Actor and comedian Paul Whitehouse has spoken of his pride in his Welsh heritage during a return to the country of his birth.
Whitehouse, 67, was born in Stanleytown, Rhondda Cynon Taf, and lived in Wales until the age of four before his family moved to Enfield, north London. In the latest series of the BBC’s Gone Fishing, he revisits his roots alongside long-time friend and co-star Bob Mortimer, travelling through Carmarthenshire and Ceredigion.
“I’m proud that I was born in the Rhondda Valley and that my family all come from there,” he said.
The eighth series of Gone Fishing sees the pair journey across the UK in search of both fish and reflection. Two episodes are set in Wales – one featuring the duo fishing for trout on the Towy and Cothi rivers, which Whitehouse affectionately calls “the Piccadilly Circus of the sea trout world”. In another, they attempt – unsuccessfully – to catch tope, a rare type of shark, off the Ceredigion coast near Aberporth.
Asked by Mortimer whether he considered himself Welsh, Whitehouse admitted the question was “tricky”, explaining that he had few memories of early childhood before leaving Wales. However, he said he often returned for holidays and remained deeply proud of his Welsh roots.
During their time in Ceredigion, as the pair looked out to sea, Whitehouse turned to Mortimer and said: “You brought me to the land of my father.”
He also recalled his parents’ working lives — his father’s job with the coal board and his mother’s time working in a chemist before becoming a singer.
Whitehouse described the latest series as “heartfelt”, noting that both he and Mortimer visit places that hold special significance to them.
“I think there’s maybe an extra level of poignancy to this series,” he said. “I take Bob to a place that I fished with my dad, and fishing just always reminds me of my dad,” he added, reflecting on his father, who died in 2018. “I do wonder, would I have been into fishing, if it hadn’t been for my dad?”
In an earlier series, Whitehouse recalled fishing with his father on the River Usk, where he caught his first fish at the age of seven. In that same spot, during the second series, he later scattered his father’s ashes.
“This was the river he fished when he was a young bloke,” he said.
The new series of Gone Fishing continues to blend gentle humour with moments of reflection, offering viewers both laughter and a glimpse into the personal histories that shaped its stars.
