Yvette Fielding is no stranger to things that go bump in the night as the presenter, co-producer and seasoned ghost hunter on Most Haunted she's explored some of the spookiest locations around. Yvette took time from filming the scariest series yet to chat to Female First about ghosts, psychic artists, ouija boards and why Billy Connoly should be Prime Minister.
How is filming going for series 10 of Most Haunted?
We've done about 6 shows out of 10 and we're on our way to do another shoot now. We're on our way to South Wales where we're going to be doing haunted woods and a haunted beach and some haunted world war two bunkers which are all in the same area. And we're camping out in tents- at the this time of the year for god's sake!
What can we expect from the new series?
There's going to be some new faces. We've got some new mediums- Brian Sheperd who is a fantastic medium and psychic artist which is really quite scary because he actually draws the ghosts faces and some of them are quite terrifying. Then we have Barrie John who is a very softly spoken medium and Johnny Fiori We've also got Lesley Smith who is a historian who you usually see in the live studio but we've brought her into the series. Now she's wandering round at night scaring herself to death, screaming a lot which is very very funny. I shouldn't say that but it is very funny to watch.
There's also another Most Haunted Live coming in March, where's that going to be from?
It's in Turin in Italy and we're doing it in the City of Satan so it's all to do with the dark side. It's going to be very frightening. We've got five live nights coming from Italy and we're going to five frightening locations. We'll be taking Brain Sheperd on location doing his psychic art as we go through the most awful places. It's going to be very frightening and very interesting.
The show is in it's 10th series now, why do you think it's stuck around so long?
I think it's just because it's just ordinary people going out and trying to catch paranormal activity. When we first started the series there we a few ghost groups where people would go out and do this as a hobby but now there are hundreds and hundreds of groups all around the country, in Europe and across in America doing this. I think it's because Most Haunted made ghost hunting something that was accessible and that people could do. It's not expensive to do. You need a night vision camera not even that. You can just go with a torch, a piece of paper and a digital camera and ghost hunt and I think that's what made people watch it.
And the fact that the crew are normal people- they're not celebrities. You've got Cath who's a make up artist and runs a hair salon in Hazel Grove- she's a normal down to earth lady. Then we've got the camera crew and the sound man and the director all doing it too. I think that's probably the secret of it.
Did you believe in ghosts before you started the show?
Yes I did. I would never watch the Exorcist or any horror movies and I still won't now. Yeah I did believe in it.
Where was the scariest location you've been to?
I couldn't name one. There's been so many now. We've had some great ones though. I've had objects thrown at me, I've seen people being scratched and left with scars, I've seen tables being lifted up and thrown against walls, I've heard voices- things that would give people nightmares for a long time. And I have even had nightmares at home. Yes it has been very frightening but there's not one place I could choose.
Does anything spooky ever happen off-camera?
O god loads. It's really frustrating because the first thing we'll say is 'did you get it on camera?' and there will be like 'no we didn't have the camera'. So yes it is frustrating. You can just be going to the toilet and see something. Me and Cath go to the toilet- because we never go on our own us girls- and all sorts of things happen, you hear noises and then we'll run out screaming.
You also do Ghost Hunting with celebrities, who has been your favourite celeb so far?
So far there's been loads- we're just about to take Paul O'Grady to Italy with his friends. We're taking him to Sicily so that's going to be very exciting. We've just finished filming with the Happy Mondays which was an experience in it's itself- one which I will never forget and they will never forget. It is a classic and you've got to watch it. I urge you to get a bottle of wine and sit down and watch that. You will laugh your backside off from start to finish. It is hysterical.
Is there anyone you would really like to take ghost hunting with you?
Billy Connoly and his wife Pamela. She's a psychologist and he doesn't believe in any of it. I think the man should run for Prime Minister because I just love him and think he's very funny but he doesn't believe in ghosts and I want to prove to him that there is something out there.
A few years ago there were a few reports about the show being a fake, how did you deal with that?
In my heart of hearts I know it's not a fake and when people said that it was upsetting and it did hurt but myself and Karl just kept our heads down and said we've just got to keep going. If they don't believe us they don't believe us. The sceptics will never believe. Even if we caught that ghost on camera they would say somehow we'd done it ourselves. Come on, if we were going to fake it we'd do a lot better than a few bangs and a few knocks. We'd have smoke coming under the doors and all sorts of things happening.
Apparently there's some video of me on You Tube pushing a table or something which is absolute rot and not true at all. I always always say any journalists who want to come along on an investigation, bring any cameras with them or record anything then they can and I'll prove to them that we don't fake it. That's the absolute truth and I think that's helped as well because journalists think- well you can't get fairer than that. I'm inviting them to come along and disprove it. The Guardian came along on one and they were absolutely scared to death.
Well we'll keep going and keep going probably until the day I die and then somebody will take over a show like this and my spirit will come over and contact them via the ouija board.
Most Haunted will be back on Living Tuesdays at 9pm from Febraury 19th
Caz Moss- Female FirstYvette Fielding is no stranger to things that go bump in the night as the presenter, co-producer and seasoned ghost hunter on Most Haunted she's explored some of the spookiest locations around. Yvette took time from filming the scariest series yet to chat to Female First about ghosts, psychic artists, ouija boards and why Billy Connoly should be Prime Minister.
How is filming going for series 10 of Most Haunted?
We've done about 6 shows out of 10 and we're on our way to do another shoot now. We're on our way to South Wales where we're going to be doing haunted woods and a haunted beach and some haunted world war two bunkers which are all in the same area. And we're camping out in tents- at the this time of the year for god's sake!
What can we expect from the new series?
There's going to be some new faces. We've got some new mediums- Brian Sheperd who is a fantastic medium and psychic artist which is really quite scary because he actually draws the ghosts faces and some of them are quite terrifying. Then we have Barrie John who is a very softly spoken medium and Johnny Fiori We've also got Lesley Smith who is a historian who you usually see in the live studio but we've brought her into the series. Now she's wandering round at night scaring herself to death, screaming a lot which is very very funny. I shouldn't say that but it is very funny to watch.
There's also another Most Haunted Live coming in March, where's that going to be from?
It's in Turin in Italy and we're doing it in the City of Satan so it's all to do with the dark side. It's going to be very frightening. We've got five live nights coming from Italy and we're going to five frightening locations. We'll be taking Brain Sheperd on location doing his psychic art as we go through the most awful places. It's going to be very frightening and very interesting.
The show is in it's 10th series now, why do you think it's stuck around so long?
I think it's just because it's just ordinary people going out and trying to catch paranormal activity. When we first started the series there we a few ghost groups where people would go out and do this as a hobby but now there are hundreds and hundreds of groups all around the country, in Europe and across in America doing this. I think it's because Most Haunted made ghost hunting something that was accessible and that people could do. It's not expensive to do. You need a night vision camera not even that. You can just go with a torch, a piece of paper and a digital camera and ghost hunt and I think that's what made people watch it.
And the fact that the crew are normal people- they're not celebrities. You've got Cath who's a make up artist and runs a hair salon in Hazel Grove- she's a normal down to earth lady. Then we've got the camera crew and the sound man and the director all doing it too. I think that's probably the secret of it.
Did you believe in ghosts before you started the show?
Yes I did. I would never watch the Exorcist or any horror movies and I still won't now. Yeah I did believe in it.
Where was the scariest location you've been to?
I couldn't name one. There's been so many now. We've had some great ones though. I've had objects thrown at me, I've seen people being scratched and left with scars, I've seen tables being lifted up and thrown against walls, I've heard voices- things that would give people nightmares for a long time. And I have even had nightmares at home. Yes it has been very frightening but there's not one place I could choose.
Does anything spooky ever happen off-camera?
O god loads. It's really frustrating because the first thing we'll say is 'did you get it on camera?' and there will be like 'no we didn't have the camera'. So yes it is frustrating. You can just be going to the toilet and see something. Me and Cath go to the toilet- because we never go on our own us girls- and all sorts of things happen, you hear noises and then we'll run out screaming.
You also do Ghost Hunting with celebrities, who has been your favourite celeb so far?
So far there's been loads- we're just about to take Paul O'Grady to Italy with his friends. We're taking him to Sicily so that's going to be very exciting. We've just finished filming with the Happy Mondays which was an experience in it's itself- one which I will never forget and they will never forget. It is a classic and you've got to watch it. I urge you to get a bottle of wine and sit down and watch that. You will laugh your backside off from start to finish. It is hysterical.
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