Inside life of Homes Under The Hammer Dion Dublin from family heartbreak to quiet home life

In his football heyday, the former Aston Villa and Manchester United striker was a prolific goal scorer and even managed to appear for England. Now he's showing off run-down homes on the BBC

TV presenter and pundit Dion Dublin has been a regular face on our TV screens for many years. In his football heyday, the former Aston Villa and Manchester United striker was a prolific goal scorer and even managed to appear for England.

Dion Dublin has carved out of a successful media career with regular appearances on BBC Sport, namely Football Focus, Final Score, Match of the Day. His switch to daytime property show Homes Under The Hammer in 2015 was met with some surprise, but he has become a fan favourite in the hosting line-up alongside Martin Roberts and Martel Maxwell.

When he's not banging his Dube, the former Celtic striker lives a peaceful life in Merseyside and enjoys a slow pace of life. But what else do we know about his life away from TV?

Early life and career of Dion Dublin

Born in Leicester, Dion is the youngest of the five Dublin siblings, with his parents coming to England from the West Indies as part of the Windrush generation. His late mum Rose worked as a district nurse while dad Eddie had the option to be a professional footballer.

Dion said: "At one point, my dad had a choice whether to sign pro-forms for Fulham or go on tour. That was the choice. Go professional or go on tour as a bass player with Rod Stewart. It was a pretty amazing choice to have. He chose to go on tour with Rod Stewart. Music was closer to his heart.

"We all play music. I play percussion, my mum, when she was alive, played the mandolin and we've got Clem who plays lead guitar. Eddie plays drums, Ash, my eldest brother is a bass player and Carmen used to play the keyboards.

"I think if I'd taken up percussion earlier I might have gone for it... Percussion is my passion when it comes to music, and it's something that's come straight down from Mum and Dad."

Dion ultimately chose a career in football and joined Cambridge United where he later signed for Manchester United and established himself as one of the Premier League's best strikers at Coventry City and Aston Villa.

He also had spells with Millwall, Leicester City, Celtic before he ended his career at Norwich City. He was also capped four times for England and missed out on the 1998 World Cup squad to Les Ferdinand.

TV career post football retirement

Dion Dublin followed many of his ex-team mates and other footballers into punditry, with appearances on Sky Sports and BBC. He covered domestic football as well as Champions League fixtures and later presented 606.

Dublin consistently features on Football Focus, Final Score, Match of the Day and provides co-commentary on many live FA Cup games. Outside of football punditry, he reached the final of Celebrity MasterChef in 2021.

After appearing on TV and radio as a football pundit, Dion shocked many when he joined BBC's Homes Under the Hammer. He joined the flagship show in 2015 in what was then seen a a very strange move for the former Premier League striker.

However, he has established himself on the presenting line-up and become a fan favourite. He went viral on social media when a user compiled clips of him often pointing out the stairs that lead to the property's bedrooms.

Dublin's quiet home life with family

Dion married his wife Cheryl in 2017 and they share a daughter called Ruby Roseanne. The trio enjoy jetting off on holidays together and Dion posts snaps on Instagram of them dining out for meals, jetting off on planes, and having wholesome days out, like visiting an alpaca farm and watching the Women's World Cup.

Dion is enjoying life in Merseyside after moving there with his wife, Cheryl, who is from Wirral. They moved to be closer to her family.

He told the Liverpool ECHO how much he loves living in Merseyside: "We uprooted here just over a year ago. It's a lovely place, the people are great, normal and courteous. Nobody wants anything from you."

"There's obviously the odd picture or autograph, but that's just par for the course and nobody is ever rude. I've got a lot of time for it here and the city is brilliant. I've got no qualms with the place and I absolutely love it."

Dublin spent two years playing for Manchester United and he admitted things can get awkward when the team plays against Liverpool FC, which is Cheryl's family's favourite. He said, jokingly: "They're all Reds so we watch Liverpool vs Man United in separate rooms."

Aside from football, Dublin has developed a taste for the local food in Merseyside as well. Commenting about his favourite foodie spot, he said: "A place I go to a lot is the Seafood Shack. It's an outstanding place. The fish is insane there. ".

Heartbreak over loss of "amazing" sister

Dion is incredibly close to his loved ones and devastatingly lost the 'heartbeat and backbone' of his family in July 2022.

He shared the news his "amazing sister Carmen" had sadly passed away by posting a photo of himself alongside his late sibling and his three brothers, Eddie, Clem and Ash, with the message: "Yesterday we lost our amazing sister Carmen, the heartbeat and backbone to our family. Our hearts are truly broken, we will be lost without you."

Dion previously told the Mirror about the close bond he shares with his family and recalled treasured memories of their time together.

Dion Dublin's musical invention and love for music

The former Coventry City and Aston Villa striker showed his creative side when he unveiled his own musical instrument - The Dube. The instrument has four playable sides each producing their own unique sound and is available in four different sizes as well as acoustic and electro-acoustic models.

The percussion instrument can be described as being a cross between a Djembe and a Cajon. He previously told Vice: "The Dube is a proper thing. A lot of people don’t think it is because it looks like a wooden box – which it is – but it’s turned into a very intimate, well made percussion drum with a very serious sound and serious contribution to percussion and drumming.

"People need to give it a go and find out. Once people realise, it’ll start to break down the doors of distribution companies. I’ll put my hand on my heart, I’ll continue until I’ve made this a successful venture."

The Dube now has its own website and Dion regularly provides demonstrations and markets the instrument.