Fuelling Around podcast: Darren Gough on why he’d never own a Ferrari
England cricket legend Darren Gough joins hosts Jason Plato and Dave Vitty on the award-winning podcast Fuelling Around to discuss his career, his time on Strictly Come Dancing and the car he wished he owned.
Gough is one of the most memorable cricketers from the 2000s, playing with other legends such as Freddie Flintoff, Kevin Pieterson and Michael Vaughan.
The 54-year-old, who represented his beloved Yorkshire, sat down with Plato and Vitty in a revealing interview about what he’s been up to in recent years, and why he’s jealous of the FBI.
Darren Gough on why Range Rovers are king
During a wide-ranging chat, Gough explained why he had always owned a Range Rover since he first played for England and his fascination with big cars.
“I worked on the motorways for eight months when I was younger” Gough revealed.
“The reason I worked on the motorways is because I wanted to buy a brand new Volkswagen Golf Cabriolet, this would’ve been 1990, it was fantastic. Honestly it had a beautiful shape, it was gold, that browny gold colour, and I got the fancy writing down the sides I got ‘Cabriolet’ written in fancy writing.
“Just being able to afford that back then with cricket, I was a young pro then at 20, I was probably only earning £6,500 as we only used to work for six months before cricket started to take off.
“So I got a job in the winter, earning more from working on the motorways. I bought the car because of that job, otherwise I would never have been able to afford that car, the best investment I ever made. I loved that car. I wished I’d have kept it.
“It’s the one car I wished I’d kept. Some of the nice cars I’ve had, that’s the one I wished I’d have kept.
“Since I became an England player, I’ve never not had a Range Rover. Once I got my first one, when I was 24, there’s not been any time in my life where I’ve not had a Range Rover.
“For me, I am just one of those people who just likes big cars. I look at a Ferrari, and as much as I love it, I can’t justify to myself for me to buy a Ferrari. I couldn’t do it. There’s times I’ve been tempted, same with Porsche.
“The only one I think I’d go and get is an Aston Martin, that’s the one I really do like because as quality as it is, I don’t think it has a show-off factor about it.
“I’ve always liked big cars, you know like the American ones the FBI drives around in, the Escalade. That’s the one car I’ve always wanted. I could see myself in one of them. I was so tempted at times in my career to get rid of the Range Rover for an Escalade.
“I saw Rio Ferdinand in one once in Manchester. We were playing a test match, and he pulled up outside one of his restaurants and I thought I want one of them!”
Plenty more episodes of Fuelling Around to enjoy
Series nine is now turbo-charged, but if you’ve just joined us, keep up the momentum and check out all our past episodes if you haven’t listened to Fuelling Around before.
Our award-winning podcast has been graced by a string of celebrity guests that you can listen to for the first time – or as many times as you want.
You can also tune into Fuelling Around on Spotify, Apple, YouTube or various other platforms if you want to see what all the fuss is about.
