Paranormal investigator Barri Ghai, psychic medium Ian Lawman and paranormal researcher and historian Jayne Harris are the team of ghost-hunters currently helping celebrities who are being plagued by supernatural entities in the second series of Celebrity Help! My House is Haunted on Discovery Plus.
The latest is former X Factor contestant and reality TV star Jake Quickenden, who often tells his social media followers about the bangs, crashes and voices that he and his young family hear in their detached home in rural Essex.
Now Jake’s called on Barri, Ian and Jayne to help him find out who is following, guiding, and sometimes scaring him, everywhere he goes…
Jake's hoping the spirits are his late dad and brother trying to contact him, but he’s in for a surprise when the team reveal that the spooky goings-on are connected to a past life as a soldier in the English Civil War…
This episode is available on Discovery Plus from Friday, March 24.
What To Watch chatted to Jake about why he invited the team to his house, what he discovered and why he’d love to do more shows about the paranormal…
Why did you decide to invite the ghost hunters into your home?
“I’ve always been a huge believer and I’ve always thought that there’s more out there. I’ve also thought there’s something about me, some sort of intuition, because I sometimes get feelings and smells.
"When the opportunity to do the show came about, there were a few things happening at the house with lights flickering and the TV turning on in the middle of the night, so getting the experts in was a great opportunity to see if it was to do with the paranormal.
"It was also a chance for me personally to get some answers because I had always hoped that I could speak to people that I had lost or people who are in the afterlife.”
Was taking part in the show everything you expected it to be?
“It was more than I expected, to be honest. The experts were unbelievable. They answered a lot of questions and made me feel at ease. It was interesting to hear how they deal with things and how they put lots of different things together to get answers. It was really special, actually. I enjoyed it.
"The shows I’ve done before have mostly been reality based and it’s usually just me messing around, but this was a more serious thing that I wanted to experience. I definitely got a lot out of the show. I was looking to get some answers and I feel that I did. I’d say to anyone if you get the chance to do something like that, do it.”
What’s it like when the experts come into your home and you hear voices of spirits coming through their gizmos and gadgets?
“It’s mad! It felt like I was in Ghostbusters. It was very surreal. It’s a very strange thing to be sat around a table with a bunch of ghosthunters and then having voices played to you and lights going off. I’m just happy we didn’t do that in the dark because I think I would have wet myself!”
How does it make you feel when the experts say there are spirits present in your home?
“Whenever I’ve been at my house and something weird has happened, I’ve never felt scared or uneasy. I feel like these spirits are there to protect me and guide me and look after me. I always think I’ve got someone there to watch me to make sure I don’t do anything stupid. I like to think that whoever is with me is kind and loving and there to help me.”
Your mum Lisa is a believer, too. Tell us about her.
“My mum’s a huge believer! Probably more than me. She goes to mediums, does tarot cards and is, I think, quite in tune with the spiritual world. I think it must have rubbed off on me a little bit because I’ve got some of that intuition as well. When you go through loss and you lose someone it makes you want to believe more and also want to see those people again. Whether or not that is true, it can only be a good thing if it gives people some solace and peace.”
You must have people around you who are sceptical of your beliefs…
“You know what, you always get sceptics. I think you have to be open to it because there are so many things in this world you can’t explain. I’m sure some of my mates will watch the show thinking ‘Jake, you don’t half chat some rubbish!’ You’re always going to get people who have their doubts, but that’s just their opinion and you can’t change that. It won’t change what I believe either.”
In the show you explain how you hope that the spirits in your home are your late dad and brother trying to make contact with you. Tell us a bit about that…
“It’s great that I got some of the answers I was looking for and it’s really made me open up more about my experience of grief. One of the reasons I did the show was that I had never really dealt with my grief. Everything I am doing now, like this show and podcasts where I talk about losing loved ones with other bereaved people, has helped me deal with that grief. Getting the experts in gave me some beautiful answers and I now believe that my dad and brother are both watching over me. I feel like I’ve got two guardian angels there helping me and guiding me. That’s the best feeling you can have when you have lost someone.”
You also discover that you have a past life as a soldier and share a connection with a spirit in your home…
“It’s weird. I never expected that to happen. I was open to anything but when the experts started saying certain things, I thought, ‘This is crazy!’ I can’t remember anything that happened when I regressed into my past life. It felt like a minute, but I was under for about an hour. When I was a kid, I had visions of a battle, so when the experts told me what had happened when I went under, it made sense.”
Would you like to do more shows about the paranormal?
“I’d love to do more and find out more about it. I wanted to do something to do with the paranormal before this show came along. I’d love to do something with mum, because she’s a believer, too. She’s seen things and heard things. I think she’d like to do what Ian does. I’m quite happy just knowing that there are spirits around us. I don’t really want to be seeing them while I’m having a bath!”
Tell us about some of the other things you’ve got lined up…
“I’m doing some presenting, stuff for Lorraine and Loose Women, and stuff like that which is great because I wanted to get into TV presenting. I’m also doing a show I can’t speak much about because no one is supposed to know about it, but that’s coming up later this year. So yes there are some nice things in the pipeline. I’m just concentrating on being a dad and taking every day as it comes. I think that’s the best way to live.”
