Changing Rooms star Laurence Llewellyn-Bowen and his wife Jackie have made the decision to gift their Cotswolds estate to their daughters’ husbands, meaning they no longer own that home
TV star and design guru Laurence Llewelyn-Bowen has disclosed that he’s handed over his Cotswolds estate to his sons-in-law – meaning he no longer owns that home. This revelation comes on the heels of his candid admission about still reeling from a terrifying ordeal during a Netflix production.
The 60 year old shared in January that he was grappling with an “end of life crisis” following a chilling event while participating in Netflix’s ‘Celebrity Bear Hunt’. In the midst of filming, Llewelyn-Bowen had a brush with death in a water stunt where he became unconscious after being pulled under a boat.
Now focusing on his future, the ‘Changing Rooms’ icon is “no longer lord of the manor” at his Cotswolds property, where he resides in the main house with his wife Jackie, also 60, their youngest daughter Hermione, 27, and her spouse. His eldest daughter Cecile, 30, lives just a stone’s throw away on the same grounds with her husband and their two kids.
Laurence recounted the humorous experience of convincing solicitors of his decision: “One of the most amusing things was having to sit down with a solicitor for them to assess whether Jackie and I were being coerced into this by our bullying sons-in-law. Our friends just can’t believe it. They go, ‘what happens if you all fall out?'”
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With a net worth of £8 million, the celebrity penned in his Sunday Times column his rationale: “We’re not going to be those old people sitting on a great big pile of cash. Terribly unhappy, terribly lonely.”
“Owning a lot of stuff but not actually having the benefit of it. We are very, very privileged, but we have made this decision. We have manifested this life.”
In an intriguing turn of events, the property deeds have been placed in the names of his daughters’ husbands, with Hermione commenting: “Hilariously, Cecile and I aren’t on the deeds, because we inherit it anyway – it’s actually the husbands.'”
Llewelyn-Bowen opened up in a January column about the grave incident he experienced on Bear Grylls’ survival show ‘Celebrity Bear Hunt’, which was broadcast the following month in February. His harrowing experience still weighed heavily on him.
While filming in Costa Rica, the then-59-year-old interior designer was involved in a water-based task that required jumping from a boat. Unfortunately, he became entangled in a bungee line and was dragged underwater beneath the vessel.
The frightening event extended for agonising minutes until the production’s safety crew rescued the unconscious television star from peril.
Before his stint on the reality show, the famous face reflected on his wife’s opinion, noting: “She feels it’s got midlife crisis written all over it, although, as I keep telling her, I’m too old to have a midlife crisis, this is more like an end of life crisis.
“She’s actually, frankly, incredibly jealous. She would love to do it and has always been mildly irritated that no one’s ever asked her to do something like this.
“Because she literally has always had in her handbag, a SAS Survival Guide, to get herself out of all sorts. I meant to bring it actually and again, how foolishly, I completely forgot.”
According to the Mail, Llewelyn-Bowen invited his offspring and their families over to his posh Cotswolds estate after he and his wife Jackie realised they “were rattling around the house like dried peas in a luxury tin.”
The addition of family life added new vibrancy to their lives, with the celebrity musing: “We certainly aren’t sliding into our sixtieth year with boredom calling. We want to use our time wisely and valuably. The way you design your world helps the way you feel.
“We have our big manor house filled with children and pieces of brightly coloured plastic and Peppa Pig again.
“I think its something that more and more people should be doing, for us boomers generation we’re all sort of surprised we’ve made it to 60.
“I think everyone thought we would live fast and die young rather than live very, very slowly and die really quite old.”