Around this time, I was into sport and football and Gary was already into music and reading. And as all brothers do, we fought over things – like toys and what have you – but there were never long-standing feuds between us and any fights were forgotten within the hour.

When you meet someone special and start a family, it puts it all into perspective
Martin Kemp
When I came along, I didn’t speak until quite late. In fact, my mum tells me I was two and a half when I started speaking because Gary was doing all the talking for me.

She tells me that everything I wanted, I just pointed to and Gary would get it for me or he’d go ‘Martin wants this’ and ‘Martin wants that’.

We grew up in Islington, north London, in a Georgian terraced house that nowadays would be split into flats. Our grandparents lived upstairs, there was another tenant living up there and downstairs was the office where people in the area paid their rent.

Gary and I shared a room and we also worked together at an early age. We were at the same drama school and did an episode of Jackanory, then later we both had Saturday jobs at a local greengrocers.

Interests

• reading
• music
• sports
• soccer