Controversial psychic medium Derek Acorah speaks with Rachael Phillips about Most Haunted, live shows, his love for Wales and taking time off.
When it comes to the business of spirits, everyone has an opinion, especially when it comes to the divisive psychic medium Derek Acorah. He has had a career on radio, television and live events for over 20 years. Famed for his stint alongside ex-Blue Peter presenter Yvette Fielding on Living TV’s Most Haunted, he left after six series and his career has continued to flourish. Now he’s about to embark on a UK tour.
“Before the television, I always did live work. I love the interaction with the public,” says Derek. “It’s just so great to get out and be able to talk to people individually, especially when someone has an important message that they want to share.”
And it’s not just on stage that Derek likes to talk to the audience: “I’ve always been determined not to just do a show and leave, but to wait and go to the reception area afterwards and meet the people. I’ve never left any of my live shows without signing autographs.”
Of course, when it comes to claiming that you can talk to the dead, there are always people are on hand to make the point that it’s simply not true.
“There are always a number of cynical minds that come to my shows and in the early years it would affect me, but I’ve come to realise the work that I do will always attract some kind of skeptical point of view and you’ve just got to let it go. I’ve allowed my shoulders to become broader spiritually, so it doesn’t bother me anymore. So long as the audience and the people who receive the messages are happy, that’s all I care about.”
Derek’s work has taken him all over the world on a mission to explore the paranormal. He’s been to Los Angeles, Egypt and now he’s coming back to Wales to perform his new show, The Soul Reunion.
“I’ve always loved coming to Wales,” he says. “When I was a boy, I used to holiday in North Wales because my auntie owned a static caravan there. South Wales didn’t really come on to my radar until I started to do shows later on in my life, but now it’s become a staple location of my tours.”
For Derek, being a psychic medium is a full time job and with claims of having so many spirits wanting to send messages through, you might wonder how he could possibly relax. “My grandmother was a medium for over 50 years and she taught me the discipline – meaning to open and close the link with the world of spirit. So before each show I go into a meditative stance and tell the spirit world that I’m ready to work with them.”
“When I’m done, I go back and thank the spirit world before closing down and asking them to leave me rest,” Derek continues, adding: “Without that I’d be ill – no medium should have to stay open to the powers 24/7”.
Then, of course, there’s Most Haunted. A show that thrust him in to the living rooms of millions of viewers but ultimately created headlines when the show’s resident skeptic claimed he was a fake. In one episode, Derek was possessed by a spirit called Kreed Kafer, a name of a supposed ghost the crew made sure to drop in Derek’s presence. Kreed Kafer, however, is an anagram of Derek Faker. While the controversy has done little to keep fans away, Derek says, “I’m not regretful in any way that I took part in Most Haunted. I thoroughly enjoyed it at the time, but the changes that took place within the dynamics of the production meant that it was no longer a programme I wanted to be a part of.”