Kieran Richardson: My cousin’s Big Brother stint had nothing to do with Manchester United exit

In the first part of a Ladbrokes Fanzone exclusive, former Manchester United player Kieran Richardson dishes the dirt about his move to Sunderland and reveals what he has been doing since his retirement.

My cousin Charley’s Big Brother stint had nothing to do with me leaving Man United that summer

My cousin said what she said at the time, on Big Brother, about my move to Sunderland, but she doesn’t really know football, it was as simple as that. She knows the bigger clubs, obviously, like Man United and Liverpool, but she hadn’t heard of Sunderland. It was funny, because they obviously told the house about my move from Man United to Sunderland in one of the episodes that summer, but she didn’t really know what was happening, or which club I was joining. It’s not her fault, she just didn’t know!

It was funny to see it though, and it was all tongue-in-cheek, really. It could have been any club apart from the top ones, and she’d have said the same thing, I’m sure.

I was lucky during that summer, really, because when Big Brother was going on, I hadn’t been at United. It wasn’t like I was in the changing room and everyone was talking about it, because I think we were off for the end-of-season break. So I was alright, really, because I didn’t have to go to training or spend time with the players while all of that was going on. I think it had already been decided that I was leaving the club, actually, so I didn’t experience anything negative from the club about Charley [Uchea] being on the show. And then, obviously, when I got to Sunderland, no one was really saying anything about it.

I think that was the right time to leave Man United, though. I remember Sir Alex saying “you don’t have to leave, but we’ve had a couple of offers”. He didn’t say I had to leave, but I knew it was probably better for me to go, to be honest.

I have a great relationship with Sir Alex Ferguson, and always did, throughout my time with the club. I’ve known him since I was a young kid, and he only wants the best for his players. If he felt like it was my time to move on, then I was happy with that decision. Do I think he was watching Big Brother that summer? No, I don’t think so whatsoever! Big Brother had nothing to do with me leaving Manchester United. It was strictly football reasons only.

I tell people I sell high-value watches around the world

It’s funny, but I travel the world quite a lot nowadays, through work. And whenever I meet someone new, I don’t even say I was a footballer anymore – I just say I sell watches for a living. The places I go in the business world, most people don’t even really know about football. If I were to meet anyone now, and they asked me who I am or what I do, I’d just say I sell high-value watches around the world.

Then, a lot of people will go on and check me out on Google, maybe, and they’d see my career in football, and then it goes on from there. The football career definitely helps, actually, because it gives people a sense of trust. I do get that. I feel like my clients do really trust me, and so they should. But, obviously, you still need to be knowledgeable about the product, and know what you’re talking about. Luckily enough, I’ve been doing watches for a long time now, so I’m quite savvy on them,  even though I’m still trying to learn more every day,

I’ve never been the kind of guy to go and make a song and dance out of my retirement. I don’t really care, to be honest. I had a great career.  I enjoyed it, but I’ve moved on to other things now.

When I was a kid, I had hobbies. Football was always my number one, but my second was watches. I always loved watches. My father was into watches, I was into watches, and throughout my career I’d always be buying – and learning about – new watches. I just happen to have left one hobby and gone into another one; that’s how I see it. I still feel like I’m living the same life. It’s crazy.

I’m really, really blessed to be in a position where I don’t call my work, my work. Even when I was a footballer, it never felt like work to me, it was something that I loved. It’s probably why I didn’t come out and say I’d retired, because I don’t feel like I have retired…I’m still doing something that I love.

I’m 39 next week. Honestly, time flies. I remember being 19, and now I’m going to be 40 next year. It’s just funny how quickly time goes. But I feel blessed. I’ve got a great family and I’m very happy. I must be having fun, because time’s going really quickly.

We started a podcast last year, too. We’ve stopped it temporarily because I’ve moved premises, so we’re looking for somewhere new. But we will be coming back, for sure. The podcast, Broadtalks, is about football and watches. I do really want to get back into it. It’s not like I’ve just packed it in altogether. I’m going to get back into it, I’m just waiting for the right time.

But that podcast game is so hard. You’ve got to be on it, every single week. Content, content, content. For me, it’s just a little thing I do on the side, but I want to do it properly. It’s not easy, though.

We don’t have a massive amount of subs or anything, it’s just kind of grown organically. But I enjoy it. I enjoy talking about football, and I enjoy talking about watches. We’ve had a lot of guests on the show, Wrighty [Ian Wright] was our first one, our first big guest on the show. He’s a great man. I remember at the time, I got him on and my partner was like “why have you done that? Surely start low because he’s just set the bar really high for you!”

But Ian Wright was my hero as a kid. He’s the reason why I support Arsenal, and I wanted to start the podcast with a bang, and I did. He’s a great man, a real gentleman who’ll always give time for anyone. It was a massive moment for me, to have him come down and do that podcast for us. We’ve had some great guests come on the show, and I’m definitely going to be getting back to it.