Kevin Duala revealed the devastating turning point that forced him to confront his debt (Image: BBC)
Nearly half of all adults in Great Britain are concerned about their energy bills, with many already struggling with debts and arrears, according to StepChange Debt Charity. Yet one well-known actor and presenter opened up about his own personal battle after finding himself “up to £20,000” in debt, urging others to speak out and seek help before it’s too late.
Kevin Duala, recognised for his presenting roles on BBC shows such as The One Show, disclosed that early in his career a series of circumstances triggered a hidden debt spiral that left him “ashamed” and without access to funds when a cashpoint swallowed his card.
Appearing on Morning Live, Kevin explained he had followed the standard guidance for self-employed individuals, setting aside separate pots for tax, mortgage, household bills and cashflow. However, when work began to slow down, he started borrowing money to cover his mortgage repayments.
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He then needed to borrow further funds as his tax bill loomed and he was somewhat short. When the time came to repay the loans, he still lacked sufficient cashflow and was forced to borrow even more to cover the outstanding debt.
He shared: “Little bits of work was coming in but not enough to balance the books…I then borrowed a little bit more money. Then I maxed out on my overdraft, I was just ending up in this horrible, vicious circle, robbing Peter to pay Paul.
“I just thought I’ll ignore it, it’ll go away. I just buried my head in the sand but as we know it doesn’t go away.
“I didn’t want to tell anybody it was embarrassing. I felt ashamed. I was a grown man, we were bringing our kids up, I had bills to pay. The pressure started to mount and it’s horrible when you when you go through that situation because you can’t tell anyone or you don’t want to tell anyone, you feel embarrassed.”
The financial worries began to take a toll on his personal life, relationships and even his career, as he told presenters Helen Skelton and Rav Wilding: “The industry that we’re in, our job is to go out and pretend and everything’s okay. And I just couldn’t do that.
“I remember going for for an audition and I just thought to myself; if you get this job, I’ll be back in the game, no one needs to know, I can hide it all.”
Sadly, Kevin failed to secure the role and fell into a “dark place” as he reached a crossroads in his financial predicament: “One day I went to the cashpoint, to get some money out and it took my card and it said, contact your bank. I had no access to money. So, I went home and I just thought my goodness, what am I gonna do? I just started crying, not out of pity just out of annoyance that I got myself in that situation.”
At that moment, Kevin reached out to the Citizens Advice Bureau, who connected him with a debt charity that transformed his life. With the assistance of these experts, Kevin drew up a fresh budget, got in touch with HMRC, his bank, utility firms and other creditors, and gradually began tackling his outstanding debts.
It took Kevin six years to clear all of his debts, and he outlined some crucial steps to begin addressing tje [rpne;,: “Know what you owe and then that will see you in the right direction because then you can attack it. Start by going through your bank statements line by line, a great way to do this as well is to get a free credit report.
“Make a budget. Make what’s your incoming? What’s your outgoings? Get your plan all in order. What’s at the top of the list that you need to pay? Is it your rent? Is it your council tax? Make sure you’ve got enough money for all of those.
“This may help some people but if you can, just put a couple of quid away or a pound away, just to get you in that mindset of saving money.
“I promise you, the relief you will get from taking that first step far outweighs the financial stress living with debt. I remember talking to the dead charity, the organisation I said: When will I get to the end? And they said: When you get to the end, don’t put a time limit on it.”
Several charities provide free assistance to those struggling with debt, amongst them StepChange, National Debtline, Citizens Advice, MoneyWellness and the Debt Advice Foundation.
