Vinnie Jones is best known for playing villains on screen, but the actor and former footballer has shown a touching side.
Vinnie Jones bought the land in 2022(Image: DISCOVERY+)
Fans of Vinnie Jones are not used to seeing this side of him in his documentary series.
Celebrated actor and footballer Vinnie Jones is primarily recognised for portraying violent offenders and hardmen, but he has subsequently revealed a gentler nature.
In the third series of the programme, which broadcasts on Discovery+, he discussed acquiring the estate from its former owner and the commitments he made to her.
He was filmed clearing the barn at the property’s perimeter when he discovered some vintage photographs which had been abandoned by the woman. He explained how the former owner acknowledged it was a “struggle” to maintain it, noting: “She was terrified of losing her legacy.
“She didn’t want people coming in and splitting it up,” he stated. Numerous individuals had expressed interest in the property, but the owner was determined to sell to Jones.
He purchased the property while she remained alive and promised she could reside there until her death.
Handyman Paul Worby remarked on his friend’s compassionate character, observing: “That is a side of Vincent that not a lot of people see. He has got a very kind side.
“You know, he was very good to me when I was down. He kind of resonates with people who are at a bad stage in their life and tries to give them a bit of a pat on the back.”
Jones revealed one of the touching gestures he made honouring the former owner, explaining: “Part of the deal was, there is a little field down there called Mum’s Field. Her mum is buried down there. I put the ashes down there with her mum.”
While Worby and Jones examined the woman’s belongings, Worby remarked: “It’s someone’s life isn’t it, it’s someone’s memories.
“That’s why I get emotional about it all,” Jones responded. The actor purchased the property in Petworth, West Sussex, in 2022, several years following the death of his wife, Tanya.
She passed away after a battle with cancer and Jones has previously spoken about how relocating to the countryside “saved him”.
Vinnie Jones in the Country is available to stream on Discovery+
Vinnie Jones says one career moment is way above all others
Vinnie Jones looks back on career in new Netflix doc(Image: Courtesy of Netflix)
Vinnie Jones believes winning the FA Cup will be written on his gravestone. Footballer and actor Jones, 61, was part of the Wimbledon team that stunned Liverpool in 1987 with their victory at Wembley. A new Netflix documentary looks at his extraordinary career working as a hod carrier and playing semi-pro football to becoming a Premier League star and then a Hollywood actor.
Looking back, Vinnie said: “I think the biggest achievement is the FA Cup. The odds, you know? Leeds was magnificent, but we built a good team and that was “shit or bust”—we had to get up that season. But Jack and the Beanstalk was a great story of mine as a kid, and that’s what we did at Wimbledon when we beat Liverpool.
“I remember the first round being 1-0 down against Mansfield away. Fast forward a few months, and you’ve beaten one of the greatest teams in the last 50 years. 1-0 in front of a hundred thousand people. It was some achievement. It will probably be on my gravestone, I should think.”
Vinnie is still making movies and also now has his own reality TV show In The Country, detailing his life after taking on 2,000 acres of West Sussex countryside, but it hasn’t all been plain sailing. His wife Tanya died in 2019 with cancer, having beaten the disease several times in the past.
Asked if his attitude in life was all about proving people wrong, he said: “Not prove people wrong, but to keep trying to get to the summit. When you get to the ledge, there’s another ledge and another ledge. I don’t really know where the summit is, to be honest. So I’ll go to the next ledge and the next ledge. Hopefully one day I’ll get there and go, “There’s no more ledges.
“We’re happy in life right now. I’ve got a couple of great movies and TV shows. It’s been a long road; the last six years has been a long road for me. You can’t stay on the same ledge. You’ve got to look up.”
Vinnie admits in the doc he has a “big ego” but also that he had periods in his life when he struggled due to trouble he got into but also heavy drinking, with no one to talk to about his problems. He recalls how he considered suicide when he took a shotgun into the woods near his home and was struggling with his mental health.
He says in the film: “I was on the bed and I was just curled up like the baby position and I was like, enough. I can’t keep doing this to people, can’t do it to the family. So far, I thought I could go for a walk up the wood…. I took the gun, walked up the wood, and then all stupid things go through your head. And the easiest thing to do was just to stop it right there and then, that would be it.
“And then I sort of came round, like being knocked out I suppose like in boxing, when you come around and miss all the scream and the shouting and everything is slow motion and you’re kind of back, you go right f*** this.”
Later in the film he adds: “I’ve taken as many knocks as I’ve given, but I’ve grabbed every opportunity that’s come my way. Be someone, make your mark. I’ve made my mark.”
Asked what people should take away from his story in the documentary, Vinnie says: “I can remember back when I was cutting the grass at the Masonic School in Bushey, just looking up and thinking: give me one chance, one chance, wherever it is, third division, fourth division, please, I want to be a professional footballer. You’re saying that every day. And then all of a sudden, a bolt of lightning or a flash or a spark gives you that chance.
“Talk to the universe and be straight with the universe. Ask for what you want and don’t let it down when it gives you that chance. That’s what it is. There’s a reason why the chance to win the lottery is a billion to one. To build on your dreams is up to us. I think we’re the bricklayers and the carpenters of our own dreams.”
Asked about mistakes in his life, he said: “The biggest regret is not giving up drinking probably 20 years beforehand. I tried it but never stuck at it. I think I’d have achieved a lot more without the booze. When I first went to Wimbledon on that trial, I never had a drink for a year. I wanted to be the fittest I could be. And then I fell into the culture.”
He added: “I wasn’t a drinker or a smoker growing up; it was just football. It was all part of being part of the Crazy Gang. I think I’d have been a lot better player if I hadn’t drunk through my career. But when you’re a young lad from a building site and the next minute you’re playing in front of 50,000 people, you never think it’s going to end.
“Older people say, ‘I hope you’re putting money away because this won’t last forever,’ but they’re talking to a brick wall. You think it’s going to last forever.” Thankfully for Vinnie he found a new career and big paydays in films including Lock Stock and Two Smoking Barrels.
* Untold UK: Vinnie Jones is on Netflix from Tuesday May 26.
