Escape to the Chateau’s Dick and Angel left ‘scrabbling around and run ragged’ after staff shortage at famous home
ESCAPE to the Chateau’s Dick and Angel Strawbridge reveal how much they struggled after buying and renovating their 19th-century French chateau.
Dick and Angel’s journey began in 2015 when they bought the derelict Chateau de la Motte-Husson.
For eight seasons, Escape to the Chateau has followed the couple as they restored the Chateau and raised their young kids, Arthur and Dorothy.
Before long, Dick and Angel had turned the Chateau into a thriving events space, but it was a long process, and definitely harder that they let on.
Speaking candidly in a video which they shared on their website, Dick and Angel revealed they have faced a lot of setbacks while building their home and business, especially in the early days.
The couple spoke about one particular time, when they had just started hosting weddings at the chateau.
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They didn’t have wedding contractors in place and, “as the wedding started to ramp up it did cause a concern that we didn’t have any staff,” Angel explained.
“And we scrabbled around a little bit, yes we scrabbled a bit to be fair,”
she added. “We didn’t have a team that knew what was happening, the only people who knew what was happening were us and we were working really hard,” Dick continued.
He added: “By the time we got to Charlotte and Richard’s wedding we had the cameras back because the first series had gone out and people actually watched Escape to the Chateau which we didn’t know because we were prepared to set up a business without the television.” This put extra pressure on Dick and Angel.
“We were running around ragged and working 20-hour days,” he revealed. Everything worked out for Dick and Angel, though, and despite the disruption from the Covid-19 pandemic, the Chateau is still open for business.
Season 8 of Escape to the Chateau, which aired at the end of 2021 was filmed during the pandemic, saw Dick making some much needed repairs to the building and roof, ready for reopening.
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In April of this year, Dick and Angel announced on social media that they were hosting their first wedding since shutting down for the pandemic, and they’ve held more since.
“We’re still on a high from Victoria & Natasha’s wedding!” they said. “Just picking the last flowers for our next wedding … it’s truly glorious how every bride is different and unique. “It’s such an honour to be part of their day!”
Escape to the Chateau is expected to return to Channel 4 for season 9 at the end of the year.
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