The shameless father who has 40 children by 20 women says: 'I'll never stop because God says go forth and multiply'

Britain's most feckless father has had 40 children by 20 different women, boasting: 'God says go forth and multiply - I'll never stop'.

Mike Holpin, 56, from Monmouthshire, says he can only remember half their names and would not recognise some if he passed them in the street.

The recovering alcoholic claims he tries to keep track of all his children – aged between three and 37 – by having their names tattooed across his back.

He admits he would not recognise many in the street and 16 were taken into care by social services because of his 'drinking and womanising'.

Mr Holpin, who has previously admitted getting £27,000-a-year in benefits, says he wants even more children because he 'can't live without them'.

He said: 'In the Bible, God says go forth and multiply. I'm doing what God wants. I'm only 56. I'll never stop [having children]. Never stop.

'I'm as fertile as sin. I don't believe in contraception and I love sex.

'I've got so much love in me for my kids, it's spilling over. I need them more than they need me to be honest. I can't be without them.' 

Twenty-two of his 40 offspring carry his surname and there are 'probably a few more' out there he does not even know exist.

Mr Holpin, of Ebbw Vale, South Wales, says most of his children have been removed by social services.

'Due to my drinking and my womanising, most of my kids have gone through the care system,' he said. 

'It makes me feel like s*** because they've suffered.

He said each of his six serious relationships fell victim to his battle with booze but that he was now a reformed character.

Mr Holpin, who appeared in the Channel 5 programme 40 Kids by 20 Women last night, says he would like to add to his family with his fiancée but cannot resist reminiscing about his promiscuous past.

He also says he hopes his children will be able to forgive him, both for their upbringing in council care and for his lengthy reproductive career.

He said: 'I can't make up for what I've done. All I can do is be there for them now. I'll keep fighting.' According to Mr Holpin, his first sexual experience came aged nine but he did not have his first child until he got a job at a fairground in his late teens.

He recalled: 'Boys working on rides like that, they're only there for one reason and that's to pull women. Good-looking boys are better but funny boys are spectacular.

'You have to do some manoeuvring but me, I thought, I just want sex. I'd pat them on the rump and if they say f*** off then they're not really up for it. If they

'They [social services] took them from me because I'm an alcoholic. I'm still an alcoholic – I just don't practise it.

'When they went into care, I made a promise that no matter how long it took, I will get my kids home. I miss all the fun we used to have so I guess getting them back, my life will be set. My life will be perfect'.

He met his first two wives while he worked on a fairground but also slept with dozens of other women.

His oldest son Michael came from an affair and he had Joanne, Mike, Myfanwy, Greg, Michaela, Naomi and Brett with his first wife Sue.

He then had Mike, Luke and Chris with second wife Diane and then children Nicola, Hayley, John, Luke, Rhiannon, Michael, Lara, Courtney and Jordan Lee with third wife Petrina.

The sex-mad father even got all three of the women pregnant at the same time but admits that none speak to him now because: 'They all hate me'.

Holpin admits that he used his children to help him bed women.

He said: 'Women love single men with babies. My son had white hair and blue eyes. We would walk around the supermarket singing Jerry Lee Lewis songs and picking up women.'

He now lives his fiancée  Diane Morris, ten years his junior, and they live in a two-bed council house in South Wales. 

Andy Sylvester of the TaxPayers' Alliance said: 'Hard-pressed working families have to make tough decisions about whether they can afford another child. And those on benefits should be no different.

'It is sheer arrogance to think you can have as many kids as you want, and taxpayers will pick up the tab. Whatever happened to personal responsibility?'

Peter Bone, 62, a Conservative election candidate, told The Sun: 'Most people would feel fathering 40 children with 20 different women is unacceptable. 

'I feel people need to be responsible for their children and someone should not go around having multiple children and be so sure that the state will fund that behaviour. It's a gross abuse of the benefits system and also morally wrong.'

Michael Ellis, 47, Tory candidate for Northampton North, said: 'If there are 44 children from 20 mothers it's going to be hugely expensive. Just on sheer numbers alone, it must be over £200,000 in taxpayer's money.' see more photos of him and his family.....