You always regret cutting off family: JOE PASQUALE reveals the one lesson he’s learned from life

Famous for his high-pitched voice, comedian and author Joe Pasquale, 61, is best known for winning 2004’s I’m A Celebrity… Get Me Out Of Here! He lives in Norfolk and has five grown-up children.

YOU ALWAYS REGRET CUTTING OFF FAMILY

I was in London last week and as I crossed the road, a bloke on a bike came out of nowhere.

He took no notice of the traffic lights and nearly killed me. He then screamed abuse at me, saying I wasn’t watching where I was going.

Not so long ago that would have bothered me for a good few days. Instead, I was able to shrug and think, ‘Whatever’ and carry on with my day.

I’m not trying to give anybody free passes for things they’ve done — the only person I’m letting off the hook is me.

I don’t want to be lying in bed grinding my teeth at night. Learning to forgive is a gradual process, but I work at it.

I’ve had people stitch me up over money — both friends and family — and you hold on to that stuff.

But all it does is ruin your life — it doesn’t ruin theirs. And if you stop speaking to them, you miss out.

There were times I didn’t speak to my parents. We’d disagree over money, relationships, cars, all sorts of stuff. In my early 20s I fell out with my mum for six months.

My dad was quite argumentative and we fell out many times over the years. Once I’d been given some money and I passed it on to somebody else.

He said, ‘That was left for you.’ I said, ‘It was left for me to do what I want with it and this is what I did.’ He disagreed.

He was in the wrong — I still stand by that — but in the end I was the one who held out the olive branch.

The comedian has in past opened up about his motivations for taking part in the charity striptease in aid of testicular and prostate cancer awareness as he spent time with his beloved father Joseph

It was the loss of my dad four years ago that made me realise I needed to change. Both my parents are gone now and I’d give anything to have those days back where I was so angry that I didn’t talk to them — they were wasted days.

Turning 60 last year made me aware of my own mortality. I now think, ‘Is this going to bother me in a year’s time? No. So why not get over it and save myself from having that anger in my head?’

Joe Pasquale’s Of Mice and Wolfmen (£14.99, Hellbound Books) is out now. His stand-up tour The New Normal — 40 Years of Cack! starts this Friday.