By Richard Lee - 08/07/2009

In Reality

I'm not so much a TV watcher, as a TV wallpaper man. You know what I mean, on in the background with something you don't really have to concentrate on to know what's happening (that's Friends for me, by the way, for a feel-good factor even though I've watched them all a million times already!).

But I'm definitely not into the reality side of things and especially not Big Brother. I'd got suckered into that sort of stuff in the past - and I do have a soft spot for I'm A Celebrity - but when it comes to Big Brother and other reality stuff, I'm trying to give it a wide berth these days.

I kind of thought to myself one day that I'm not actually getting anything out of watching this stuff! Reality TV, maybe not Big Brother these days, still has a hold over most people. It's the idea that it could be you, the viewer, on the television.

Those programmes are all very similar in their content and format so I've really switched off to them now. It seems to take over some people's lives to the point where they're more wrapped up in the lives of those they're watching than their own!

I try to watch something where I can take something from it and I suppose that reflects on my personality as a whole. I'm always keen that, whatever I do, it has a bit of a meaning to it.

There's a bit of TV chat up at the training ground but the big favourite is the XBox. Some of the lads - and not just the younger ones, by the way - will think nothing of going home from training and spending six or eight hours straight playing Call of Duty or Pro Evo, no problem at all.

It's each to their own, of course, and I get the impression this habit kind of stops when a kid arrives on the scene. That's what I've picked up anyway.

Reality for me is more about going out and meeting new people, trying to create new challenges for myself, than it is about watching someone else's life unfold on a TV screen. I really enjoy going out for dinner; it's a bit more sociable isn't it and if I meet someone I'm pretty sure I'll get something from that time.

If I've spent a whole day without learning anything of real value - which I think you'd struggle to do watching Big Brother and stuff like that - then I kind of count it as a day wasted. Every time you meet someone new, or perhaps watch a real-life documentary on television for example, then you're adding to yourself in some small way.