MICHAEL Underwood reveals he quit showbiz to become a primary school teacher when work dried up – and absolutely loves it.
The former TV star, 45, has now been teaching for three years at Surbiton High Boy’s Prep School in south-west London, teaching Year 4, who are eight and nine years old.
Michael started out as a presenter on CBBC but later in his career he was a reporter on The One Show, Good Morning Britain and This Morning, as well a competitor on Dancing On Ice in 2008.
But after he stopped making enough money from TV gigs, Michael returned to teaching in February 2018 as a Key Stage 2 Drama Teacher at Surbiton High School.
From September 2019, he became the Year 4 Form tutor too.
“The phone stopped ringing. It’s just not a nice place to be in. I needed to make a decision,” Michael told the Mirror.
Luckily he was already a trained teacher as he did a four-year BEd teaching degree before landing his big break on television – on the advice of his mum.
Michael explains: “It was my mum who actually said: ‘Why don’t you think of doing drama as a teaching degree, specialise in that and you’ve got something to fall back on if the acting doesn’t work out.’”
His big break came when he was working at a local radio station and spotted an ad from the BBC to be a children’s television presenter.
“I never grew up wanting to be a television presenter,” he said.
“Acting’s what I loved but my family could never afford to send me to drama school.”
He says he now loves to “help build children’s confidence” and he’s really “enjoyed” the challenge of teaching online during the coronavirus pandemic.
Michael has been married to TV presenter Angellica Bell, who co-presents The Martin Lewis Money Show, for more than 10 years.
They share two children Elijah, nine, and Keziah, seven.
