Emily Horton chats to TV presenter Nick Knowles who has eschewed his unhealthy eating habits to publish a vegan vegetarian cookbook
The Retreat; retreattv.com
Nick Knowles, the burly presenter of TV’s favourite home renovation show, DIY SOS is telling me about his extraordinary out-of-body experience when filming a series that followed his progress during 30 days at an alternative therapy centre in Thailand.
“I’d heard good things about this retreat where people go to detox and thought if I could take a group of friends along to see what it could do for us, it would make a great TV programme,” he says.
Broadcast in October on BBC2, The Retreat focused on a group of eight sceptical and unlikely participants, who included fellow DIY SOS electrician Billy Byrne and builder Julian Perryman, as they attempted to give up their Western vices by embracing a simpler diet and a cleaner lifestyle in the hope of improving their well-being.
“I was the least likely person to go on a retreat and believe in all this alternative therapy stuff,” Nick says emphatically. “But I was feeling so unhealthy, out of shape and on the verge of burning out that when the idea came to me it seemed a good opportunity.”
More pressingly for the Windsor resident was the fact that he has a young son, Eddie, with wife Jessica.“I’m 53 years old and I have a two-year-old son – I’d like to be around when he grows up.”
As well as following a strict vegan diet, the show also demanded that Nick give up his 30-a-day cigarette habit with immediate effect. Alcohol, understandably, was also off-limits.
To help support their bodies during the withdrawal and adjustment period, the group were introduced to a host of alternative therapies including yoga, Reiki and colonic cleansing. The ancient Eastern practices of yoga and meditation became part of their daily schedule, helping Nick calm his overactive mind.
“I’m no tree-hugger and when the staff at the centre had said to expect a stay with them to turn our inner space around, well, up to that point I wasn’t aware that I had an inner space.
“The closest thing I’d done to meditation was pilates but I find it so dull that I usually lose the will to live after five minutes of it. Yet there was one meditation practice we tried where I was following the teacher’s instructions to relax and take it in turns to concentrate on each part of my body. He was asking us to focus on our toes when all of a sudden, I felt as if I had come out of myself and was looking up at the soles of my feet.”
Caribbean veg curry with fresh roti
Coming from this very manly of men, who worked as a labourer before making his living for the past 17 years with a team of friendly yet practical, pragmatic and no-nonsense builders on DIY SOS, Knowles’ epiphany is such that I can’t quite believe what I’m hearing.
“Apparently, it’s very rare to have the sort of experience I did, and I can’t explain it, but it did show me another side to life that I never expected,” he says. “The out-of-body thing aside, yoga and meditation did my energy levels and overall well-being wonders. I lost nine kilos in three weeks, my cholesterol fell by a third and my blood pressure dropped to a healthy level.”
It was so transformative for Nick that he returned home determined to introduce some of what he had learned to his daily life back in Windsor.
“A lot of the stuff we tried, such as Reiki, the healing energy practice, didn’t do it for me but I’ve kept up practising yoga at home, and what has really helped is eating more vegetables and going 75% vegan.
“I have felt so much better as a result of the retreat. Having less meat and more veg means living healthier and sometimes even longer – although I don’t want to say for sure just in case I keel over next week,” he laughs.
Aside from his doting dad duties to young Eddie and his three other children, Nick is currently on TV with the Who Dares Wins quiz show on the National Lottery, while also making time to write and produce his own shows which include his first feature-length film, Golden Years, released last year.
“I still live my life at a million miles an hour but now, as well as being able to slow my brain down when I need to, I am better at being present and I am supported by tasty, nutritious meals.”
Now, Nick is sharing his new-founded passion with his new book, Proper, Healthy Food: hearty vegan and vegetarian recipes for meat lovers, published this month. Subtitled ‘No rabbit food guaranteed’, he describes it as the vegetarian cookbook for ‘proper’ blokes, and those of us with a healthy appetite.
“I’m six-foot two inches, and 16 stone. I’m a big unit and I need a hearty meal. When I came back from Asia, many of the veggie meals I came across were thin and weedy, so I set about experimenting in the kitchen. This book is the result.”
You’ve got to admire his gumption. He’s not exactly the most obvious exponent of the vegan lifestyle, yet it seems he is the key to persuading men to get more veg down their throats.
“I’ve got big guys on building sites trying my vegan dishes,” he says. “And you know what, they surprise themselves when they taste my recipes.
“You see, for us big blokes, a salad won’t cut it – especially when you’re working outside in the cold and wet.
“And when we want a treat like a piece of chocolate cake, why miss out? I have included a delicious recipe for my healthy raw chocolate cake in the book.
Vegan white chocolate & raspberry cheescake
Nick admits he isn’t entirely in what he calls the ‘tie-dye trouser’ camp. Although most of his meals are now plant-based, he hasn’t abandoned meat – or the odd ciggie.
“I believe in a practical diet, so if I’m at the in-laws for Sunday roast, I’m not going to be rude and cause them extra hassle.
“Likewise, I was at the rugby with my mates and I had a hot dog and a cigarette. I don’t feel bad about it because most of the time I eat healthily.
“It’s about good choices for yourself at any given time.”
The vegan community have given Nick a bit of flack for his unique approach.
“They’re bothered by the fact I am not 100% vegan, 100% of the time, but that’s not what I am about. It’s about making the healthier vegan diet accessible and known to blokes like me who otherwise wouldn’t consider themselves a veggie kind of person. I mean, that was me a year ago when I said to my wife, ‘I’ll join the juicing regime when they start juicing Scotch eggs.’”
He’s certainly come a long way, has the ‘New-age Nick’. It’s a nickname that slips off the tongue so well – just like his delicious raw chocolate brownies. We await this unlikely lifestyle guru’s next move with interest.
We have five copies of Nick’s new vegan vegetarian recipe book to give away. You can enter our online competition by clicking here
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