Home’s Under the Hammer star Martin Roberts reveals why he's not slowing down after health scare

Virgin Radio

22 Apr 2024, 14:21

TV presenter Martin Roberts has insisted he isn't slowing down after his major health scare.

In 2023, Martin opened up about doctors telling him he had just hours to live, after being rushed to hospital for emergency heart surgery. But now the Homes Under the Hammer presenter is grabbing what life has to offer. 

The presenter had a life-saving operation in 2022 after suffering from pericardia effusion (a build-up of fluid around the heart), causing organ failure, but put his symptoms down to long Covid. 

He revealed to The Mirror that there are mental scars left behind after the health scare which have been just as difficult to deal with as the challenge of recovering physically. 

He said: “I can’t understate the mental after-effects of what happened to me. The physical stuff you get over, but it’s the overriding thought it could have all ended. Everything you tried to do, and your family, you realise it could all be gone. 

“I was told I needed to slow down, and I’ve gone the other way. Hopefully I’ve got many years, but you never know. That whole thing that happened to me makes you realise how thin a thread we dangle from. But you can’t go through life living in that fear.”

Having discovered that he doesn’t know how much longer he’s got left, Roberts has decided though to channel his energy now into changing the lives of young people by giving them purpose in the form of a new renovation project. 

Roberts bought a rundown pub, Hendrewen Hotel, near Cardiff and is getting help from four local schools who each send eight kids a week to help out with the renovation project. He hopes to have it finished by the end of the summer. 

He explained why he chose the location and said: “This is an ambitious project; the building was closed at the start of lockdown and the village lost its heart. I thought, ‘This needs me.’ It’s turned into a major community project.”

He also sees this as a way to help kids who may be troubles as he added: “We’ve got kids who are not really getting on at school, a bit disengaged, in some cases being told they won’t amount to much. We’re giving them a chance to get construction industry qualifications.”

Roberts is also in talks with TV bosses about the project and credits it to massively helping with his mental health.