The highs and lows of Escape to the Chateau: As Dick and Angel confirm their last series, how they turned their tumbledown £280,000 French castle into a £2m wedding venue – but faced bullying claims and tension with producers
- It was confirmed that Escape to the Chateau’s ninth season will be its last
- Dick and wife Angel said they ‘have cherished the good, the bad and the ugly’
- The couple have experienced highs and lows over the years filming the show
- Femail takes a look at ‘the good, the bad and the ugly’ that the couple have faced
It was recently confirmed that Channel 4’s Escape to the Chateau’s ninth season will be its last after six years of filming.
Dick Strawbridge and wife Angel, who met in 2010 and have two children together, confirmed that they ‘have cherished every second… the good, the bad and the ugly’.
And the couple have experienced many highs and lows over the years as they renovated a run-down 45-room moated chateau bought for just £280,000.
The venue now hosts fairytale weddings in the Pays de la Loire region – and in 2019, it was valued at £2million.
From bullying claims and tension with producers to becoming one of Channel 4’s most popular shows, Femail takes a look at ‘the good, the bad and the ugly’ that the couple have faced over the years.
Dick Strawbridge and wife Angel, confirmed that Escape to the Chateau’s ninth season will be its last after six years of filming (pictured in 2017)
The couple (pictured with their children), who met in 2010 and have two children together, Arthur, nine, and Dorothy, eight, confirmed that they ‘have cherished every second… the good, the bad and the ugly’
After searching for the chateau for four years, the pair bought the sprawling 19th century building in 2015 after swapping their two-bed home in east London.
The series is full of arguments and tiffs over stressful renovations, precious moments with their children Arthur, nine, and Dorothy, eight and creating happy memories with newlyweds.
The chateau has since been valued at £2million but the couple also cash in through TV rights from Channel 4 for the series and its day-time spin off.
Dick and Angel also host fairytale weddings receiving up to £38,000 per wedding. The average price, however, comes out at around £19,000.
The couple have experienced many highs and lows over the years as they renovated a run-down 45-room moated chateau bought for just £280,000
Dick and Angel also host fairytale weddings receiving up to £38,000 per wedding. The average price, however, comes out at around £19,000 (pictured with Lynwen Evans, 56, and Geraint Davies, 58, from Ammanford, who tied the knot at the famous venue)
After searching for the chateau for four years the pair bought the sprawling 19th century building in 2015 after swapping their two-bed home in east London
The villa is called Chateau-de-la-Motte Husson and it is in the picturesque Loire region of North West France
A six-course wedding dinner plus canapes upon arrival, a cheese and meat table during the evening and an unlimited full bar for the day for the maximum 80 guests will set you back £20,000, a post-wedding brunch £1,600 and hiring the chateau for the weekend is £6,250.
As well as weddings, the couple also sell glamping nights for £350 in ‘geodesic domes’ in the chateau’s grounds and £230 ‘days of decadence’ where you can meet Dick and Angel, enjoying lunch and afternoon tea at the chateau.
And the couple even charge guests £75 for a ‘working day in the garden’, with the website saying: ‘Yes to be frankly honest we are charging you to come and work! And in return you have to help make the place beautiful!’.
The hit Channel 4 show is full of arguments and tiffs over stressful renovations, precious moments with their children Arthur, nine, and Dorothy, eight and creating happy memories with newlyweds
However it wasn’t always plain sailing for the family who bought the property with no electricity, water or sewage – and a sanitation system that was emptied in the moat
TV presenter Dick and author Angel now employ a PR to market their thriving business empire which includes not just weddings but personalised homeware, gifts, soft furnishings, calendars, diaries and cards (pictured in 2018)
TV presenter Dick and author Angel now employ a PR to market their thriving business empire which includes not just weddings but personalised homeware, gifts, soft furnishings, calendars, diaries and cards.
They have a separate ‘Chateau Products’ team based in Swindon, Wiltshire, to deal with all the merchandise inquiries.
However it wasn’t always plain sailing for the family who bought the property with no electricity, water or sewage – and a sanitation system that was emptied in the moat.
Over the last few years, viewers have seen them transform the chateau into a flourishing business but they were also hit by damaging bullying claims in 2021.
Dick has estimated that they have spent around £280,000 renovating the chateau since moving there four years ago
As well as weddings, the couple also sell glamping nights for £350 in ‘geodesic domes’ in the chateau’s grounds
Last year, it was reported that sources close to Spark Media, the independent production company that filmed the first four series of ETTC, had accused Dick and Angel of bullying.
Dick was accused of pushing one crew member around a room, and threatening to throw another ‘out the f*****g window’ while brandishing a hammer. Both were also said to have sworn at TV staff.
Meanwhile, the show apparently haemorrhaged producer directors (PDs) during the first four series: three out of six left prematurely following rows — an exodus ‘unheard of’ in television, it’s claimed.
Angel designed each room, using her creative streak to do most of the interiors herself to her own unique taste
The couple transformed the crumbling castle into an incredible venue to host weddings in France
The couple have no plans to sell the chateau but could make a profit of around £1.5 million if they put it on the market
The incredible venue boasts a grand reception room which can host up to 200 people in 45 rooms
The Strawbridges will return to our screens this autumn for more heart-warming family adventures, innovative renovations and spectacular celebrations in their final series of Escape to the Chateau (pictured)
How much will a wedding at the chateau set you back?
The full run-down of the costs a wedding weekend for 80 at the chateau include:
Chateau hire – £6,250
Six-course wedding dinner with unlimited full bar including ‘bubbles’ – £20,000
Welcome dinner and drinks – £5,200
Personalised embroidery with guests names – £440
Flowers – £750
Wedding cake – £325
Post wedding brunch with champagne – £1,600
Dick and Angel — deeply dismayed by the accusations — wasted no time in categorically denying them. In detailed testimony via their representative, the couple have emphasised not only the warm atmosphere among the team that currently makes their show, but also their long-held, high professional standards, which they say has helped bring their chateau fantasy to successful fruition.
And no one can deny that theirs is the original entrepreneurial dream come true, powered largely by the determined Dick, who has decades of experience in television.
With such high standards, the Strawbridges say, of course, comes high pressure — yet, still, their representative stressed that production members associated with the couple over many years found ‘working with our clients at the chateau is a lovely experience.’
They also made accusations of their own of outrageous behaviour among the Spark’s production team.
Meanwhile, Channel 4 has denied all knowledge of the row, saying in a statement: ‘Channel 4 does not tolerate bullying or abusive behaviour in any of its productions.
‘Channel 4 was not aware of any of the alleged behaviour by Dick and Angel as described in these claims, which we understand relate to a period well before the current producers started making the series.’
The series was coined in 2014 after an executive at Spark Media heard that Angel and Dick, a former army officer who has appeared as an engineering expert on TV shows such as Channel 4’s Scrapheap Challenge, were leaving their two- bedroom flat in Southend, Essex, for a new life in France.
The popular series will return to Channel 4 this autumn for more heart-warming family adventures, innovative renovations and spectacular celebrations in their final series of Escape to the Chateau.
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