It was the guilty pleasure that gripped Middle England. When Dick and Angel Strawbridge moved to the derelict, 19th-century Chateau de la Motte-Husson in north-west France, viewers flocked to watch their new life, as they painstakingly renovated the property in the hope of marketing it as a wedding venue.
Their hugely popular Channel 4 show, Escape To The Chateau, captured every detail of their idyllic rural lives and made it one of the channel’s most popular series.
What also made it addictive viewing was the bonhomie between the married couple – two colourful characters – and millions would tune it to watch scarlet-haired Angel’s constant nagging of the long-suffering, whiskery Dick, as they juggled the enormous project with raising their two young children. It also made them wealthy, amassing a fortune of around £3million.
After six years, their world came crashing down, in 2022, when Channel 4 axed the show after a dramatic behind-the scenes dispute that saw them engulfed in a bullying scandal.
Channel 4 announced it would no longer work with the pair on any new productions after an inquiry into their conduct during the filming of the programme. In one very unedifying recording Angel was heard firing a volley of foul-mouthed invective at a production executive.
But now, the Daily Mail can exclusively reveal, three years after Escape to the Chateau was taken off air, the Strawbridges are secretly planning to bring it back to life.
For Angel and Dick, their comeback hasn’t been easy: after all, they were effectively blacklisted from television after claims from insiders that their aggressive, abusive and bullying behaviour made working on the show an ‘anxiety-inducing ordeal’.
At the time, representatives for the couple denied the allegations. They claimed that staff working on more recent episodes said they did not recognise the conduct that had been described.
Dick and Angel Strawbridge’s hugely popular Channel 4 show, Escape To The Chateau, captured every detail of their idyllic rural lives
The run-down 45-room chateau in France that they bought for just £280,000 in 2015 and transformed into an upmarket wedding venue has now been valued at £2million
Since then, I’m told that the couple put a lot of time and effort into courting ITV to air a new show, before they were eventually turned down. They were similarly knocked back by the BBC and Channel 5.
However, not ones to give up, Dick, 66, and Angel, 47, have now decided to go it alone and fund a four-part series of their much loved programme themselves.
One source familiar with the project tells me: ‘Dick and Angel had a number of development meetings with ITV about bringing their series back; they really hoped that they could make them see the appeal. They really tried hard. There were several conversations and there was much hope there, but in the end ITV bosses decided against it. It was thought it was to do with their past behaviour at Channel 4.
‘It was exasperating for them but they were determined to keep going and find a way back into the showbiz world.’
Television insiders say that ‘it was simply not in their nature to give up’. Eventually, they decided to fly their own camera crew to Martigne-sur-Mayenne and fund the entire project themselves.
Indeed, sources say they are no longer fussed if the programme is aired in the UK and were touting it at the Mipcom Cannes television event this week.
The event is attended by representatives of TV studios and broadcasters. Those in the know say Dick and Angel spent hundreds of thousands of pounds on the four-part series which they now desperately need to sell.
One said: ‘Obviously they need to get their money back but, more than that, they are desperate to be back on the TV even if it’s not in the UK. They have produced and directed four episodes with their own money and are in France trying to sell it to international television stations. Who knows if Escape To The Chateau could end up being screened in somewhere like Armenia!
‘The hope is that no one realises just how problematic they are following everything that happened while the show was being made for Channel 4. They just loved making the show so much and this could be a way back for them. That’s the plan, anyway.’
It would be quite the comeback for the Strawbridges. Escape To The Chateau aired 50 episodes over nine seasons, between 2016 and 2022, and even spawned a homewares line.
Since then, I’m told that the couple put a lot of time and effort into courting ITV to air a new show, before they were eventually turned down, writes Katie Hind
Dick, 66, and Angel, 47, have now decided to go it alone and fund a four-part series of their much loved programme themselves
Recently, Dick and Angel insisted that they were glad they no longer have the cameras in their lives – though this seems rather at odds with them secretly working on their new series.
Their children, Arthur, now 12, and Dorothy, 11, grew up sharing their home with teams of cameramen and production crew. Dick also has two older children, James and Charlotte, from a previous marriage, who occasionally featured in the show.
Earlier this month, Dick and Angel said in an interview that removing cameras from the family’s life was ‘the right thing to do’ so they could focus more on their children and navigating senior school. ‘It was time for us to walk away from the Escape,’ said Dick.
Yet friends say the couple ‘delighted in sharing their lives’ and took great pride in the show and its huge popularity – and they miss the attention.
‘It was just something they really began to enjoy,’ said one. ‘They loved it, they loved being famous and they loved showing off their amazing home. They came from nothing and became some of the most watched people in the country. They had a real following. Everywhere they went they were instantly recognised.
‘Then it all came crashing down and it was devastating for them. They didn’t expect it either.’
In 2021, it was revealed that the Strawbridges were allegedly aggressive and abusive towards staff at the production company Spark Media. One producer walked off the show after four days after an explosive run-in with Dick. A former crew member also claimed: ‘I haven’t experienced anything as pernicious and spiteful as Dick and Angel, and working with them took a very heavy toll on staff.
‘It was almost like being in an abusive relationship, waiting for what small thing one of them would blow up at and turn into a massive deal.’
The revelations were shocking for the viewers who had fallen in love with the cosy, heartwarming show. At one point it was Channel 4’s biggest programme, and sold to more than 40 countries.
In May 2023 the channel announced that it would not work with the Strawbridges again.
Their hugely popular Channel 4 show, Escape To The Chateau, captured every detail of their idyllic rural lives and made it one of the channel’s most popular series
‘Following a review, we have taken the decision not to work with Dick and Angel on any new productions in the future,’ the statement said. The decision followed an independent investigation into their conduct which found them to be ‘spiky and volatile’.
Sources say it left the couple ‘shocked and devastated’, although one commented: ‘They carried on as if they thought they were untouchable. They were getting huge ratings for Channel 4 and were the darlings of the network. Maybe that goes to your head. But they got caught. There were some very, very relieved people who never thought they would see the day the truth came out.
‘There was chatter about it for some time. Their behaviour became the talk of the television industry for a while. People wanted to talk and smash this facade.’
The decision to dump them is understood to have been taken by the broadcaster’s former CEO Alex Mahon, who had worked hard to get rid of any kind of toxic behaviour.
While Angel denied some of her behaviour, she broke her silence in June last year when she defended herself over her foul-mouthed rant but claimed to have been set up.
She admitted that while she wishes the incident hadn’t happened, she will not apologise for what she did.
Speaking on Elizabeth Day’s podcast, How To Fail, Angel confessed in that moment she saw red: ‘I was the one in the wrong for losing my temper, but do you know what, I will not apologise – he was so disrespectful in our house, he was so upsetting to me, my family, and I stand by what I did. If I was to apologise and say, “I’m sorry for using bad language and chucking you out”, it would just be disingenuous to me.’
She added: ‘Would I like to erase that? Yeah, I’d love to. But I would also like to erase what he was doing, because my rage just didn’t pop out of nowhere. It grew over time and it was provoked, and therefore I’m not ashamed of what happened in the end. I just wish it hadn’t happened.’
There will be many hoping the secret series never sees the light of day, with one commenting: ‘It’s all rather hilarious that they might have to go as far as Armenia to find fame again. That’s karma for you.’
