5:26PM, Oct 21, 2009
We caught up with paranormal queen of darkness Yvette Fielding to find out more about her cult show Most Haunted.
She told us how she psyches herself up before the show, how to spot a fake medium and how she relaxes after a day of ghost hunting.
Did you imagine you would still be doing Most Haunted after all these years?
I started this with my husband Karl Beattie in 2001, and we never thought we still be here. We’re so blessed and we’re really happy, even though we’re scared to death most of the time! We’ll keep going as long as we’re still wanted and as long as the fans still want it.
How do you psyche yourself up before going to these haunted places?
With the live shows I have to have a few days off beforehand just to get myself psyched up for it. I’m so frightened, dealing with Ouija boards, séances and going down into dark cellars, it does affect you. It’s really tiring as well.
I do wear my grandma’s gold cross and I have some of my dad’s ashes in a necklace round my neck and I say a little prayer before we go on and I know that they’re with me, so that’s my little ritual.
Does that mean you have religious leanings?
I definitely believe that my grandmother and father are with me. I believe that they protect me and if I didn’t have those things, I’d go back to the old screaming Yvette every five seconds and I would end up in some psychiatric hospital because I’d go round the twist. I believe that the fact that they’re there helps me be brave.
Do your grandma and father ever tell you to stop going into scary places?
It’s weird, I’m not psychic and I wouldn’t want to be and there are lots of psychics that I’ve come across that are absolute rubbish.
Really?
Yes, there’s some real fakes and charlatans out there. Hundreds of them that I come across that I just roll my eyes and think "oh God, here we go again".
What are the signs for you that someone is fake?
Psychics who get possessed are absolute rubbish. They are charlatans, it’s laughable really. Any medium that gets possessed needs to sort it out. Go back to your acting classes love.
Also, anyone who doesn’t point to anything specific – it’s called cold reading. So they just look at your body language, are you wearing a wedding ring, where do you live, that sort of thing.
There’s always a reference to ‘a ring’, then they do a thing about a dog, or say ‘you’re complaining of bad knees’ or ‘your grandma found it very difficult to breath at the end’ well of course she did, she was dying! That’s all that kind of stuff that just makes me laugh out loud.
What you want is something so specific, let’s say your grandma has passed over, you want her surname, who she was married to, that kind of detail.
Have you found any good ones?
There are some good ones. Brian Shepherd is a good friend and a psychic artist who told me about my dad and told me things that even my husband doesn’t know and I just burst into tears, because I couldn’t believe what he was coming out with.
That to me is when you think "my God, there’s definitely something to it". And so that’s why I believe that my father and grandmother are there because good friends, close friends who have known me for years couldn’t possibly know the information they were giving me.
Do you really believe in ghosts?
Yes, absolutely. There’s definitely life after death, I truly believe that now. I didn’t when I first started but there is. I believe my father is in a lovely place, and I feel very blessed to be able to have that belief.
My life is better since finding that belief. Before I didn’t believe in God, I was agnostic, now my whole belief system has changed, and I’m a lot happier for it. I feel sorry for people who don’t have a belief, I think it’s really sad.
So we’re assuming you’re a Christian.
Yes.
Do you therefore believe in evil?
Yes I do. With good comes bad, as in life you are in death. I’m not so sure if there are physical places such as heaven and hell but I definitely believe there is good and there is evil.
Do you ever invite sceptics on the show?
We invite them and then we never see them. It’s almost like they’re too scared! You hear some fantastic sounds and voices that can’t be explained and sceptics go ‘yeah, whatever.’ But it’s real, it’s truthful.
We’ve had Stuart on camera getting scratched all the way down his back and people still won’t believe it. People mock it and I think what a shame because this is real and I often wonder why people pick holes in it.
How do you relax after a days’ work?
Carry On movies – in bed with my pajamas on with a big mug of hot chocolate. I can’t watch Carry on Screaming, it’s got to be Carry On Doctor or something like that.
Find out when Most Haunted is on TV.
