Secret Softie dishes the dosh

But in a new series of Secret Millionaire the 45-year-old recruitment boss showed he was a softie at heart.

He travelled to Middlesbrough to dish out some of his personal fortune to worthy causes.

And the tears flowed. Not just theirs - but his!

He met a couple behind a charity raising money for equipment to help epileptics.

The couple's only daughter had died in a fit, so did Sean's sister, and his heart was moved.

This was as much about Sean - who had never come to terms with the tragedy - as about the charities he helped.

I'm not a big fan of Secret Millionaire but you could tell Sean needed to talk about his sister.

Sean and Richard Clarke, running the charity Abbie's Love with his wife Tracy, bonded over a pint and a cry.

There was a sense of intruding into private grief but it was tastefully done.

Sean is one of the good guys, a good guy with many millions in the bank, but a good guy who shared some of his wealth with the needy causes he came across.

Abbie's Love got a total of £75,000 and a promise to double their own fund-raising efforts.

A charity helping Middlesbrough's disadvantaged youth got £50,000.

So a big cheer for Sean.

I have just one quibble - and it was something our man identified - with Secret Millionaire.

Those who dish the dosh lie through their back teeth while undercover.

In Sean's case he was taking part in a documentary on mid-life crisis - a lie which didn't quite work - and he admitted feeling guilty about the fib.