Cairns... and able

Success came early to Cairns. And he was quite literally spoilt for choice.

"I was earning very good money for a 19-year old. We were sponsored by DB [DB Breweries]. There were girls and cars, things at my disposal which inflated my worth, or my perception of my worth," he once said.

Now when he looks back at the 'celebrity' years, Cairns says: "I've never shied away from trying things. I'll give anything a go and sometimes I've walked paths I shouldn't have trodden, but as long as you don't go up and try them again, then you've learned. But everything you don't try you don't know."