‘I lost £7m as I couldn’t read my contracts’

Ventriloquist Keith Harris has revealed he lost a £7m fortune because his dyslexia meant he could not read contracts.

The 66-year-old, who found fame in the 1980s with his puppet sidekick Orville the Duck, said he was dubbed “thick” at school and never learned to read.

It meant that he was duped into signing unfavourable contracts and still continues to work today despite recovering from a severe form of cancer in the spleen.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

In a national newspaper interview, Harris, who lives in Poulton-le-Fylde, Lancashire, with 48-year-old former fashion model wife Sarah and their two teenage children, said: “I’ve made about £7 million throughout my career, but I’ve lost it all too.

“It’s all down to the dyslexia. Reading contracts? I didn’t, I just signed them.I got into trouble many times. I signed myself away for 14 years to someone – 25 per cent I was paying. I had no idea.

“I’ve been brought up to trust people but you have to be careful. People think you’re very rich and want to see if they can make money out of you.”

Related topics: