Ex badminton player Gail Emms MBE won gold in mixed doubles at the 2004 European Championships and 2006 World Championships, and silver at the 2004 Olympic Games in Athens, writes Peter Robertson.

The 48-year-old hung up her racket in 2008 and has gone into coaching, commentating, media and motivational speaking.

She lives in Milton Keynes with her sons Harry, 15, and Ollie, 12.

She has written about the mental health difficulty many professional athletes face after retiring from their sport.

What did your parents teach you about money?

My dad Anthony had a multi-million-pound building firm. He loved being rich and splashing the cash – when I grew up our houses got bigger and cars better.

In the late 1980s recession it all went belly up. Dad was bankrupt and had to sell everything, including our huge house with an indoor pool, for less than he paid for it.

He split from my mum Janice in the stress. I moved into a council flat with him, and he died broke in 2017. So while Dad never gave me money advice, I saw what overspending can lead to and what pain financial turmoil can bring.

What was your first pay packet?

I grew up in Bedford, and aged 13 I did a paper round, getting £5 for three hours, which I'd save for a top in Topshop.

My first Saturday job was at 16 in a sweetshop on Bedford High Street. They used to sell out-of-date chocolate. I don't remember what I was supposed to be paid but, when I got money in a brown envelope, I'd think 'I'm sure I worked longer than that,' yet didn't argue, I just took it.

Have you ever struggled to make ends meet?

When Olympic athletes are finished, they're not looked after. People didn't care as much about the 2016 Olympics in Rio as they did about London in 2012.

In 2017, after being blinkered about my possibilities and not getting much work, I only had 23p in my account and was under horrendous financial stress, living in a big house with my then partner and kids. It was my fault – I should have been more prepared and proactive. I was so embarrassed.

I wrote an article about the situation and was subsequently offered more work talking about duty of care for athletes, and managed to pick myself back up again.

Have you ever been paid silly money?

In 2012 a law firm paid me £2,500 to give a 20-minute motivational talk. A lawyer came up to me and said: 'I can't believe how much you're being paid – it's ridiculous!'

I laughed, thinking how much lawyers charge for just writing a letter, and that was my one-off chance to be on the same level.

What's been the best year of your financial life?

The year of the London Olympics – 2012. I wasn't competing, and athletes who weren't competing could get speaking gigs. If companies couldn't afford swimmer Sharron Davies, hurdler Sally Gunnell or heptathlete Denise Lewis, they got Gail Emms!

I worked my arse off and raked it in, earning more than £100,000 that year – the most I've ever made.

Are you a spender or saver?

I love music, gigs and experiences – that's what I spend too much on. But my crisis of 2017 made me more of a saver, and work is quiet in the run-up to Christmas. I'm battening down the hatches.

What's the most expensive thing you bought for fun?

When my partner and I split and sold our house in 2021, making good money from it, I spent £10,000 treating myself and my sons to a holiday in Dubai.

The boys had a great time but I didn't like the place. I thought it was fake, and I prefer authenticity and culture. I wish we'd done something different.

What has been your biggest money mistake?

I'm impulsive and spontaneous, and buy lots of tickets –mostly flights and concerts – and then realise I can't go and am then unable to get a refund.

If you added up all those it would be shocking and embarrassing... a good few thousand a year. It's my one problem with money.

The best money decision you've made?

Buying the house I'm in now, for £180,000 in 2003. It was built in 2001.

I just about kept it through Covid when I was hanging on and desperate, and now it's probably worth £450,000. I'm lucky.

Do you have a pension?

I do, with Halifax since 2003, but it's tiny. Being self-employed my work is up and down. I see my house as my pension.

I bought a run-down, three-bedroom flat in Bedford for £50,000 in 2000, did it up with my dad, lived in it for two years, and sold it for £110,000, which enabled me to put down the deposit on this house.

Do you own any other property?

Just this house I'm in now. My ex lives half a mile away so our boys see their dad regularly.

My dream is to keep this house and have a little place in the sun by a beach – ideally Majorca, Ibiza or the Algarve – where I'd play padel and pickleball and badminton, have animals and just be happy.

I recently played padel with multi-millionaire footballers like John Terry and Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink and was thinking: 'I'm beating them but they have no idea that I'm so skint!'

If you were Chancellor, what would you do?

I know I'm not the best with money, but I think more common sense is needed.

Everything seems to be taxed, with no breaks for anyone. Now it feels everyone is unhappy and tightening their belts.

What is your top indulgence?

I support British farming and like organic food. I don't like processed food. As an athlete I had to be careful what I ate, and I am even more so now.

I go to local butchers and a dairy farm. I know it's an indulgence because I could get it cheaper at a supermarket, but it's something that matters to me.

What is your No.1 financial priority?

My boys. I will do anything and everything I can to help them be savvy, secure, appreciative, grateful and wise with money, having learnt from my mistakes.

• Grit & Goose Feathers – Chasing Medals And Finding Me. My Olympic Journey Uncovered, by Gail Emms, is out now (Pitch Publishing).