Most Haunted presenter Yvette Fielding has revealed that the Tower of London refused to allow the paranormal show to film on its premises.
Fielding, 58, who has presented the show for almost 25 years, approached the landmark about bringing her team in for an overnight investigation, only to be turned down.
"They said, 'We love Most Haunted. We absolutely love it. What a great show!'", she recalled. "And they said, 'Well, what would you do [during filming]?' I said, 'Well, I've got to say, is there anybody there?'"
The response drew a loud laugh from Fielding at the memory. "'Oh no, you can't do that. We can't actively encourage the ghosts'," she recalled. "And I thought, fair enough. You don't want to scare members of the public. I get that."
A Beatles Fan's Wish List
Despite the rejection, Fielding remains keen to investigate London's historic buildings. Her next target has a musical connection.
"I'm a huge Beatles fan. I would love to spend the night with my team at Abbey Road Studios, because I think there's so much energy there that we would get some really good stuff," she said.
"I think I would probably... I don't know what I'd do with myself. I would be fangirling a ghost. Many ghosts," she giggled. "I would be jittery and so excited."
Horrific Injury on Set
Fielding's enthusiasm for paranormal investigations is not just for the cameras. The former Blue Peter presenter confessed she was a "quivering wreck" at the beginning of her career.
"When I look at the first programme now, it makes me howl with laughter because you can see how terrified I am," she said. "Now, if there's a noise or a bang, I do still jump, or the occasional scream will come out. Not as bad as I used to, but [now] I'll run towards it."
Her enthusiasm might seem surprising given some of the horrific experiences she has witnessed. One incident stands out. The programme was broadcasting simultaneously across the UK and America when three members of the crew were physically cut and scratched. One suffered a serious injury to his leg.
"He got deeply cut. You could see the bone in the bottom half of his leg, and he had to be rushed off to accident and emergency," she recalled.
The experience left her so shaken that she could barely continue presenting. "I just need to leave. I can't cope any more," she remembered saying, as colleagues speaking into her earpiece urged her to take a breath.
After taking several months away from the show, she decided that if she was going to continue investigating the paranormal, she needed to understand it properly. She began researching historical accounts of violent hauntings, including reports of bite marks, severe burns, scratches and welts.
"Now, if we get any scratches or anything like that, I get so excited," she admitted. "I'm scared, but I'm excited at the same time because this is some real phenomena that we're capturing."
Respect for the Dead
Despite her fascination with the afterlife, Fielding has deliberately never tried to contact two famous figures. Chatting over Zoom, she revealed she was sitting at comedy legend Eric Morecambe's writing desk, complete with the comedian's typewriter and hat. She also owns one of John Lennon's typewriters.
Despite having such personal connections, she has never attempted to contact either of the celebrity giants.
"I've never asked. I've never gone, 'Is there anybody there?' Purely, I just wouldn't want to do that. It's not respectful for the family members," she explained. "I would love to, but I'm not going to. If he's here, he's here."
Energy Campaign and 25th Anniversary
Away from the paranormal, Fielding is fronting a campaign by non-profit Smart Energy GB aimed at helping Britain's small businesses tackle wasted energy.
"The campaign really touched a nerve with me because I've owned small businesses, from tea rooms to production companies, worked in telly and had businesses whilst being in telly," she said. "And when Smart Energy did the survey, it said about 60% of small business owners are finding it really hard to sleep at night because they're worried about their bills."
Next May will mark 25 years since the launch of Most Haunted, which was created by Fielding and her husband Karl Beattie. The team initially struggled to find a broadcaster, funding the pilot themselves. They paid the crew, who were friends, with beer and pizza, before spending money on a professional edit. The breakthrough came when a senior figure at Flextech Television, then owner of Living TV, watched the pilot.
"He just went, 'Yeah, I'll have that. This just might be mad enough to work'," Fielding remembered.
When they went into meetings with Living TV, executives questioned whether there would be enough haunted locations to sustain a series. Fielding and the team arrived with a huge pile of papers, each listing a different location.
"It must have been 10 years' worth," she said. "They were looking [at it saying], 'This can't be real', and we were going, 'Yes it is. These are all verified, these are all haunted locations'."
A new series of Most Haunted has just launched on Pluto TV, while the team is already filming the series after that. Fielding said people continue to contact the team with reports of activity, often asking them to come and help.
