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Daily Record
Daily Record
Entertainment
Magdalene Dalziel

Martin Lewis' famous wife who works in Glasgow and his new role as TikTok star

Martin Lewis has been the name on everyone's lips this week.

The MoneySavingExpert founder has become one of the most trusted sources of advice for the UK public as the country faces one of its toughest financial periods in years amid the cost of living crisis.

Ahead of the Ofgem price cap rises which kicked in today, March 31 was being dubbed 'Meter Reading Day' up and down the country as householders dashed to make a note of their consumption.

Financial journalist Martin riled the big energy companies so much with his constant reminders to people to read their meters in a bid to keep costs down for as long as possible, they came out and slammed him yesterday.

As the websites of British Gas, E.On, Scottish Power and SSE all crashed under the pressure, energy firm E.on blamed him for "bringing down Britain" in a reply to one customer.

The tweet, which has since been deleted and was sent from the official E.on NEXT account, read: "Unfortunately the website and phone lines of every supplier are being hammered today.

"Martin has once again created unprecedented demand bringing down Britain.

"If you respond to our private message providing the details requested then we can assist."

Martin Lewis presenting the Money Show Live TV programme (ITV)

The firm quickly deleted the tweet and issued an apology.

An E.On spokesperson said: “This was an ill-considered and off the cuff remark made by one of our Energy Specialists and in no way reflects our position.

"We have an excellent working relationship with Martin Lewis and his team, and we apologise for any offence caused. We ourselves have spent the past few weeks advising customers to submit accurate meter readings ahead of April 1."

Martin also later replied to the tweet, saying: "On the E.on tweet - I think it was someone trying to be funny - who forgot that you can't do a wry smile in Twitter. Rather than anyone actually suggesting I'm 'breaking Britain'.

"I'm always forgiving of human error (as I make 'em myself).So let's move on. Nowt to see here 'gov."

But as Twitter users rushed to Martin's defence in their droves, it got us wondering how he managed his meteoric rise to the 'most googled man in the UK'.

He may be known for his top tips which have helped thousands of households save money, avoid missing out on tax rebates, and he's put his all in to helping us all get the cheapest deals in all aspects of daily life.

But there is a whole lot more to Martin than meets the eyes.

Born in Manchester in 1972, he grew up in Cheshire's Delamere Forest.

These days he lives in London with his wife, and his eight year old daughter.

Martin with wife Lara Lewington in 2015 (PA)

A CBE, an award-winning campaigning journalist, a TV and radio presenter, newspaper columnist, charity founder and author - is there anything he can't do?!

Let's find out...

Famous wife

If you think you've seen Martin's wife somewhere before, it's because you have.

He married fellow journalist Lara Lewington in 2009 and the pair share eight-year-old daughter Sapphire.

The money expert regularly describes Lara as 'Mrs Money Saving Expert' and calls his wee one 'Mini Money Saving Expert'.

Lara, 42, presents BBC technology programme Click, which recently moved its HQ to the BBC Scotland studios at Pacific Quay in Glasgow.

She rose to fame in 2003 when she became a weather presenter on Channel 5.

Lara Lewington presents BBC Click (Instagram)

Lara stayed at the channel for six years and took on a variety of roles, including showbiz correspondent.

Before moving to the BBC she did a brief stint at Sky News.

TV and other media work

First and foremost a financial journalist, Martin has quickly become a household name thanks to providing his tips through a range of outlets including, BBC Radio 1 and Radio 2, The Sunday Times, The Guardian and the Sunday Express.

He has also stepped in to present Good Morning Britain on numerous occasions and often features on This Morning.

Earlier this week, he fronted GMB ahead of 'meter reading day' and made a passionate plea to Health Secretary Sajid Javid over the impact the energy price hike could have on people with disabilities and medical conditions.

Money Saving Expert

Martin set up his flagship site in his living room in 2003.

His focus was how to cut bills without cutting back, and it soon saw explosive growth, soon becoming the UK's biggest consumer site, a title it has now held for well over a decade.

After that, came The Martin Lewis Money Show, which has been on the air since 2012, and gave birth to the Martin Lewis Money Show Live. He's also fronted The Price of Fame on Channel 5, and Martin Lewis' Extreme Savers

Comedy dreams

Before he became a financial journalist, Martin had a short-lived career as a comedian.

He performed as a duo with pal and friend, comic Gary Delaney, who is married to Sarah Millican.

Gary Delaney on Mock the Week with Dara O Briain, Hugh Dennis, Rob Beckett, Ed Gamble, Rhys James and Zoe Lyons (© Neil Genower)

The funny pair had gigs at Hackney Empire in London and various other venues across the country.

Paired up with friend and comedian Gary Delaney, the duo performed stand-up at the Hackney Empire and various other venues.

Tik Tok star

Martin is active across social media but has a strict rule to log out at weekends and spend time with his family.

He has an incredible 1.3million followers on Twitter, 298k on Instagram and on TikTok, which he recently joined, he has 373.8k followers.

His first ever video on the site gained over 4.1 million views, so it seems that his star power shines on whatever platform he focuses on.

Charity

Martin has given away almost £20million of his own money to charity in just eight years.

When his Money Saving Expert site joined the Money Supermarket Group in June 2012, he pledged to give £10million to charity but by January last year the figure had risen to double that.

He wrote: "£11m is the total I've now put into charity funds, including Gift Aid (or equivalent). £2m of this was direct funding to Citizens Advice.

"£9m was put into a Charities Aid Foundation (CAF) fund. This works like a charity bank account – I control the money, but can only use it to make charitable-type donations.

"£7.9m of that £9m has now gone to specific charities, so that's total donations of £9.9m so far when Citizens Advice is included."

Martin recently hit headlines when he donated thousands of his own many after what he described as a 'depressing' appearance on This Morning.

He appeared on the ITV daytime show in March to take viewers' calls alongside hosts Alison Hammond and Phillip Schofield ahead of the energy-price rise which started today, and amid the ongoing cost of living crisis.

Martin had received a message from Money Buddies, a Leeds-based service that offers people financial advice, who told him: "We are in the same boat Martin.

"We saw twice as many people than we expected to see in February, same again in March, and we have a huge waiting list of people desperate to see us who are vulnerable. We are at breaking point... the state must intervene now…"

In reply, the money-saving guru then made them an offer. "If I were to donate £50,000 today would you be able to get things in place to relieve pressure at speed?" he asked.

When told that it would help enormously, Martin replied: "Done. Money is ready to go." But he did manage to joke: "I'm normally against impulse spending - but I'll let myself off this one ;)."

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