"It just feels a bit surreal sometimes" - Meet the compere from Halifax who interviews sporting superstars for a living

The comedian and compere from Halifax has become one of the country's leading event hosts, a line of work that means he has met and interviewed a glittering array of star names.

Pete recently hosted an evening with Manchester United legends at Halifax's Victoria Theatre, and regularly travels all over the country, and beyond, to compere all kinds of events with well-known faces.

In fact, it would probably be quicker to list the big names Pete hasn't met or worked with.

"You do get used to being around these famous people," he says.

"I work with Kev Sinfield all the time, I worked with Kevin Keegan quite a bit, who was amazing.

"I went to the Isle of Man with Anne Widdecombe once! She was amazing, brilliant.

"I once went to Monaco to do a dinner with Prince Albert of Monaco with Kevin Keegan, we went together because he was the speaker and I was the host. That was a bizarre one.

"I interviewed Gareth Southgate recently, Daniel Farke, Anton du Beke, Bruce Dickinson from Iron Maiden, Brian Blessed, Clive Woodward, Joe Root, Mike Tyson, Sugar Ray Leonard.

"I worked with the late great Jonah Lomu. He was absolutely brilliant and so humble.

"I feel like I'm a professional name-dropper now!

"The day after, you'll think 'did I really just do that?', it just feels a bit surreal sometimes."

It's all a far cry from Pete's upbringing in Ovenden, and attending Halifax Catholic High School.

Pete was a fully qualified design engineer and had no ambitions to end up working in the entertainment industry.

"I moved into sales, and I was alright at talking, but I always used my humour to get over my shyness," he said.

"I've always liked to have a laugh but I used it to try and make myself feel more comfortable.

"I was UK sales manager for a large engineering firm and when I was doing talks in-front of people, I used to throw in a bit of humour, and I found out I was better at that than selling the products!"

Pete helped form and run amateur rugby club Halifax Irish, having played for Illingworth, and was roped in to host the club's awards night in 1996.

"My wife said 'I think you'd be alright at this, so I reluctantly did it, and that's how it all began.

"I work with all these famous people who'll say all they ever wanted to do was be on stage, but I was absolutely the opposite. I never wanted to do it, it was my worst nightmare.

"I was best man at my best mate's wedding when I was 21, and I was absolutely petrified.

"So it's weird how I've ended up doing this.

"My pal Lea Roberts had packed in his job as a welder and started on the circuit.

"He was booked to do an event at Halifax Rugby League Club, like a Stars In Their Eyes night, but he got a paid job so he rang me and asked if I'd cover for him.

"I was like 'no chance, I'm not doing that!' but he persuaded me to do it.

"I did that and didn't think I'd done very well, but one of the directors said afterwards 'we loved you, can you come and do our games on matchdays, hosting the lounge and interviewing the players?'

"I never missed a Halifax game, so I thought I'd give it a go.

"Then an agency gave me some work as a compere on the after dinner circuit, which ran alongside me doing my job as well."

Pete, who lives in Holmfield, then hosted a fundraising night in aid of former Wakefield and Castleford player Adam Watene atter his death aged just 31, which led to him working for Wakefield Trinity on matchdays too.

"Then Paul Sculthorpe, who was Great Britain's rugby league captain, recommended me to St Helens as matchday compere at their new stadium.

"That was 2012. I packed in my full-time job then to give it a go.

"I'd only been at St Helens a couple of months when a guy from Everton Football Club came up to me and asked if I'd be interested in working for them.

"I thought it was a wind-up, I thought one of the Saints players was stitching me up!

"I ended up doing Everton v Liverpool at Goodison Park. I was totally out of my comfort zone.

"They gave me a contract for the full season and I've been there ever since.

"Then my name started getting about more in rugby league and I ended up doing Challenge Cup finals, Grand Finals and internationals."

Pete then attended a Liverpool match to promote the Four Nations rugby tournament that was being held at Anfield, and was offered the chance to work for Liverpool as a corporate host in their exclusive Legends Lounge.

Pete says he did get starstruck when he saw Will Ferrell there around ten years ago but doesn't ask for photos with the celebrities he meets.

Pete also hosts VIP's at Liverpool's training ground, and has met club legends like Jurgen Klopp, Ian Rush and John Aldridge.

"I've interviewed Chris De Burgh at football games, Dennis The Menace from The Chase, Alex Horne from Taskmaster, Maisie Adam, Jill Scott."

The third football club Pete works for is Leeds United, where he also hosts matchdays in their hospitality lounges, as well as for rugby teams Warrington, St Helens and Hull.

"Because there's so many fixtures that get moved for television coverage, it always seems to fall in my favour so I can work for all the clubs."

Pete did try his hand at being a stand-up comedian but didn't enjoy it.

"I did that for ten years but doing what I do, I can just be myself rather than having to tell jokes," he said.

"I was never comfortable doing that.

"I will do some topical stuff as a corporate host, but I prefer the interaction.

"All I've become is someone who interviews sports stars, which is alright isn't it!

"I'm very lucky to have ended up doing this as my main job. It's taken 20 years to get to the position where I'm doing work I really enjoy.

"I didn't particularly enjoy being a comedian, I just did it. But every time I work, it's different and I like the variety of people I meet, from all different sports, all different people.

"Especially when you're interviewing Anton Du Beke about dancing and the only dancing I did was in the Acapulco 40 years ago to Rick Astley!"

Last weekend, Pete was working at Everton v Chelsea on Saturday and then Leeds v Manchester United on Sunday.

He has worked at 13 Wembley finals, including two League Cup finals.

"I think a lot of it is the way I am with people, I get on with people," he said.

"I always just act normal because they're all just human beings and I think they like it when you just treat them as normal, and I have a right laugh with everyone.

"I'm still the same person I've always been though, it doesn't make me any different.

"I'm just lucky to do what I do.

"I've become good friends with people like Stuart Pearce. I'll be pottering about in my garden and get a phone call off Stuart Pearce!

"That's the nicest bit, is the friendships I've made with people.

"I'm really good pals with Dom Matteo, who played for Leeds, who's a brilliant bloke.

"Kev Sinfield's a really good friend. It was our 30th wedding anniversary this year, so my wife and I went for a meal.

"Kev knew where we were going, we'd just finished the starters and he walked in with a bottle of champagne, gave my wife a kiss, gave me a hug, said 'happy anniversary' and then went.

"I'm from Ovenden, so most of my mates would probably walk in with a can of Stella!"

Pete says his trip to Monaco with Kevin Keegan was a career highlight.

"It was like winning a competition, we just had the best time," he said.

"I was so nervous working with him for the first time, but he couldn't have been more friendly, he put me at ease straight away.

"When he found out I was from Halifax, he said 'The mighty Halifax Town! The Shay stadium!

"He said 'I played there when I was a lad for Scunthorpe United and I thought I'd made it because they let me take a corner.

"He said 'I went to take it and the earth moved because they had speedway there, so I fell over - that's why they let me take it! I got injured and I got taken off in a wheelbarrow, that's my memories of The Shay!

"I got to work with him quite a bit and he was such a brilliant bloke."

Pete's other career highlight was meeting Sugar Ray Leonard, one of his dad's heroes.

"After my dad passed away, Sugar Ray Leonard did a tour, so I went on my own to watch him.

"A year later, I got a booking to go and interview him. I was just hoping he was what I'd always envisaged he'd be like, but not only that, he was better than I thought he'd be, he was brilliant."

Pete says he never drinks while he's working, and that preparation is the key to his job.

"I always treat people with respect, let them talk, listen and react to what they're saying.

"I never have a list of questions. My comfort blanket has always been preparation.

"If I'm interviewing someone, I'll spend hours and hours doing prep.

"If I don't do that, I'm not comfortable."

Pete reckons he's hosted around 2,000 events in his career, and hosts at about 50 Premier League games a year.

"Over the last few years, I'm hosting a lot more theatre shows than I used to," he said.

"It was always sportsman's dinners when I first started.

"I do things like awards nights too, for the NHS and different sectors and industries.

"It's very varied, no week is the same."