Jonathan Ross has revealed the heartbreaking reason behind is ‘unhealthy’ toy collection is to make up for the ones his family could not afford growing up.

The TV presenter, 64, shared rare insight into his childhood where he was raised by late father and John and late actress mum Martha, who appeared as an extra in EastEnders for over 20-years.

Jonathan, who has one sister and four brothers, including fellow TV host Paul, 68, told the Table Manners podcast: ‘I come from a – I wouldn’t say poor – but I guess we were poor. We were not a well-off family. When I was very young, we sometimes struggled with cash, so food would be borrowed from other people.’

Recalling one incident he said: ‘You see my fingers are a weird shape? I cut my finger off when I was about one and a half because [my mum] had gone out to borrow food – we had no food in the house – and she’d left me. 

‘Not on my own, to be looked after by my older brother [Paul] who himself was only three and a half, I believe. So that’s how that happened.

Jonathan, who first found fame as host of The Last Resort with Jonathan Ross, said once he started making money, he began collecting the toys he had once gone without. 

Jonathan Ross, 64, has revealed the heartbreaking reason behind is ‘unhealthy’ toy collection is to make up for the ones his family could not afford growing up

Jonathan, who first found fame as host of The Last Resort with Jonathan Ross, said once he started making money, he began collecting the toys he had once gone without

‘Coming from a family with no money… I treated myself to the things that I felt a deep and simmering sense of enтιтlement to, that I didn’t have when I was a kid.’

Jonathan now owns ‘probably the largest collection of a certain specific type of Japanese toy outside of Japan’. 

Recalling one childhood obsession, Jonathan said: ‘I wanted a Major Matt Mason, Mattel’s first man in space. 

‘Instead, I had a tiny free giveaway of the Shell Petrolman and I made him a space suit out of paper, now I have every single Major Matt Mason you could possibly hope for, including several of the prototypes and original 1960s boxes they were displayed in in stores.

In 2023 Jonathan Ross unveiled his huge vintage toy collection during an Antiques Roadshow Special with a room dedicated to his pᴀssion.

He confessed his love for vintage items and admitted that although it may be an ‘unhealthy obsession’, he feels a ‘burden is lifted’ when he is in the room which he calls his safe space.

Host Fiona Bruce probed: ‘And is this healthy? Do you think?’

To which Jonathan replied: ‘Obviously not, no, I’m, I’m aware that this is not healthy. However, look, Fiona, here’s the thing: the difference between a collector and a hoarder in my mind is a hoarder just saves everything any which way and can’t let anything go.

He shared rare insight into his childhood where he was raised by late father and John and late actress mum Martha (pictured with his mother and brother Paul, 68) 

‘I guess we were poor. We were not a well-off family. When I was very young, we sometimes struggled with cash, so food would be borrowed from other people’

Jonathan now owns ‘probably the largest collection of a certain specific type of Japanese toy outside of Japan’

Elsewhere in the podcast Jonathan, who was joined by daughter Honey, 28, also hinted that his famously elaborate Halloween parties might be coming to an end, telling host Jessie Ware the family ‘don’t have [parties]’ anymore. 

Explaining the origins of the tradition, he said: ‘Jane [his wife since 1988] and I were very much enamoured with that part of American culture’. 

Read More Jonathan Ross’ daughter Honey Kinny shows off her curves in a green ʙικιɴι as she poses up a storm for new snap

‘Even before we had kids, we’d always put something in the window and have trick or treats ready. Not that many came. And when we had children, we were always a little bit disappointed at the number of houses that weren’t joining in.’

To make up for it, Jonathan said they threw big Halloween parties in their garden, at one point hosting around 80 of kids friends. ‘As my children got older I got more extravagant, we did go crazy.’

Jonathan and wife Jane Goldman are also parents to son Harvey, 31, and daughter Betty Kitten, 33.  

Eventually, the parties became more adult-focused and star-studded with Jonathan admitting he would hire between 20 and 30 actors to scare the guests: ‘I had a TV screen set up – the woman actually emerged from the TV and chased people away! It was an amazing production.’

However after daughter Betty was diagnosed with fibromyalgia and moved back in, the broadcaster felt it would be unfair to continue with the annual bash. 

‘I thought, I can’t have a big party going on in the garden when someone’s upstairs in bed and can’t enjoy life in that way.’

Jonathan revealed his daughter’s diagnosis in 2021, explaining that they originally believed she was suffering with long Covid.

Elsewhere in the podcast Jonathan, who was joined by daughter Honey, 28, also hinted that his famously elaborate Halloween parties might be coming to an end (pictured with wife Jane Goldman) 

The star-studded parties would see Jonathan hiring between 20 and 30 actors to scare the guests

However after daughter Betty, 33, was diagnosed with fibromyalgia and moved back in, the broadcaster felt it would be unfair to continue with the annual bash 

Speaking on Loose Women, he said: ‘She has fibromyalgia and she has chronic fatigue syndrome and POTS syndrome as well, which is where your heart rate shoots up.’

On Betty’s treatment, he added: ‘We found a good… there’s a thing called the Perrin treatment. The guy who invented it, he came to talk to me about it and she looked it up online because she’s a smart young woman, so she has to want to do the treatment.

‘You know, I mean, I can’t just say to her “try this, try that” if she thinks it’s wrong in some way and if she’s not going to enter it one hundred per cent, of course it’s not worth doing.

‘But we’ve been having that treatment going on and she’s definitely showing some improvement.’

Fibromyalgia is a long-term condition that causes pain all over the body.

Aside from pain, other symptoms can include muscle stiffness, headaches and problems with mental processes, known as ‘fibro-fog’.