Michael Jackson's former bodyguard looks set to buy a £7.5m lighthouse-inspired 'saddest ever' Grand Designs home - near where he was evicted for not affording the £35 a week rent. Entrepreneur Matt Fiddes, 43, who watched over the private life for the pop megastar for more than a decade, now runs a martial arts company worth £120 million.
And he has now confirmed he has placed a lofty bid for the infamous cliff-top Grand Designs home in Croyde, Devon, which he labelled as an 'achievement stamp' for him. The multi-millionaire said he left school at 16 with just £100 and no qualifications to live in Croyde and work as a lifeguard for £2.75 an hour.
But he said he was evicted from his bedsit at 17 as he couldn't afford the £35 a week rent. Since then, he has built a global fitness empire with more than 1,000 schools across the world.
He said: "I've put in a bid for the most expensive house in Croyde. I see this as an achievement stamp for me.
"I had a painful time in Croyde when I was younger because I was evicted. But this property is five minutes away from my first rental when I moved out from my mum and dad's in Swindon.
"I have memories of planning my business and my dreams in Croyde so we've come full circle. People told me I wouldn't make it and it wouldn't work out.
"But I've been buying houses since I was 18 and it doesn't matter I can't write well because I only have to sign autographs and cheques."
The home, known as Chesil Cliff House, was previously reported to have interested Harry Styles but this rumour was later quashed. It is located on a cliff featured in two episodes of the popular Channel 4 show and was dubbed the 'saddest ever' project.
Costs spiralled out of control for owner Edward Short when he tried to transform the house into an art deco lighthouse. Chesil Cliff House was listed on Knight Frank's website for £10 million and boasts an infinity pool with three acres of land.
Matt says he didn't know at first that the house was famous as he doesn't often watch TV. And he said he hopes to add the property to his £45 million portfolio and to convert it into 12 flats to let out.
"My parents are from Old Town (in Swindon) and every year we would go on caravan holidays to Croyde," he added. "My home will always be in Swindon; it's a great place to be and people always tell me they're proud of me."
Mr Short, 53,earlier this year revealed he was now in a position to sell the extraordinary Chesil Cliff House after spending a decade working on it. The property featured on Channel 4's Grand Designs in October 2019 and followed Edward and his family as misfortune beset the project leaving the house unfinished and with the family plunged into millions of pounds worth of debt.
The show also revealed that the process had taken a strain on Edward's personal life, resulting in his separating from his wife Hazel. Despite all the problems, Edward remained adamant he would finish.
Property consultancy Knight Frank announced the launch of the sale of the main house and its annexe known as The Eye to the open market - with a combined guide price of £10m. The estate agent described it as "one of the most impressive waterfront homes on the North Devon coast."
It comprises five bedrooms and bathrooms, four reception rooms, a sauna and a cellar. The property will also include the three-bedroom studio annexe known as The Eye and double garage. Edward said earlier the time was right to move on.
He added: "I’ll always be proud to have finished this. I owe it to my family to have a real end result, but the time has come to move on.
"I will have achieved what I set out to do, never deviating from the plans, and for that I’ll always be proud."
The house has been anchored into the bedrock of the cliff, painstakingly engineered to a level that leaves no possibility for erosional hazard. Edward, a dad-of-two, said he had no option but to sell it to cover the large amount of money he had to borrow and said the total costs were set to reach £6m.
He added: "These past ten years have been a marathon slog - and I have got used to being a millionaire in debt. I've accepted the only way forward is to finish and sell it."
