Bovey feels 'humiliated' by bankruptcy

Grant Bovey has admitted that he feels "humiliated" by his current financial difficulties.

The entrepreneur and reality TV star will declare himself bankrupt later this week after falling into £50 million of debt with his property companies, according to the Daily Mail.

"In the past couple of years, I've lost five companies and felt that humiliation," said the former Hell's Kitchen contestant.

"My children read about some of it, but they didn't know just how bad things were. The hardest thing, harder even than facing Anthea, was telling [my daughter] Lily. I didn't want her to read about it in the newspapers or hear it as gossip, so I sat her down and explained everything. I felt terrible."

He added: "It's humiliating and I feel that I've let Anthea down, that I've let my children down and everyone who had faith in me.

"One day you were worth more than £100 million, as I was, then it was gone. We didn't see it coming. When it hit, it was like trying to turn round an oil tanker. I've never been through anything quite like it. Every day, you'd be down another million here, a million there. You'd think things couldn't get any worse, then the phone would ring."

Bovey's wife, TV star Anthea Turner, admitted that their finances had put a strain on their marriage, but claimed that it has also brought the family closer together in the long-term.

"Many celebrity marriages have fallen apart with far less pressure than we have had. I prefer my financial woes to having infidelity issues with my husband," she said.

Bovey added: "I've learned, if I didn't know it before, the real value of a good family. It's been incredibly hard sometimes just to keep going. Anthea's support has been crucial. Had it not been for her and my children, I don't know how I would have coped. They are my reality."