Sarah Beenys new life in the country

[TowandaForever]

Is it just me or is she really fake?

[AbsintheFriends]

Let Them Eat Cake TV. From the same stable as Kirsty Allsopp's thinly disguised craft/country cottage renovation series, which looks suspiciously like they pitched the idea to a TV exec mate, saying 'look, we fancy doing this outrageously pricey project but don't want the financial risk - any way we can swing it on expenses?'

Their houses are gorgeous, but the lack of self awareness and ability to read the room is less attractive.

[Happymum12345]

If you don’t like her just don’t watch it. Why oh why can’t people just be kind?

[Caelano]

@MiniCooperLover yes the faux ‘oh gosh, what the heck are we doing deciding on a whim to move to the middle of the countryside, oh goodness, whatever will we do if it all goes wrong?’ is really tedious. If for whatever reason it doesn’t work out, if they get bored etc they’ll just move back to London or into some expensive pile somewhere else. Own your privilege, don’t do some fake attempt that you’re taking some massive risk

[bloodyhairy]

She has always irritated me too. What was the programme where she used to advise people on how to change their homes in order to sell? She was always so 'I told you so' on that, and funnily enough the programme was set up so that the house viewers and estate agents all agreed with the changes she suggested

[MrsBirkett]

I always liked her and I loved Property Ladder but this is just irritating. Good for them if they have the money etc for this project but now is not the time to share it. Too self absorbed and pleased with themselves for me I'm afraid.

[Sara2000]

It's a smug fest of privilege. .

DH grew up in the country and said most of it is inaccessible as its privately owned and he spent most of his time waiting for the bus or sat on the bus.This idyll they are painting as 'country living' with feeding lambs, swimming in a lake and running around acres of land is not reality for most people. But then again neither is their huge house typical for those in London.

Well done to them for their successes, but the tedious game of 'whatever will we do if this goes wrong, we will surely be destitute' is clearly nonsense.

I would have a bit more respect if she had at least bolllocked the child who went in the lake with a phone in his pocket like most parents would have done!

And I refuse to believe any teenage boy would want to be running around a field looking for easter eggs. Let alone willingly agreed to swap London for Somerset

[Caelano]

@Sara2000 ‘a smugfest of privilege’ sums it up brilliantly!

To those saying ‘you don’t have to watch’, actually I was expecting to see a house being built, which would have been interesting. Instead we just got a display of self promotion, ‘look, aren’t we just the perfect family’ etc
As @sara2000 says it really highlighted the divide between ordinary country dwellers and a wealthy family swooping in from London with a massive dollop of entitlement.

I’m all for a bit of escapism and I’m also really into property programmes, but this wasn’t that. It was an unattractive and very ill-timed smugfest

[AbsintheFriends]

Yes, the kid running into the lake with the phone in his pocket was very telling and summed up my problem with the programme. Most of us would be furious at the carelessness, upset at the waste, worried about having to find the money for a new one (because when you live in the middle of nowhere particularly, it's a good idea for kids to have phones.) She just thought it was hilarious.

[longwayoff]

Sarah B v Kirsty A. Who will make the most out of C4? Who will be the most wholesome mummy with skills? Angela Strawbridge nudging her way in, towards the front. Let's have a 'best winsome home made Christmas decoration' competition. Or perhaps a 'who's got the largest and most expensive house' competition. Of these 3 women, one deserves the 'most irritating' label but can't decide which one.

[grownags]

Beeny for me is the winner by a country mile!! ( pun fully intended!!) plus I may have mentioned her derogatory comments about nurses before but I’m going to mention them again here!! She is the winner of person you’d try to avoid at the school gates at all costs!!
I have soft spot for Kirsty A because of location and she has natural charm and doesn’t try and hide her privileged background- although I draw the line at the craft stuff as it’s so unappealing to me so cannot comment.
Angel S has come from behind and has definitely made the most of what she’s got but those kids will hate how they’ve been portrayed soon enough . Also how expensive are her products in Sainsbury’s!!

[awaynboilyurheid]

A smuggest of privilege does sum it up! She likes to “ blame” it all on her husband too oh i wanted to stay here but Graham is dragging us all to the country ! Or I like the casual room but Graham made me have a fancy sitting room etc really?. Look at us aren’t we mad ... no your not and channel 4 are probably paying you very well.
absinthe let them eat cake tv comment was spot on.

[LadyEloise]

What did she say about nurses ?

[nomdeplume2019]

@MorrisZapp

BUILD THE FUCKING HOUSE ALREADY

😂

[toobusytothink]

I had to switch off after the Easter egg hunt ... wanted to watch her do up a house but instead just seemed to be about what an incredible mummy she is as if the hunt was the best idea anyone has ever had. Am sure you can do hunts in London too 🤷‍♀️. And how many times can she put down her husband - even if it was meant to be light humour

[MindBodyChocolate]

I only caught a bit of it, but it didn't sit right with me. I grew up in a semi rural location with lots of friends living right in the countryside and as a teenager it was shit. No public transport, nothing to do for kids, even going to the cinema was an annual event. We weren't rollicking in lakes and fields with lambs.

It's a hugely privileged view of the 'countryside' which really grinds my gears. I don't think I'll be tuning in again.

[longwayoff]

Oh, the teens are going to love Bruton. There's a queue waiting to leave but if you're adequately cushioned by wealth, maybe it's not so bad. Look forward to an episode in which they all make home made smocks and learn to say arr whilst chewing a straw. And maybe the neighbouring Rees Moggs will pop in for a mug of cider at the kitchen table.

[MiniCooperLover]

She's a clearly clever savvy peppery person, I don't know why she's suddenly acting all 'oh what to do' with fake grimaces. It feels like this is a programme to let her husband shine and that's fine because he's good on camera but downplaying her strengths comes across as a bit depressing to me

[ptumbi]

I watched a bit of it yesterday, hoping to see a house in the process of being built. I turned off after endless 'Good Life' adverts, how the teenage kids are going to love living in the arse end of nowhere, how they were thrilled at the birthing lambs (didn't show any of the gory, heart-breaking bits where the lambs die, or are deformed, or the mother dies...)

It's like Escape to the Chateau without the language barrier. But even more boring.

[Cloud21]

The 5 second shot of him walking into his lake with his phone summed up everything wrong with it, in my eyes.

The lack of respect for money and having to earn it, the fact that people watching the show for some ‘escapism’ may have had a nerve hit, the fact that SB just laughed and didn’t discipline him or even mention the financial value of it, raise any consequences of damaging it.

I know Allsopp gets bashed but her children will at least appreciate items and their worth, which in turn means respect.

SB wants to be their friend. KA is their mother. That’s the difference.

[Anotherducker]

How they’ll get planning permission to build that mansion on green belt I’ve no idea. Did it say why they weren’t just rebuilding the original farm house?

[JonHammIsMyJamm]

@MiniCooperLover

I like Sarah Beeny and I liked her husband when they did their last show about Rise Hall, when when I found out they didn't actually live there full time as they made out they did. What I don't like is her fake 'I don't know what we'll do if this fails' when guaranteed they've got planning already, they're just waiting for builders or whatever to get going. Of course she has a Plan B, let's make a pond, let's get two guys in a digger to just finish it and we'll build a family jetty and let our kids go wading in filthy water while we laugh merrily. I wanted to watch a programme about them building, not being so bloody smug with lambs.

I’m not particularly a Beeny fan and havent seen the new programme but I did see the Rise programme. They were pretty clear about the trips between N Yorks & their main home in London and that Rise was a ludicrous weekend and summer home/project. I remember them saying that they’d have liked to live in it FT at some point but then they started doing events there as costs mounted up. Maybe that was always the intention?

[Stellaris22]

@Wearywithteens that was my reaction when I saw it advertised, couldn't ever bring myself to watch it.

[PompomDahlia]

I was interested at first but found it a bit irritating, especially all the Easter egg stuff. Wasn’t keen on the stately home style house they showed plans for - it seemed to jar a bit with the farm. Also wasn’t sure about uprooting teens to the middle of nowhere - it would be such a culture shock after London, especially at that stage in their development. As others have said, the downplaying things/ fake drama about what if things go wrong was annoying too

[Ariela]

I wanted to watch this and only managed bits because everybody and their dog wanted to phone me. kept saying 'sorry I have to go the other phone is ringing'.
I hate how this type of programme portrays the countryside as twee and idyllic. This only encourages towny people to come and complain when you're hedgecutting or strimming or topping a field similar 'because we don't like you making all that noise when we are have a BBQ' err, we don't monitor days of the week they all blend into one., If a job needs doing it is done. We try and avoid the early evening for noisy stuff as we know people have kids (country kids seem to be so knackered they sleep through anything)

[grownags]

She said on Twitter that nurses really do not need academic qualifications. On the job training would be ample as they don't need to be able to do anything complex for example calculations as doctors do all that for them. All they need is empathy.
Even when advanced nurse practitioners and nurse educators tried to explain to her why she was mistaken she refused to back down.
I'm sure all the nursing staff managing the ventilated patients and nutrition etc of patients in ICU can barely add 2+2 together.
Just so patronising and arrogant