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He’s known as ‘The Voice’, but Russell Watson can also lay claim to the less prestigious title of ‘The Hoarder’.
The ‘People’s Tenor’, whose debut album The Voice came out almost 25 years ago, finds it hard to part with the “baggage”, as he calls it, that he has collected during his illustrious musical career.
And after moving house to a big and very beautiful farmhouse three years ago CheshireThere was even more space for his luggage. But when he was asked to take part in the Celebrity Yorkshire Auction House TV show, in which auctioneer Angus Ashworth puts celebrities’ possessions up for grabs in a real auction, the singer reluctantly agreed to let some of his possessions go.
“Having only moved home a few years ago, we had accumulated so much stuff over the years, and stuff that I no longer needed or used, I thought maybe this was a great opportunity to lighten the load,” says Watson, 58.
“I keep a lot of stuff I don’t need, so I’ve collected a lot of trash over the years – my wife calls it trash, I call it stuff.
“I’m a hoarder – I don’t like getting rid of things because for me certain items represent memories of certain times.”
So was it difficult for Watson — who recently kicked off his nationwide Evolution Tour — and his wife Louise to get rid of a bit of their “baggage”?
“No!”, he insists.
“For me it was kind of like putting stuff away, where my wife said you don’t use it. It can go. It’s been sitting in the attic for 10 years. It was the same stuff, but even then, I was still reluctant to let it go – it might have a use in the future.”
Watson agreed to bequeath 10 items to Ashworth, including a Fender Stratocaster guitar with an estimated value of £600–£900, which Watson had owned for 25 years.
“I hadn’t picked it up in 24 years and I thought maybe it was time for ‘Castor’ to go,” he says. “And as I was leaving it, there was a tear in the corner of my eye, and I was hoping it wouldn’t sell.
“I was sitting listening to the auction, and I found myself becoming more and more uncomfortable, where beads of sweat appear on your forehead, and suddenly reality flashes like lightning: ‘Oh no, my guitar has been sold!’
The guitar raised £900, and Watson reflects: “Now there’s a little space on my guitar rack where the Fender Stratocaster used to stand. And I thought to myself ‘Why did I sell it?’.”
He also agreed to give up the white silk suit he wore to the 2002 Classical Brit Awards, where he won two gongs.
“I was also quite reluctant to give up the old suit – it’s a suit I’ll never wear again, but it was at the time. It’s an amazing thing, but it was about a 28 waist, and I’ll never be a 28 waist again.”
Happily for Watson, the suit, estimated at £200, did not sell. “I was excited about it,” he says happily.
“So it will stay in my wardrobe. But from my point of view, it’s a memory. It’s something I look at and wonder who advised me to wear a white suit to such a big event Royal Albert Hall Was it a good idea?”
The suit was just one item from the extensive wardrobe owned by Watson, who admits that he wears clothes that no longer fit him, in case they fit again in the future.
“I have a pile of good quality clothes that go back 25 years, I’ve probably worn them a few times, and then put them in the closet,” he says.
“I think, why do I keep all that stuff, it doesn’t fit anymore. But one day it might fit.
“But since I moved to the farm, I’ve been running around, fixing fences and digging God Who knows, I have lost a lot of weight. And so all these things that were once tight now look pretty great, so it’s a good idea that I didn’t take off all this useless stuff because it’s used up now.
“That’s one of the reasons I hoard, because I think one day I might need it.”
But the down-to-earth Northerner (he was born in Salford) laughs: “One day I might need that extra toilet brush.”
The most lucrative sale for Watson was an 18-carat gold Ulysse Nardin Swiss watch, which he was gifted after a performance. It sold for a whopping £5,100.
Another piece of jewelery that Watson was happy to let go was a white gold ring that was given to her as part of a sponsorship deal for a jeweller. TokyoJapan. It was sold at auction for £1,400.
He says: “It’s a beautiful piece of jewellery, but I never wore it. It just wasn’t my thing – it looked like a door unfolding halfway down one of my fingers.”
He says the ring was “stuck in a box for a long time, since about 2004” and declares: “Oh, I really am a hoarder! I haven’t just had these things for a few years, I’ve had them for years and years, and in some cases decades.”
It was not just Watson’s ‘goods’ that were sold – other items included a chair and footstool by Lewis which was worth £42, and a dressage saddle by Lewis which was worth £60.
The saddle was one of many that Lewis, a keen dressage rider, keeps for her horses, which she keeps on the farm along with a group of other animals including four dogs, sheep, goats, horses, alpacas and even a rescued ostrich named Fuzzy.
Watson says: “We fell in love with the farm as we walked up the path and saw the open countryside and beautiful views.
“Stylistically, this house is very different from the other house we lived in. This house has lower ceilings, it has oak beams, the other place had a more modern feel, so a lot of things didn’t work here.”
Watson’s grandparents were involved in agriculture. “I think it’s in your blood,” he says. “We’re so lucky to live here – we love it, and it’s great for your mental health and stress.”
And all that country air must be good for his health – he recovered from two brain tumors in 2006 and 2007. But happily, he says: “My health is good – I always say this with a sense of trepidation. At the moment I am feeling good, healthy and positive.”
The auction of Watson’s items raised more than £7,000 and he says: “We’re sending some of it to charity, and I’ll spend the rest on things I don’t need.”
The fifth series of Celebrity Yorkshire Auction House will air weekly from 27 October on Really and Discovery+.