He starred with Jim Davidson in BBC’s Big Break (1991 to 2002) and appeared in many pantomimes. He is now part of the BBC snooker commentating team.
John, 71, who was born in Salford, lives in Cobham with his wife Rosie. He has a son, Gary, and daughter, Brook-Leah, from a previous marriage.
“I was given my first mini snooker table when I was eight years old and loved playing. My father, who worked at Salford Docks, used to play snooker too.
“I didn’t get on particularly well at school and left aged 15, in order to get a job as an invoice clerk at Banister Walton and Co. I earned three pounds, 10 shilling. As I was now working, my dad didn’t mind me going to the snooker hall, so I did. Within a year I was the under 16s boys champion of Great Britain. My parents were thrilled to bits.
“I carried on with doing a bread-and-butter job, and played snooker after work, playing in all the local leagues. A friend of mine opened a snooker club in Salford when I was 28 and under their guidance I started to take it more seriously.
“As televised snooker took off, more money went into the game and I decided to turn professional when I was 30. Most of the tournaments were invitation only, so it was a struggle at first to earn enough money before I built up my profile. I did the holiday camp circuit for a couple of years, which paid reasonably.
“During my playing years, I didn’t win the World Championship, but I had a good chance in 1979, I had a decent chance in 1982, and in the meantime I had won the UK championship, which was my biggest achievement in the game.
“I’d started doing impressions of other players when I was doing exhibition matches, which people really enjoyed. I’d impersonate Ray Reardon, Willie Thorne and Alex Higgins, much to the audience’s amusement. When I did them for a television audience at the World Championships in 1986, David Vine said to me, ‘You do realise you have just had £25,000 worth of publicity?’ It did help boost my profile, which helped with bookings.
“In 1991, I got an offer to do a TV show, Big Break, with Jim Davidson, because of the impressions I had been doing. It aired first on a Tuesday night and it did so well it was moved to the Saturday night spot.
“I didn’t feel nervous filming as I was working with people I’d known all my life. Jim was such a funny and talented man and somehow the combination of a crafty cockney conservative and a dour northern socialist really worked.
“We had nearly 14 million viewers on a Saturday night. At the beginning of the second series, Jim gave me a £10,000 Cartier watch as a thank you for helping his show business career revival.
“Then Jim asked me to do panto with him, so I decided to retire from the sport and focus on my new show business career. Since retiring from playing, I’ve brought out a couple of books, one on Alex Higgins, as I was a big admirer of him as a player. I’ve also written a book on trick shots and have been taking part in the snooker legends tours.
“I’m still commentating for the BBC, which I enjoy enormously, and in my spare time I like to play golf and I’m a big Manchester United fan.
“With my first grandchild arriving next March, I’ve got a lot to look forward to.”
Say Goodnight, JV by John Virgo is out now, RRP £18.99 (John Blake Publishing)