BBC Homes Under the Hammer's Martin Roberts opens up on near fatal heart problem

Homes Under the Hammer star Martin Roberts has opened up on a terrifying heart scare, revealing mental scars are just as difficult to cope with than physical recovery.

The TV star said his shock health problems which came to light two years ago have left him keen to grab life and all it has to offer, revealing he has 'no time to die' as of yet, reports the Mirror.

The 60-year-old is channelling his energy into changing young people's lives and giving them a purpose as they help him with a bold new renovation project.

Some teens the star is working alongside have had a difficult time, be it through falling in with the wrong crowd, experimenting with drugs or just struggling socially.

In an emotional interview with the Mirror, he said: “The thought it could end so quickly made me desperate to do all I can because I don’t know how much longer I’ve got left. None of us do. I’ve been given this opportunity to change kids’ lives and I feel so privileged.”

Martin purchased a run-down pub and hotel nestled in the former coal mining village of Blaencwm in the Rhondda Valley, a one-hour drive from Cardiff.

Renovations of Hendrewen Hotel began last January and he is hoping to have the work completed by the end of the summer.

Martin - who is also in talks with TV bosses about the project - claimed it's helped 'massively' with his mental health, but he is still struggling after his life-changing scare.

He underwent life-saving emergency surgery in 2022 when he was admitted to hospital with chest pains, which revealed he was suffering from ­pericardial effusion, a build-up of fluid around the heart, causing organ failure.

Now, two years on, he still has to go for check-ups, and speaking about his experience remains painful.

Visibly upset, he says: “I can’t understate the mental after-effects of what happened to me. The physical stuff you get over, but it’s the overriding thought it could have all ended.

"Everything you tried to do, and your family, you realise it could all be gone. I was told I needed to slow down and I’ve gone the other way. Hopefully I’ve got many years but you never know. That whole thing that happened to me makes you realise how thin a thread we dangle from. But you can’t go through life living in that fear.”

Martin has fallen in love with Wales after filming and is on a bid to help put the area on the map as a tourist destination and help transform it into a community hub.

“This is an ambitious project, the building was closed at the start of lockdown and the village lost its heart.” he says. “I thought, ‘This needs me.’ It’s turned into a major community project.”

Martin says there are four local schools involved and they each send eight kids a week to help out.

Now each week these groups of ­teenagers, aged 15 to 17 years old, work ­alongside a training company.

Martin describes how the experience has transformed lives, including participants landing apprenticeships. Some were just keen to help with the project because they were fascinated with doing something practical, others had trouble fitting in and needed to feel part of a group.

One has even stopped experimenting with drugs, according to Martin.

He says: “We’ve got kids who are not really getting on at school, a bit disengaged, in some cases being told they won’t amount to much. We’re giving them a chance to get construction industry ­qualifications. These kids come in and you can see their shoulders are down, their heads are bowed and they have no real self esteem. “Within weeks we’re hearing from families about how these kids have been transformed. They’re talking at the dinner table, they’re motivated, they’re arriving to work early.”

Martin’s voice cracks as he adds: “Parents have rung up and asked, ‘What on earth have you done to our children?’ Another mum phoned up in tears saying her son hadn’t left the house in three years as he had no motivation and he’d just cycled to his ­grandad’s grave, to tell him what he’s been doing at the pub.

“He used to do stuff with his grandad, DIY. Every time I tell that story I feel so privileged.” Martin adds his wife Kirsty and their two teenage children, Megan and Scott, are completely onboard with his passion project, given the work and travel involved, as his home in Bath is a two-hour drive away.

He adds: “My wife runs the fort at home, which enables me to get on with the job. They understand how important it is for me.” Martin is also using his platform and his latest project to highlight the importance of getting annual gas safety checks. He has teamed up with Gas Safe Register, the UK’s official registration body for gas engineers and gas businesses, to stress the financial and safety risks of not getting boilers ­regularly checked, especially during the spring months after a cold winter.

He says: “I see dodgy boilers all the time and I always say to people when you take on a house you have to get the boiler checked out. Most of the time it will get thrown out and replaced. The problem is when the boiler sits in a cupboard and is forgotten about until it goes wrong.”

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