Channel 5

Two couples from opposite sides of the wealth divide swapped wedding budgets

A Rich Wedding, Poor Wedding bride couldn’t believe the “extravagant” price of her big day.

During the first episode of the new Channel 5 series, which aired on Sunday (May 3), two couples from opposite sides of the wealth divide swap budgets for their weddings.

One duo, who are used to the finer things in life, had to plan a wedding on a small budget, meanwhile the other pair had a lot of money to burn.

Taking part in the experiment was millionaire couple Col and Raz, who gave up their unlimited budget to Janet and Gary, who have spent years scraping and saving and even a modest wedding felt out of reach.

Gary and Janet, who live in Salford, have been madly in love since meeting at a health care call centre 11-years-ago. Gary popped the big question while on a romantic holiday two-years-ago.

Since then, they have been excited to walk down the aisle however the pair’s low paid jobs in customer services make it a struggle to make ends meet.

To bring in extra money Gary works as a wedding singer but even with the second job their combined disposable income is just £157 a week, so their big day dreams have been put on hold.

It was a completely different story for Essex couple Col, 37 and Raz, 34, who are used to champagne lifestyles and money is no issue to them.

The couple have only been together for two years but Col, who owns multiple businesses, revealed that it was love at first sight after meeting at an event.

Ever since Col proposed, Raz has been planning her big day and it hasn’t included cutting down on anything. The bride had dreams of an elegant princess wedding and Col wanted a big party with free flowing drinks.

The couple wanted to swap budgets because they both revealed that they hadn’t always had the finer things in life and grew up without a lot of money.

Getting stuck into their wedding planning, Col and Raz were left speechless after finding out that they had just £3,500 to cover everything, meanwhile Gary and Janet couldn’t believe their eyes after getting an unlimited budget.

At first, Col and Raz struggled to get everything they needed with their small budget especially after bride Raz went over budget with her dress. After a few bumps in the road and some help from family members they managed to pull through and overall enjoyed their special day.

Meanwhile Janet and Gary felt like they’d won the lottery and made the most of their unlimited budget. The couple splashed out on a £17,000 venue and £5,000 enchanted forest. Janet spent £3,000 on her dream wedding dress and even had a singer for their reception celebration. The couple enjoyed their lavish wedding surrounded by their friends and family.

Things took an emotional turn after both couples reunited following their wedding swap as Janet broke down in tears after finding out how much she spent on her wedding.

After opening an envelope revealing the price of the wedding, Gary gasped as he revealed: £50,118.60.” He then joked: “What was the 60p on?”

Janet was visibly moved as she said: “There are so many people in the world that have got nothing that..” The bride broke down as she admitted: “It upsets me actually, to spend that kind of money on one day. It’s extravagant, it’s too much.” Gary comforted his wife as he said: “Do you know what though, you work hard all your life and it’s nice to get something back.”

You can catch up on Rich Wedding, Poor Wedding on Channel 5

He’s been in work since leaving drama school a decade ago but Callum Woodhouse has had enough of ‘posh’ – and is ready to play a villain

He’s known for his roles as witty and warm-hearted Leslie Durrell in The Durrells and happy-go-lucky Tristan Farnham in All Creatures Great and Small.

But actor Callum Woodhouse is now delighted to have landed a “wildly different” role in new psychological drama The Fortune, in which he can “show a bit of versatility” as a baddie for the first time.

Callum, 32, told the Mirror: “The Durrells and All Creatures are two shows I am incredibly proud of and two characters I am incredibly proud of – but there is not much villainy, and in both I am playing posh characters.”

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Having grown-up in Stockton-on-Tees, Co Durham, he relished the chance to use his own voice to play dark and brooding Anthony Worrall. “In The Fortune, I’m speaking in my own northern accent for the first time, and I am essentially playing a villain,” he explained, adding that playing Tristan had become “a little routine” after doing it for so long.

“I’ve done seven years as Tristan and you find the character again immediately. Whereas coming up with Anthony, a nasty character from the north, I almost had to re-learn how to act in my own accent. Getting to flex those nasty muscles for acting, which I haven’t really done since drama school – it was a lot of fun playing someone so wildly different.”

Callum, whose dad was boss of an oil firm and mother a nurse, went to Stockton Sixth Form before completing a three-year drama course at the London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art. He landed the role in ITV’s The Durrells, in which Keeley Hawes played his mother, before he graduated in 2015. “It was a lovely feeling to be leaving knowing this amazing job was there,” he said afterwards. Believing acting to be a hard world to break into, his parents had encouraged him to keep his options open. “It was a bit of a losing battle, though,” he once admitted. “I’ve really honestly never had a Plan B. They have always wanted me to have as many ‘strings to my bow’ just in case it didn’t work out – but it was all or nothing, so thank God it’s worked out so far.”

The Fortune, expected to start on 5 next month, boasts a wealth of top talent including Poldark’s Eleanor Tomlinson and Harry Potter’s Matthew Lewis – who has also appeared in All Creatures Great and Small. They play a couple, Amanda and Jimmy, whose world is blown apart when she inherits a fortune from a man she’s neither met nor heard of before. The gripping series, due to air this summer, explores the notion of a person’s past not being what they think it is.

New Tricks favourite Denis Lawson plays Martin Worrall, the head of a family which is bound in past secrets – and Callum is his son, Anthony, often to be seen clutching a rifle (not unlike Leslie Durrell). Amanda’s life starts to disintegrate as she becomes embroiled in the world of the Worrall Family.

Other cast include The Thick of It’s Rebecca Front as Martin’s wife Fiona, Wild at Heart’s Stephen Hopkinson as farm worker Boots Maddison and Upstart Crow’s Paula Wilcox as Amanda’s mother Linda.

After playing Leslie Durrell for four series, it ended up being a role Callum found “quite upsetting” because, in real life, Lesie never achieved the success of his siblings. “It’s quite upsetting, because I grew really attached to Leslie, and I wanted him to succeed, and I wanted him to have good things happen to him.”

But he didn’t have the same problem as cheerful vet Tristan. “He always ended up managing to turn a negative into a positive – he was just so perpetually upbeat and happy. It was a very uplifting experience to play Tristan.”

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One family on Rich House, Poor House decided to ‘break a rule’ halfway through the swap

*Warning: Contains spoilers for the latest episode of Rich House, Poor House*

A Rich House Poor House couple have broken one major show rule.

The hit Channel 5 series sees two families from opposite ends of the wealth divide swap homes, budgets, and lives for a week.

They both experience a dramatic shift in perspective as they step into each other’s worlds but one family appeared to break a rule as they left the property halfway through the swap.

During Sunday’s (April 19) episode, millionaire hotel owners Gez and Rosy Chetal swapped their luxury life with the Bloor family.

In Norfolk, John and wife Ann, live with their three children in a three-bedroom rented terrace house. After basic household bills they have just £79 a week to spend on everything else from food and travel to fun.

Mum Ann works as a cook in a mental health care home, meanwhile husband John works long hours as a bus driver, but they both have a passion for cooking.

Despite both grafting hard, the couple struggle to make ends meet and have previously gone bankrupt for £36k, but they dream of running a music café of their own one day.

Experiencing how the wealthiest 1% live, they exchanged homes for a week with hotel owners Gez and Rosy Chetal, who lived in their luxurious £1.7m 11-bedroom bespoke hotel with their 19-year-old daughter Saanchi.

Given his demanding lifestyle as an entrepreneur, the couple wanted to use the swap as a way for them to spend some quality time together and have a break from their business.

They swapped their hotel— complete with a wine cellar, a large dining room and private chef for a week-long stay in the Bloor family’s house.

While Gez and Rosy were forced to manage on a weekly budget of £79, John, wife Ann and their children got a taste of luxury living with £1,800 to spend.

However, not long into the swap it was clear that the Bloor family struggled to adjust to their new environment living in a hotel as Ann admitted: “My kids are not comfortable.”

After a restless night, Ann was visibly moved as she told husband John: “The children are really uncomfortable. They can’t be in their pyjamas because it’s a hotel, they can’t just go and get a drink, they can’t just go and get a sandwich.” John jumped in and added: “It’s not a home is it?”

Turning to John, Ann explained: “It’s nothing about the hotel. If it was just me and you.. I’d absolutely love it but actually to me we can’t really stay in the hotel.”

The couple then made a big decision and decided to abandon the hotel and use the remaining budget to book a luxury Airbnb, that cost a whopping £1,200.

When the two families finally reunited at the end of their swap, Ann went on to say: “We loved the hotel, unfortunately the children didn’t. They felt very separated from us.” Gez added: “It’s just a big house really, with 11 rooms.”

Rich House, Poor House airs Sunday night from 9pm on Channel 5