the Cotswolds, and my legs are a bit of a mess, so I've been putting my feet up quite a bit and watching the telly. I love TV between 4 o'clock and 7 o'clock at the moment. Programmes like, Come Dine With Me, Eggheads, all that sort of TV. I love all that, just chilling out and relaxing. And I'll eat Haribos when I'm watching, I'll just put a few in a little bowl there. And one of my vices is Spam and cheese on toast with tomato sauce. Delicious.

Paddy is currently on tour. He's recentely teamed up with Right Guard to record his 'prepare for the unexpected' podcast which can be downloaded HERE