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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

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:
rhubarbcrumbles · 01/12/2019 15:27

I wonder why she changed her name from Angela Newman to Angel Adoree? Hardly a normal name is it?

Floomph · 01/12/2019 15:32

I don't really care. I don't think they're perfect by any means but it's so lovely seeing two passionate clever people create something which has involved taking a lot of risk. They're both clearly bright and full of ideas and much as I'd love to own a chateau, I never will because it would be a pain in the backside so it's fun living vicariously through them. And lots of everyday people could achieve a lot more with a bit of vision and plain old hard work. Equally lots couldn't for a million different and very valid reasons.

poorbuthappy · 01/12/2019 15:33

@MrsPelligrinoPetrichor
I was so pleased to see the duvet sets and the light shades are lush....but shish yes expensive.

Floomph · 01/12/2019 15:37

I wonder why she changed her name from Angela Newman to Angel Adoree? Hardly a normal name is it?

Really does it matter? It's pretty astute creating a persona when you're a creative and want to build a brand around your own identity. It fits with her vintage look. If it makes her happy, who cares?

rhubarbcrumbles · 01/12/2019 15:37

It doesn't matter, I'm just curious really.

DeRigueurMortis · 01/12/2019 15:39

I think they both have skills that have been invaluable to the success of their project.

So, no I don't think just anyone could have achieved what they have, without a far bigger budget and external help to "cover" the skills they have been able to utilise or over a much longer period as they learned those skills as hoc.

That said, those skills are why they felt able to do this in the first place, on a very limited budget. They've undoubtedly also worked very hard for what they have and good luck to them.

The comments about Dick's first marriage and elder children are bang out of order though. He'd been separated for 6 years before they met and his son has collaborated with him on many occasions since then on TV and there is nothing to show that they have anything but a loving relationship. We don't see much of his elder daughter, but that could simply be she doesn't enjoy the limelight (in the same way the eldest Osborne daughter didn't appear on that reality show).

CurlyhairedAssassin · 01/12/2019 15:41

I always wonder what Angela’s siblings think. I saw her brother on the anniversary episode. (Thought it was her dad at first!) I mean, their parents’ lives are now so tied up in the chateau and Angela’s family, I wonder if it grates on her brother, if he has kids, that they aren’t there to be such hands on grandparents/ready-made babysitters to his own kids.

All the praise and attention is lavished on her, but she couldn’t have done it without them. While he is just getting on with it, presumably back in the U.K., without any help from them or the same opportunities for such a close relationship.

I would feel hurt if my parents had decided to up-sticks to a different country to live with my sibling and provide hands on free childcare for them, and I hardly ever saw them because of it.

CurlyhairedAssassin · 01/12/2019 15:44

And not only that but my face was rubbed in it by seeing them on TV all the time, and have all my friends commenting constantly on how brilliant and talented they are etc. Must niggle a bit sometimes.

PotteryWheel · 01/12/2019 15:49

@Curly, that objection only works if you think you have certain inalienable rights to childcare from your parents and/or to their presence, surely? For all we know Angel's brother lives at the opposite end of the country to where their parents used to live, and no lives were shattered when they decided to move to France.

And for all we know, his friends say (rather as Mumsnetters frequently say) 'Why has your annoying sister adopted a stage name that makes her sound like a burlesque dancer?' or 'Your brother-in-law is a walking heart attack'...?

commanderdalgliesh · 01/12/2019 15:51

Oh I love them. They are adorable with the kids, looks like an idyllic childhood. I have recorded this series but not had a chance to watch yet. It's my dream. But we would split up within a month with the stress of it.

I do worry about Dick's belly but he's always out and about working so must be fairly fit.

Bluerussian · 01/12/2019 15:52

They seem pretty 'every day' types to me. Just because they are well known (though I'd never heard of them before this thread, then I looked them up), doesn't mean they aren't 'regular people' in most respects. Never seen their programmes but they look really pleasant and cheerful.

PretendLife · 01/12/2019 15:57

I can't get over the fact that they bought a chateau with a huge moat around it with 2 young kids.

jbfletcher1 · 01/12/2019 16:06

I love the programme & like watching them & they seem to have a fantastic relationship. I wish DH was as practical as Dick.
I understand the OPs point that the backstory of "we couldn't afford London so scrimped & saved to do up this chateau" is a bit misleading. Clearly they are very shrewd, and probably had loads of deals in place before. The tools Dick has alone would cost £££££. They are very careful with what they show, just enough to wet the appetite. I'm surprised there's not a before & after book out. You can pay to tour the Chateau.
Steve the builder friend & his wife must live their too & they seem to have had staff/helpers from day 1 so definitely not as organic as it appears.

Costacoffeeplease · 01/12/2019 16:12

They both irritate the hell out of me, I watched one programme by accident right at the beginning and haven’t watched another since

MrsPelligrinoPetrichor · 01/12/2019 16:17

I liked the series he did with his first wife.

Bluerussian · 01/12/2019 16:21

PretendLife Sun 01-Dec-19 15:57:36
I can't get over the fact that they bought a chateau with a huge moat around it with 2 young kids.
...
:-)
Oh well I haven't seen their programme but I expect they're very safety conscious with their children. people generally are.

I did know a couple with two small children who bought a house with a stream running through the bottom of the garden (& their neighbours), nobody drowned.

PotteryWheel · 01/12/2019 16:23

They've also said in interviews that they use volunteers from one of those volunteer/homestay organisations where you exchange food and accommodation for work, and they also have volunteer/open days where people come and work in the garden and then tour the chateau etc.

Again, I think they're quite canny -- I imagine the TV coverage alone puts an awful lot of volunteers and UK wedding business their way, especially for people who don't speak French and would worry about dealing with a French-speaking wedding venue.

PositiveVibez · 01/12/2019 16:31

I wonder why she changed her name from Angela Newman to Angel Adoree

Probably the same reason Jude Law changed his name from Dave, or Elton John changed his from Reg.

PotteryWheel · 01/12/2019 16:41

chateaudelamottehusson.com/product/summer-working-garden-day/

This was one of their open working days from summer last year -- you pay £50 for a 9.30 to 5.30 day in which you work for two hours in the morning, and two hours in the afternoon, which includes a morning coffee, a multi-course lunch in the Orangerie and afternoon tea and bubbles in the chateau at the end of the day.

This year the price for the same thing is £75. These people have their heads screwed on!

Loveislandaddict · 01/12/2019 16:48

Part of me admires what they are doing, and I know lots of people love the programme, but I find it all a little twee. Also, I agree with the above poster who commented that they must have a lot of money behind them to pay for all the renovations etc, as that can’t come cheap.

On the last programme I saw, she had speciality printed fabric to re-upholster a chair (and I think the wallpaper was bespoke also). None of that come cheap.

SevenStones · 01/12/2019 16:52

Theoretically anyone could do what they've done.

Realistically, anyone would need a bit of business acumen, some entrepreneurial skills, enormous drive to get going, see through the times when everything seems to go wrong, and have an element of good luck as well.

It's not for everyone. Many people prefer the regularity and safety of paid employment where most of the risks are taken by someone else and they can just go to work, go home at the end of the day, and get paid.

Kit30 · 01/12/2019 17:04

Lots of haters on here! Can I suggest that you switch off or change channels?

NettleTea · 01/12/2019 17:05

I wanted to hate it, but I was drawn in and I like them. I agree about the aviary though, and was concerned that the plants in there might not be suitable for the birds.
My parents have stayed at the chateaux and say its lovely, My mum is a huge fan.
They are business smart and theyve made the most of every PR opportunity, but then they have a business to run. The TV programme is the best advertising you could imagine.
And she is probably sensible to go with Sainsburys for her range - may be pricey but makes it widely available and, from what my mum says, there are people on fan pages who will buy everything she does, so it makes sense to cash in on that.

CurlyhairedAssassin · 01/12/2019 17:08

Lots of haters on here! Can I suggest that you switch off or change channels?

Are you reading a different thread from us?

Lovemenorca · 01/12/2019 17:09

They are successful business people. Normal in my neck of the woods (very affluent SE town)

Not “normal” to me is low income and / or manual labour

Normal to one is not normal to another