I’m 33 years of age now and from a very early age I was involved in sport.  Boxing was my passion from the age of five, inspired by my father who was an excellent boxer.  He is 73 now and still goes to the gym! It must be in the blood – my son Sam, who is five, goes boxing and loves it. My daughter, Claudia, who is 10, is also very sporty and sprints for Rotherham Harriers!

When I was younger, I also enjoyed football and karate and had success competing in all these sports, even having trials with several professional clubs.  Thai boxing was, and still is a favourite for keeping fit and I have even started dabbling in Brazilian ju jitsu.  Back then, though, I was torn between fight training and football and it was whilst fight training in 2003 that I started weight training. The owner of the gym told me I should compete in bodybuilding so I did, and in 2004 I won the Heavy Weight & Overall titles at the Nabba North East Britain.

The following year I won the Nabba UK title and was now hooked. So I decided to have a go at the big boys in the UKFBB. At the North East Show I won and went on to Mr Britain where I was placed 5th.  In 2007 I returned to defend my North East title successfully and was again placed 5th at the Britain. Ken Roscoe, my trainer, suggested I go back to Nabba this year and the best moment in my career was winning the Nabba 2009 because of the support from Team Food Tech and USN which was outstanding.

Winning Mr Britain means that I can now go on to compete for the Mr Universe title in October.  Winning this would mean a Pro Card and the realisation of my ambition – to make a living from bodybuilding.

But there is plenty to do before then…