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Original poster

To get a bit annoyed when Dick and Angel Strawbridge insist they're "normal"

312 replies

Frankola · 01/12/2019 13:34

I love Escape To The Chateau. I love Dick and Angel. I really do.

However, it really annoys me when they frequently insist that they are "every day people" and that "anyone can do it".

They ARE NOT every day people! Dick is a respected engineering and environmental expert who has appeared on tele for years before ETC. He's done Scrap Heap Challenge, Coast and all sorts!

Angel is actually a qualified chartered accountant with a professional background in business studies. She was a successful businesswoman in London, creating The Vintage Patisserie hospitality business and also appeared on Dragons Den - where she secured funding for her latest investment.

They were introduced by their agent. Does that sound "normal" to you?

Do every day couples pitch their search for a new life to production companies? Channel 4 even funded their house searching France for them to find the Chateau as they approached them from the very beginning of their project to maximise the potential they saw in this.

Don't get me wrong. I'm all for their success. But I find it a bit insulting almost to expect the doting British public to just buy that these people could be any Tom, Dick or Harry (pun intended).

Any one else feel like this?

OP posts:
CurlyhairedAssassin · 01/12/2019 14:09

My friends are all normal and ordinary to me but they range from unemployed long term disabled in an sheltered living maisonette, through millionaires who own two estates, to tv celebs here and in the US...

And how on earth does one acquire a circle of friends like that, one wonders?

BillieEilish · 01/12/2019 14:13

I just always worry about the future of their children.

Neither parent looks healthy to me. What happens if one dies?

Original poster
Frankola · 01/12/2019 14:16

@WiddlinDiddlin I can promise I haven't led a sheltered life. Nor do I have a narrow circle or friends.

OP posts:
dontalltalkatonce · 01/12/2019 14:18

I think he's gross and having a second family when you've got grandchildren nearly the same age is rank.

OverByYer · 01/12/2019 14:19

@dontalltalkatonce are you his ex wife?

Breathlessness · 01/12/2019 14:20

I had to google who they were but calling yourselves Dick and Angel doesn’t seem that normal.

Original poster
Frankola · 01/12/2019 14:20

I really admire their business acumen, and their achievements should absolutely be celebrated.

I also find it fantastic what theyve built for their kids to inherit and parents to benefit from. It's nothing short of heroic.

I actually think it's more channel 4 that likes to make them seem a bit more ordinary than they actually are. And I think it's a ploy to market them to the masses bit I think it actually turns some people off to try to give them that image, like me.

I, like many of you, enjoy the refusals to call Angela by anything else. Her face is always a picture. But speaking of her face, her skin is divine. It's so well maintained and pristine! Very jealous.

OP posts:
ChristaMSieland · 01/12/2019 14:20

I think he's gross and having a second family when you've got grandchildren nearly the same age is rank

Why?

TimeForNewStart · 01/12/2019 14:24

I do find it slightly irritating that Angel(a) plays this slightly ditzy ‘ooooh, I just make things look pretty’ type persona, when clearly she’s actually the business brains behind it all! But it does make for good telly.

BillieEilish · 01/12/2019 14:25

I wouldn't want to be a widow, with a couple of small DC's, on my own in that heap of 'chateau' in the middle of nowhere.

He is a heart attack waiting to happen.

BillieEilish · 01/12/2019 14:26

What do they eat normally I wonder? Allotment I think not.

All but little girl, obese.

BarkandCheese · 01/12/2019 14:30

The Angel/Angela thing does make me think of of Edina/Edwina Monsoon.

WiddlinDiddlin · 01/12/2019 14:33

@CurlyhairedAssassin

Dunno, some of them are people I grew up with, some I have met via various interests, mainly dogs, some through my illustration work.

misspiggy19 · 01/12/2019 14:40

I agree with you OP. Where have they got the money to renovate?

NoBarbaraGood · 01/12/2019 14:40

@BarkandCheese has hit the nail on the head!

CuriousaboutSamphire · 01/12/2019 14:48

I didn't think there was anything secret that his first wife is an ardent environmentalist and is happy and wealthy in her own right, she was the driving force behind their family show.

And the chateau was funded via the sale of a London flat, I think. Nothing odd or sinister. Weird to want to see anything untoward in it!

catsmother · 01/12/2019 14:54

I think perhaps 'down to earth' might be a better description of the pair, as opposed to everyday 'normal'. They certainly come across as warm and approachable, the sort who'd make great dinner party guests with all the stories they have to tell. I like them and I enjoy watching the show as really they're the epitome of UK expats make good in France aren't they? It's fascinating to wonder what they'll tackle next, how they're going to do it and what history might be uncovered when they do.

However, I do confess to feeling envious, not only of their home but also of all the factors which fell into place 'just so' in order to enable them to chase their dream. And it's certainly not something 'anyone' could do without similar advantages. I think I possess a reasonable amount of creative vision, I'm not scared of hard work and getting stuck in and am a great believer in Google and YouTube for DIY hacks. But.... I don't have the means to buy somewhere like that in the first place, despite the bargain price. I don't have parents willing or remotely able to uproot themselves abroad to provide childcare. I don't have a partner with an engineering background who could either do complicated work themselves, or at least project manage or act as a labourer. That'd mean getting professionals in for absolutely all of the major structural stuff (far beyond YouTube help) which would considerably add to costs.

But then, generally speaking, I guess you could say similar of most success stories.... it's nearly always a combination of hard work and good luck.... the good fortune to have supportive parents for example which Angel's clearly are, that goes beyond simple childcare, because that usually instills you with self confidence and drive. And being in the right place at the right time, as in Dick and Angel meeting when they did. I do always think that the chateau renovation and transformation wouldn't have been possible without both of them making different, but equally important, contributions to the whole project.

As for the second marriage sniping. It's ridiculous, unrealistic and unkind. Dick's adult kids have their own lives like most adults do and don't live there, so why would they overly feature on the show? Having more children later in life is the business only of the parents concerned and not necessarily some sort of slight on his older ones. It's obvious the kids are growing up in a wonderful location and their parents are clearly fond of each other so why the snide asides?

rhubarbcrumbles · 01/12/2019 15:11

He was born in Burma to a father who worked in the oil industry and then became an army officer after leaving school, got an MBE for his military service. Not really a normal everyday background.

Original poster
Frankola · 01/12/2019 15:14

My auntie has an MBE for her services to charity but I'd say she was normal. Well...Grin

OP posts:
Foxyloxy1plus1 · 01/12/2019 15:21

Can we not accept the programme for what it is? Both Dick and Angela are talented and creative and whatever help they’ve had, theirs is the vision to make it happen and create a business from their chateau.

Dick made programmes with his eldest son James, that were interesting and enjoyable. His eldest daughter, as far as I know, hasn’t featured in a TV series, except perhaps incidentally in the early days. His first wife is in a relationship I believe and the episode with James last week, showed a positive relationship with the extended family. The only thing I’d be concerned about is a health issue, because they are overweight, except for the little girl. But I’m sure they know that and we don’t know whether they have any concerns or not.

Let’s just enjoy the programme, which I think is delightful.

MrsPelligrinoPetrichor · 01/12/2019 15:22

I agree with you OP. Where have they got the money to renovate?

Channel 4 I imagine.

MrsPelligrinoPetrichor · 01/12/2019 15:23

I noticed she has a bed linen range in Sainsbury's,by God,it's eye wateringly expensive for a a duvet set!

midsomermurderess · 01/12/2019 15:24

A bit off piste, but to be fair to Jamie Oliver he doesn't pitch esoteric ingredients. Maybe you're thinking about Ottolenghi.

Notonthestairs · 01/12/2019 15:25

Angel - during her vintage patisserie days - ran a surprise birthday tea for me in my home (organised by a friend). I was 8 months pregnant and a tearful mess (no reason - just tired and a bit shocked by the surprise).

She was lovely, nothing was too much trouble, went to great lengths to make sure I was enjoying myself. I haven't seen the programme but she struck me as a kind, hard working, well organised person. I'm glad she's done well. Hats off to her.

PotteryWheel · 01/12/2019 15:26

They’ve leveraged their joint business acumen, design and engineering/DIY/catering skills, like ability on camera, and DS’s considerable TV experience into making a successful business. Yes, absolutely some luck involved, and the parental uprooting and childcare that made it possible, and of course they already had a tv contract when chateau-hunting! Or did people think that cameras just happened to be there when they first saw the chateau? Or that they went back with cameras and restaged their first visit?

I do agree about the aviaries being inhumane. But what always intrigues me is that the vast majority of the workmen we see working on the chateau are all British — do they import them, or have they unearthed a local pocket of British builders?