Cannon and Ball started as singers but switched to comedy – for an extra £3 a night, reveals Tommy Cannon

Tommy Cannon the comic, actor and singer is best known as one half of the double act Cannon and Ball, writes York Membery.

He first found fame on TV talent show Opportunity Knocks in 1968 with fellow Lancastrian Bobby Ball (catchphrase ‘Rock on, Tommy’, who died in 2020 aged 76).

The duo starred in ITV show Cannon And Ball from 1979-88 when they reputedly earned £50,000 a week. 

But father-of-five Tommy, a former chairman of Rochdale Football Club, was declared bankrupt after being hit with an £800,000 tax bill in 2017.

The 86-year-old and his second wife Hazel live in Boroughbridge, North Yorkshire, with their dogs Lola and Dexter.

What did your parents teach you about money?

Not a lot, because we didn’t have much money. I was born in 1938 and was one of five. I had two step-brothers and two step-sisters – and grew up in a council house in Oldham. My dad Tom was a miner before joining the army, becoming regimental sergeant major, and my mum Edith, looked after us kids. 

Our tin bath took a couple of hours to fill with hot water from a kettle on the stove and money was so tight that Mum used to buy a cow’s heart to eat, and make it last a week. Everyone was an aunt and uncle, and I’d sometimes ask ‘Auntie Florrie’ down the street for a cup of sugar and tell her we’d give her some back the next week.

Have you ever struggled to make ends meet?

I left school at 15 with no qualifications so did everything from working in a bedding factory to delivering groceries. I got married at 21 to my first wife, Margaret, and we had two daughters, Jeanette and Julie. I then got a job as a welder, on £20 a week, and earned enough to put food on the table, but there was nothing left over for extravagances like holidays. Bobby and I formed a double act when we were both welders.

Have you ever been paid silly money?

Not really, because Bobby and I always worked hard. We started out as singers in the 1960s but switched to comedy after learning that comics earned an extra £3 a night. 

Within a couple of years we were being paid £6 a night to play working men’s clubs, but had to split the money between us. When we had our own TV show we had to learn and remember our scripts – there were no autocue boards – but we got paid well enough to buy matching gold Rolls-Royces.

What was the best year of your financial life?

It was probably in the 1980s when we pulled in 20 million viewers on a Saturday night and were making good money for then.

But the best years of my life were the near-60 years that Bobby and I worked together. We were great friends for most of that time, although a lot of rubbish has been said about us ‘falling out’ – but show me a married couple who’ve been together for that long who haven’t had a disagreement. I’m still working, and did three shows last weekend. Luckily I’m in good shape – I’ve always kept fit and still work out three times a week.

The most expensive thing you bought for fun?

A lovely four-door Mercedes car in the 1980s which I drove all over the country. It cost a few pounds but it was beautiful looking and never let me down. Driving was still a pleasure back then. Motorways are a nightmare now.

What is your biggest money mistake?

A cabin cruiser that I bought while doing a summer season with Bobby in Torquay in the 1980s. Don’t ask me what I paid for it, but it was too much. Every time I got on the boat I was sick, I was hopeless at docking it and didn’t even know how to put the anchor down. I’d got rid of it before the end of the season.

How did you feel being declared bankrupt in 2017?

It’s embarrassing but just one of those things.

Best money decision you have made?

Buying a dark grey suit when I started out with Bobby in the 1960s – audiences expected performers to dress reasonably smart in those days, if not daft smart. I didn’t have a lot of money and it was a bit of a stretch, but it was hard-earned money well spent. I made that first suit last a good couple of years.

Do you have a pension?

I don’t have a private pension and I’m still working in showbusiness, although I’m old enough now to receive the state pension. But the £1,700 or so I recently made by selling off some of my Cannon and Ball memorabilia on the TV show Celebrity Yorkshire Auction House will come in handy, especially with Christmas fast approaching.

Do you own any property?

Hazel and I downsized from our family home and moved to the town of Boroughbridge where we’re renting a pretty two-storey house.

If you were Chancellor what would you do?

I’m the last person you’d want to appoint – I’m dyslexic, have never been good with numbers and was put at the back of my school class by my teacher.

What is your number one financial priority?

To make sure that I’m not a financial burden on my family when I’m older.

• Series 4 of Celebrity Yorkshire Auction House is available to stream on discovery+