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1. He got sucked into fame quickly, and realised it came at a price

The son of footballer George Best and model Angie Best, Callum was born in California but came to live in London in his early 20s. He became famous almost overnight, appearing in multiple reality shows and partying frequently. He remembers about four weeks after arriving in London, he was told by his agent, “’Do yourself a favour and don’t get caught up in this’. I was like, ‘I won’t!’”

Calum Best in the How to Be in Love studio

I lost all my work. I lost all my credibility. It wasn’t a good time in my life.

Calum Best on being labelled a "lothario".

He did. He threw himself into the fame, not initially realising the media could turn against him. “I was free and single and I thought, ‘why not?’ The downside was that… back then the press had the freedom to do what they wanted without repercussions. It was really, ‘We can write what we want.'"

2. He went from bachelor of the year to 'seedy lothario'

Calum became famous for his dating life, which he enjoyed – “I was meeting girls all the time” – but he was shocked by how quickly it changed how he was perceived. “I went from bachelor of the year… to... seedy lothario,” he says. “That ‘seedy lothario’ was written up so many times, day in and day out, that it killed me. It beat up my self-confidence. I beat myself up.”

He says the tabloid popularity that had helped build his profile eventually destroyed it. “I lost all my work. I lost all my credibility. It wasn’t a good time in my life.”

3. When his dad died, he thought 'screw everyone'

Calum’s dad died in 2005, just as Calum was becoming famous. Looking back, he realises how much grief affected his behaviour. “There was a point during the time that I built up this reputation [as a serial dater] that I didn’t give a crap about anything or anyone,” he says. “When my old man passed away, I remember I had a real ‘screw everyone’ [mentality]. It was literally shoulders shrugged, a real closed off, angry, don’t care about anybody [attitude]. Some might say it was an excuse, but that was just how I was affected when I lost my old man. It came to a point of just screw everyone, I’m going to do what I want to do.”

4. He's always felt his public image was unfair

No matter what the press said, Calum always felt they were talking about an invented version of him. “Not to feel the need to defend myself, but I’ve always been a person of good morals,” he says. “A person with good manners, a person with good respect… I just played the field and had a good time in my 20s… but because I was in the public eye every day, it was like, ‘Well, what else does this guy do? He doesn’t play football, he’s not an actor, he’s not a musician. Let’s call him a heartbreaker.’”

Rylan in the How to Be in Love studio

When Rylan asks him if he knows how many people he’s slept with, Calum says it’s not something he’d ever discuss. “I’ve never been that way. That’s not my style… I’ve always been a pretty humble dude.”

5. When he decided he wanted love, he struggled

“I lived the single, free life for a long time,” says Calum. “Then in my late 20s, I started to want more and to do better for myself, but I would come up against conflict all the time.”

He found it hard to believe anyone could be serious about him. “My own self-talk was, ‘I don’t think that person values me. I don’t think that person looks at me. I don’t think that person is interested in me because of my past.’ That screwed with my head for a long time. My self-talk was bad.”

6. He didn’t fall in love until his 40s

Calum is now 44 and has had many relationships, but he tells Rylan, “I hadn’t been in love until recently. I was humbled for the first time… I met a girl last year and for the first time in my 44 years, I felt, ‘This is what I’ve been looking for, this feeling I haven’t had before.’ It was the first time I outwardly said, ‘I love you’. We spoke about having a kid. We spoke about having a family… Maybe I’m late to the game, but that’s just how my path is.”

The woman in question has since moved to LA and they’re no longer together, but Calum has no hard feelings.

7. A cat taught him how to say ‘I love you’

Love can come from unexpected places. Calum tells Rylan about a cat that would come and visit his garden. “A little scrawny, runt thing with a wonky eye. I called it Little One. She’d show up, then leave… Then one night, like a month later, she comes and hops on the bed and spends the night.”

Calum looked for her owners, but eventually figured the cat had no home and adopted her. “This cat opened me up to more love,” he says. “I know it sounds silly, but I look at it and I say, ‘I love you’. At 44, I hadn’t said it to a partner but I said it to a cat… I look at this little thing and I go, ‘Thank you for showing me this little cute, affectionate love.’”