Michael Sheen is well known for his philanthropic endeavours, particularly in his hometown of South Wales. And his latest move has got the internet talking. The actor has paid off £1m worth of debt for neighbours in his local community of Port Talbot, South Wales – using £100,000 of his own money.

Documented in Michael Sheen’s Secret Million Pound Giveaway, a new Channel 4 show which will air tonight – it comes five months after the closure of Port Talbot’s last blast furnace, which marked the end of traditional steelmaking in south Wales.

Overall, Michael has helped 900 people in the Port Talbot area by buying £1m worth of strangers’ debt for £100,000. In a teaser for the documentary, Sheen says ‘I’ve always wanted to do something big to expose the unfairness of the system,’ continuing ‘I want to see if I can help people going through a tough time, and at the same time I want to do something that gets people’s attention.’

People have taken to social media to express how impressed they are by Michael’s generosity. One user wrote on X ‘Really moved by this man who works tirelessly to help people and to spread kindness and awareness, using his platform for so much good. He’s a real inspiration.’ Another user wrote ‘There’s always more good in the world than bad, if you look hard enough. Be more, Michael Sheen people !’ A third wrote ‘He’s too good for this world. His kindness, his empathy, his sense of justice, his desire to fix things, certainly seem like things from another world.’

More than eight million people across the UK were in debt and another 12 million lived on the edge in 2023, according to the Money and Pensions Service, external. Speaking in the documentary, Sheen described him writing off £1m-worth of people’s debts as a ‘drop in the ocean,’ continuing ‘Until the government makes the banks responsible for affordable credit, the problem will only get worse.’

Michael appeared on The One Show last week to speak about the premise of the documentary. ‘£100,000 to buy 1million worth of debt seemed like a good deal to me. I didn’t have £100,000 to throw around. So I wanted it to be effective,’ he said. ‘But when I realised I could do this, get £1million worth of people’s debt and just write it off, it seemed like a good thing to do.’

He outlined how this exchange works, continuing ‘People’s debt gets put into bundles. Then debt-buying companies can buy those bundles, and they can sell it on to another debt-buying company at a lower price. So even though the amount of people who owe is still the same, the people who own the debt, can sell it for less and less money.’

He added ‘So I was able to set up a company and for £100,000 of my own money buy £1mill worth of debt, because it had come down in value, because they don’t think there’s as much chance to get the money back. I had no idea this happened.’

However, Sheen explained that the process of setting up a debt company was much more difficult than he expected – something he wasn’t prepared for. He said the whole process of getting a licence took him ‘two years’, because they had to do it ‘secretly’ for the documentary. He explains he was motivated to keep going after speaking to workers in a cafe opposite the steelworks, who describe people crying at the tables as the closure loomed.

Appearing tearful in the documentary, he says ‘It couldn’t be more real how much people are hurting. Maybe this programme will make a tiny bit of difference, maybe it won’t, I can’t walk away from it now.’
Michael managed to clear banking debt, overdrafts, credit cards and store cards, plus personal loans. ‘Ironically, I am genuinely not sure I can afford to do this, but I’m still going to do it, because I’ve made a commitment and because I know this problem isn’t going to go away,’ he said.

One TikTok user has spoken out about how she benefited from Sheen’s generosity. TikTok user LezzyLongLegs shared a video praising Sheen’s kindness. ‘Me and [my partner Jade got ourselves into a lot of debt individually and together and we were finally sorting it out today – only to find that 12 grand of our debt has disappeared and been settled.’

She continued: ‘Michael Sheen has paid off the majority of our debt! I cannot believe it.’ Detailing Sheen’s actions further, she explained that each of the 900 people he has supported are in the 25-35 age bracket. ‘I cannot believe I was one of them and I didn’t even know about it,’ the user said. ‘And Jade was one of them, what the f***? What’s going on? How does this happen to a person like me?’

She finished by sharing that she and Jade have now been given a ‘second chance’ with their debt ‘minimal compared to what it was,’ adding ‘I just feel like a weight has been lifted off my shoulders and we are going to make these payments now and be debt-free and just start a new, fresh, clean slate. “I cannot wait for life.Thank you, Michael, so much. Honest to god, if there is a god, you are an angel and if you’re ever in Newport, feel free to pop in for a cuppa!’

This comes after Sheen announced he was a ‘not-for-profit actor’ after selling his houses and giving the proceeds to charity in 2021. In an interview with The Big Issue at the time, Sheen said that organising the 2019 Homeless World Cup in Cardiff was a turning point for him. When funding for the £2m project fell through at the last moment, Sheen sold his own houses to bankroll it.

‘I had a house in America and a house here and I put those up and just did whatever it took,’ he said. ‘It was scary and incredibly stressful. I’ll be paying for it for a long time.’

Sheen said that when he ‘came out the other side’, he realised he could do these kinds of things and, if he could keep earning money, ‘it’s not going to ruin me.’ He’s pledged to carry on using the money he earns from acting to fund more projects.

There was something quite liberating about going, all right, I’ll put large amounts of money into this or that, because I’ll be able to earn it back again. I’ve essentially turned myself into a social enterprise, a not-for-profit actor,’ he said.

Ok so we can’t all be millionaires, but maybe we can all try and be a bit more Michael Sheen every now and again.