Personal Life
Griffin was brought up in Castleton, a small moorland village near Whitby, North Yorkshire. He has two older sisters. He has retained strong links with his family and his local community and often performs at local events to raise money for good causes. In 2003, without his knowledge, his mother, Barbara Griffin, offered a date with him as a prize in a charity raffle for the Whitby Christmas Lights Appeal. Enough money was raised to light the town for the next three years.
He is an expert at making lemon curd, which he regularly enters in the annual Danby Show. Despite donating a trophy for this category, although he has been awarded second and third prize he has never won.
He is passionate about football and is a qualified referee. He has also written songs for his home team, Middlesbrough Football Club, and former England manager, Terry Venables. He played Junior Tennis at regional level, and is a member of the Bunbury Cricket Club. His other hobbies include crazy golf and pub quizzing.
He has appeared in Heat Magazine's "Spotted" column after a member of the public reported he was seen talking to a homeless person outside the Royal York Hotel.
Griffin was opening batsman for the Middlesbrough Evening Gazette in the inaugural cricket match against The Northern Echo played on 14 August 2011. He donated a jar of lemon curd which has led to the now annual fixture being dubbed the Alistair Griffin Lemon Curd Challenge. Despite his efforts, the Evening Gazette team were all out for 34, losing by 65 runs.
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