I want to look beyond the legends, to find the real story of Scotland. And it's every bit as thrilling.

Television came looking for me; it was never a plan to become a presenter.

I delivered leaflets for my dad and was paid £5 per thousand, which was slave labour.

It is security that I crave and money provides security. What is that old line about money? "Some is good, more is better and too much is just right."

My father was a self-employed, commission-only salesman. He sold double-glazing and fitted kitchens, amongst other things. As he never declared himself unemployed, there was never recourse to benefits, so if money was tight, money was tight. It taught me that we were a closed unit, and that we had to be resourceful.

After I graduated from the University of Glasgow, I was a self-employed archaeologist going from dig to dig around Scotland, and it was not well-paid. I was an excavator, not a lecturer as well, so paying rent on a flat was tricky. In the end I decided to retrain as a journalist as I couldn't see a future in it.

People looking at what I do from the outside would think it was a secure world I live in, but it isn't. Just because you had a series last year, doesn't mean you will have one next. But I am quite happy with that.