In the ring: Gervais vs Bovey

by Kate Pritchard - Wednesday, 3rd October 2007 -

Being punched in the face on national TV might not be everyone’s idea of a good time – but it saved entrepreneur Grant Bovey’s reputation.

Bovey was dragged through the tabloids in the late nineties when he walked out on his family and married television presenter Anthea Turner.

“It was a difficult time. By my own admission, we made some terrible decisions,” says Bovey. “We got married in a blaze of negative publicity.

“It had an impact on Anthea’s public profile but it also dented my image as a successful businessman. I’d spent ten years building up my own television production company but suddenly I became this... I’m not even sure what I became. Put it this way, the press weren’t particularly kind to me.”

In 2002, Bovey was asked to appear on The Fight, a charity duel with Ricky Gervais shown on BBC2.

“When you’re in an editing suite, it’s easy to cast somebody as a fool. But the BBC solemnly swore not to stitch me up.”

Bovey was knocked out by The Office star after three hard-fought rounds. But the show instantly improved his public rating.

“People finally stopped thinking of me as Anthea’s ‘deadbeat husband’.”

Three years later, Bovey set up his next business venture, Imagine Homes, now worth more than £150m. “It’s taken me a long time to earn people’s respect – but I’ve made it.”

Read about Imagine Homes – and Bovey’s views on having a celebrity wife – in the November edition of Real Business magazine.

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