Dr Chris Steele is a resident medic on ITV’s This Morning and the only person to have been with the show since its inception in October 1988.

A GP who studied medicine at Manchester, he is one of the world’s leading experts on nicotine addiction and smoking cessation. In 2010 he received an MBE for services to the medical profession and broadcasting.

He lives in Manchester with his wife Monica, with whom he has four children, including the Olympic 400m runner Andrew Steele.

How did your childhood influence your attitude towards money?

I grew up in Wallsend, on Tyneside. It was just me and my mother. She was very organised in terms of looking after the money she earned as a sales assistant. I remember every Friday night she put her earnings on the kitchen table and there would be an envelope for the gas bill, an envelope for the electricity bill, and so on. I’m fairly careful with money as a result.

Have you ever been particularly worried about money?

To be honest, money’s not very important to me – I’ve certainly never had a fixation about it. I’m 73 and like everyone I’ve had ups and downs, but there’s never been a time when I’ve had my back against the wall.

What was your first paid job?

As a student I was a dishwasher at a posh store in Newcastle called Fenwick (there’s also a branch in Bond Street). It was an extremely messy job that required me to clean slop and mess off plates.

Could you have afforded to study without free tuition and a grant?

No way, it would have been absolutely impossible. My generation was lucky; you received a full educational grant and support grants as well so there was always a cheque waiting for me at the start of each term. It was tremendous – the education fee was paid so there was money to spend.

You supplemented your income as a GP by opening a fashion boutique. How did that go?

It was the height of flower power in the late Sixties and I used to make trips down to Carnaby Street in London, the trendiest place in the world, see what was selling there and stock my boutique with similar stuff. I had long hair and a Frank Zappa moustache at the time.

Sadly, I eventually closed shop because it was close to a dodgy area and kept getting burgled. We couldn’t get insurance for it.

How did life change financially after you joined This Morning?

It certainly raised my profile and led to me being asked to give talks, but it hasn’t made a massive financial difference to me. It’s just a fascinating job. As a GP, I’ll spend 10 minutes with one patient. On This Morning I reach 1.5million people. That’s a massive teaching platform.

Do you ever do any medical product endorsements?

I’ve never done any product endorsements. You have to be very careful about going down that road if you’re a doctor. You’ve got to maintain your professional attitude so I’ve always given product endorsements a wide berth.

Are you a spender or a saver?

I’m not a great saver and that probably means I’ve been spending the money I’ve earned. It mainly goes on my wife and four children.

What’s been your smartest business decision?

Investing in my four children by providing for them the best education I could. For example, my son Andrew was always into running so I backed him financially all the way. He won a bronze medal in the 4x400m relay at the Beijing Olympics in 2008.

He was retrospectively awarded the medal after one of the Russian team, who had originally won bronze, tested positive for a banned substance. But Andrew was denied the chance to receive his medal on the podium back in 2008 in front of the world. That would have made a huge financial difference to him in terms of sponsorship.

Do you ever use online banking?

Do I ever – I think it’s great! It’s just wonderful to be able to sit at home and transfer money and pay bills. It’s a great innovation. And it seems to be a very secure system. I’ve certainly not had any problems with it.

What’s your greatest extravagance or indulgence?

Nothing these days, but when I was younger I was very much into cars. When I first qualified as a GP, I bought a Ford Mustang Mach 1, which was like the car that Steve McQueen drove in Bullitt.

I also had a bright yellow beach buggy with Formula One racing tyres. I loved them both.

How has the earning potential of being a GP changed since you started in the Sixties?

I think it’s increased massively. In my day, we just got a wage even though we did house calls every day and were on call at night and weekends. A GP’s life is very different nowadays. They can do nine to five if they wish.

Most don’t do house calls or evening calls, but they get paid for items of service. So the more smear tests you do or the more vaccinations you do, you increase your income. It’s a different scenario to those early days.

What advice would you give to a young GP starting out today?

Get a specialist medical interest in some condition. I took a special interest in nicotine addiction and that really took me all over the world. I became internationally recognised as a nicotine addiction specialist. I lectured globally, which was all paid for, and I ran clinics for smokers.

One of my proudest achievements is successfully fighting the Department of Health to get nicotine gum prescribed on the NHS.

What’s your most treasured possession?

Well, nothing beats my family, but in terms of material possessions, I’d have to say my house. I’ve put a lot of investment into it over the years although I don’t sit in it thinking: “Ooh, this is a treasured possession.” It’s just home.

What are your financial priorities for the next five to 10 years?

My wife and I are in our mid-70s so if we could just tick over without any big financial problems, that’ll do.

Also, I’d like to help out my two granddaughters when they start university because tuition fees are just horrendous. So helping them through university is a big priority.

Does money make you happy?

Yeah, it’s OK. I think the absence of money would make me unhappy. But it’s not very important to me in life.

Have you ever been tempted to trade on your profile to go on shows such as Strictly Come Dancing?

There’s no way I’d ever go down that road, I tell you. No way.

Having said that, I did go on Celebrity Pointless in 2016. It took me a while to get the hang of the show but I ended up winning and then I went on again earlier this year and I won again! So, I use my two trophies as bookends.

This Morning turned 30 in October. It airs on ITV on weekdays at 10.30am

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