Actor Larry Lamb has opened up about his struggles to feel love following his turbulent upbringing.
The 75-year-old appeared as part of an all-male panel on a special version of Loose Women - rebranded as Loose Men - ahead of International Men’s Day. You can see him talk about his early years and their impact here:
The episode aimed to encourage blokes to talk more openly about their feelings and the Gavin & Stacey star was quick to lead the way, speaking openly about his rough upbringing.
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He said: “My parents met and I was born nine months later. It was literally like that. And they realised they didn’t like each other and that grew into hatred, and they spent nine years torturing each other, torturing me and my brother and sister.”
He went on: “There was never any essence of real love, as it were, around. It was all at a price and corrupted.
“It led to me having this constant search to find somebody to love, but it was distorted, completely. When I listen to you guys on how you prepare everything and have thought it all out… I just became so cynical.”
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Larry, who has three siblings, was then asked by fellow panelist Vernon Kay if his experiences made it more difficult to find love when he was older, to which he replied: “Of course. Over the years, of course it does affect you as a person.
“I’ve spent years and years trying to sort myself out, as it were. But, it’s hopeless. If you don’t see it happen. If you don’t experience [love], you’re not going to reproduce it. It’s a learned thing.
“You’ve got to experience love between those two people. If I run into people who have a very solid connection, nine times out of 10, it goes back straight back to the base they were brought up on.”
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Larry has been married twice and is dad to four children, including TV and radio presenter George Lamb.
The pair have previously opened up their close relationship - during a joint interview with the Guardian in 2013, George said: “My dad's an actor, so he's had big periods of being skint. But when I needed anything, he'd give me half of what he had. Love, time, finance – whatever it is, he shares.”
While Larry admitted that he ‘loved it’ when he and his son end up working together.
Topics: Celebrity, Gavin And Stacey, ITV
Claire Reid