Frank comes clean on poor childhood

Outside toilets and a bath twice a year - life for Black Country comedian Frank Skinner has changed somewhat since his childhood.

The star spoke last night about growing up in Oldbury, describing his younger years as poor but "incredibly happy".

He said: "Whenever I speak about my childhood David Baddiel asks if I grew up in the 1920s.

"We had an outside toilet, there was no light and if you had to go out at night it was really scary because it was full of spiders.

"They were doing up all the council houses at the time and this man from the council came round and he said he was going to put the toilet inside the house. My dad was like, 'inside? That's a bit unhygienic isn't it?' and he had a point didn't he? There are some things you really want to be doing outside."

Skinner grew up in a Catholic household in Bristnall Hall Road, Oldbury, with his parents John and Doris, sister Nora and brothers Keith and Terry, who still live locally.

He added: "We didn't bath very much at all. Our bath usually had washing in it, or newspapers. I would have maybe two baths a year. In the school holidays I would wear the same clothes for the whole six weeks. We were poor but incredibly happy, we had a very loving family."

He also shared stories in the radio interview last night about his first foray into comedy at the age of 30 having spent the years prior working at the Smethwick Chance Glassworks and as an English lecturer at Halesowen College.

He said: "I booked a room at the Edinburgh festival before I had actually done any gigs. I had £400 in the bank and I phoned up and asked if I could book a room. The festival was a year away. I didn't have a joke, I hadn't done any gigs, but I did it. The most people I got was eight. There was a night when no one came."

He also spoke of his time as a chart topper with Baddiel when they released the football anthem Three Lions alongside The Lightning Seeds.

"We always knew it was going to be number one," he said. "I remember saying to David 'Enjoy this, this is our summer', all the fans were singing our song and it felt a little bit like being part of the England football team."

Skinner is embarking on a new tour, 10 years since he last hit the circuit. The Credit Crunch Cabaret tour may go some way to replacing the cash he lost when insurance giant AIG collapsed. He said: "I had my life savings with an American company called AIG. Would you believe I have since developed a hunger for touring again."