Peter Crouch was known for his sense of humour during his playing days – but even he didn’t expect to become a comedy actor following retirement.
Crouch scored an impressive 22 times in 42 games for England and also famously entertained fans with his robot goal celebration.
After hanging up his boots in 2019, his light-hearted approach to life has led to him becoming the star of his own podcast, as well as an author.
The weird world of Peter Crouch
As time has gone on, Crouch has also been approached to do regular acting in adverts for betting company Paddy Power, who similarly take a tongue-in-cheek approach to football. It’s led to some unexpected moments for the former Liverpool striker.
“Just the other week, I was up in a hot air balloon, which was also designed like a pair of pants, in LA overlooking the California countryside – my life is very strange,” he chuckles as he talks to FFT.
“I remember when I was 18 years old, trying to make my way in the game – if you’d said then that we’d fast forward to being 45 and I’d be over California countryside vineyards in a pair of pants at a World Cup, I’d have told you you were mad.
“There are times where I look at myself and think ‘How have I got myself in this situation?’ There was one where I was lying in a bath with just my underpants on, there were rose petals in the bath and they were filming me from above – it was basically the scene from American Beauty, but with me in the bath. I was like ‘How has this happened?!’
“But it’s all good fun, I’ve found that being shy and retiring doesn’t work, you’ve just got to go for it and embrace it.
“When I’m working with Paddy Power, it’s exactly my kind of humour, it’s very similar to what I like – I don’t think we should take football too seriously. I think I'm alright at it too, so we work well together. I love every moment of it.”
Crouch has teamed up with Danny Dyer and Danny Murphy for Paddy Power’s latest advert ahead of the start of the new Premier League season, entitled 'Why The Football Not?', which references some of the weirdest moments in football over the last few months.
There's a nod to Murphy’s long lost cat Bob, while Crouch recreates Southampton’s infamous Spygate incident outside Middlesbrough’s training ground.
“The Danny Murphy cat situation tickled the nation, and my part is alluding to Southampton and what happened there,” Crouch explains.
“I’m walking past the tree, and there’s a lad who looks very, very similar to the guy that was actually spying.
“It’s about the weird and wonderful things we love about football – it’s what makes football magic. I’m no different in the things that we try to capture with my podcast, and Paddy Power do it very well.”
Some ideas have even had to be shelved over his time working with the company, because they were simply too weird.
“There have been loads, Paddy Power come up with them on a regular basis!” Crouch smiles. “Certain things, you're like ‘Can we get away with that?!’ because it’s very close to the bone. Sometimes the closer it is to the bone, the better it is, but it’s a difficult balance.
“I don’t know what I can and can’t say with regards to what they were trying to do, but some of the things they’ve tried to do over the years have been outrageous!
“I feel very blessed to do what I’m doing, it keeps me in the game and it’s good fun.”
There will be more from Crouch in FourFourTwo soon.
