Martin Lewis, widely regarded as the most trusted man in Britain, received the Bafta Television Special Award at the annual ceremony on Sunday. The honour is reserved for individuals or organisations that have made an outstanding contribution to television, with previous recipients including Bruce Forsyth, Delia Smith, and Ronnie Barker. In his acceptance speech, Lewis reflected on losing his mother at age 11 and told the audience: 'To all those of you out there struggling with your own demons, know this – life can be transformed. It can get better.'
Lewis began his career as a broadcaster after studying law and government at the London School of Economics and completing an MA in broadcast journalism at Cardiff University. He worked on personal finance programmes at the BBC, later becoming business editor for Radio 4's Today programme. He left the BBC in 1999 to join Simply Money, where he adopted the title 'Money Saving Expert'.
In 2003, Lewis launched the MoneySavingExpert website from his living room with an initial outlay of £80. The site grew to become the UK's biggest consumer website, with over 16 million monthly visitors. Its weekly tips email has over 14 million subscribers. Lewis sold the site to MoneySuperMarket Group for £87 million in 2012 but stayed on as editor-in-chief.
Lewis also hosts The Martin Lewis Money Show on ITV, which switched to a live format in 2020. The show covers topics such as power of attorney and wills at a fast pace. He has campaigned on issues including PPI, unfair bank charges, and energy bills, and is credited with helping a generation of millennials navigate personal finance.
