Fuelling Around podcast: Mike Brewer on his journey from car dealer to TV presenter

Fuelling Around is back for series four, and hosts Jason Plato and Dave Vitty zoomed off from the start line with Wheeler Dealers presenter Mike Brewer. 

Brewer, who has been on British television screens for over 25 years, is arguably the most knowledgeable petrolhead they’ve had on the podcast, which is powered by Adrian Flux, joins the boys to reminisce on a series of tales and laughs with his old friend Plato. 

Mike Brewer on rejecting his first TV offer three times

Brewer had built up a car dealership business with his business partner Dave and on a rare day off, the TV presenter decided to visit a car auction. On his way home he called into his car dealership to check in with his co-owner Dave, who was sitting behind his desk. 

“As I walked in I said ‘alright Dave?’ he said, ‘no I had a really bad curry last night and I’m just about to explode,’” Brewer told Plato and Vitty before bursts of laughter. 

“So he ran off into the toilet and as he did, the phone rang and it was his desk phone. I picked it up and it was a lady from Channel 4, so he’s in the crapper having a crap and I answered his phone. And that’s where it started. 

“She said on the phone that I sounded great and asked me to talk about a Golf GTI, I told her about the Golf as if she were a customer and she said I sounded amazing. I said ‘well it is my job; I sell cars’ and she asked if she could come down and see me. I said ‘would you like a test drive?’ and she said ‘no, I want to see you, to see if you want to be on a car show’ and I still asked ‘do you want to buy a car?!’ 

“I told her I wasn’t interested in doing a car show and she turned up the next day with a handheld camera saying she’d lose her job if she didn’t go back with some footage, so she filmed me talking about the Golf and she told me to come in for a screen test. I said I’m too busy with work to do that.” 

The woman then gave the tape to her bosses, who proclaimed Brewer was the perfect fit for what they were looking for. They phoned him up and invited him in for a screen test, which he rejected again, but he gave them his phone number and offered his services to give advice for the show if they needed it for free. The show turned out to be Deals on Wheels, which first hit screens in 1997. 

Three months later, his phone rang and he was told Channel 4 were looking to change the format of the show and wanted an authentic car dealer to present the show. Brewer rejected the offer for a third time before discussing it with his wife later that evening, who convinced him to go for a screen test, which resulted in him eventually getting the job. 

Enjoy plenty more Fuelling Around

There are seven more episodes to come from series four as more petrolhead stars prepare to jump in Dave and Jason’s passenger seat.

But if you can’t wait until next week for episode two, fear not, you can listen to the whole backlog of Fuelling Around, including the best bits, to whet your appetite.

You can also listen and subscribe to the popular automotive offering on Spotify and Apple podcasts.