Dick Strawbridge has opened up about the financial issues he and his wife Angel Adoree faced, which left him taking on any job he could so they could build their savings back up.
Despite the pair’s now successful wedding business at their famous Chateau, alongside their previous Channel 4 series, podcast – Dick & Angel… Chat-aeu – and their tours, the couple found themselves in a rough patch.
Adoree and Strawbridge met one another during a mutual friend’s party back in 2010 and have both admitted they felt their meeting was “love at first sight”.
However, whilst the pair wanted to embark on their romance, Strawbridge was initially concerned about their 20-year age gap – however, he was soon convinced by Adoree and five years later they were married.
The couple now share son Arthur, 11 and daughter Dorothy, 10 – with Strawbridge also father to two older children – Charlotte and James – from his first marriage.
The couple moved to France in 2016 and began renovating their chateau so they could get married at their dream venue, however, Strawbridge recently admitted the couple were “broke” after the celebration.
The couple married in 2015 and are still waiting to go on their honeymoon
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He recently shared on Kaye Adams’ How To Be 60 Podcast: “We were really broke for a period after our wedding when we spent everything to get to that point.
“I’d been working in America and didn’t get enough money to add to the big pot before we spent it. We were broke and I was taking on any job that came up, I was taking anything.
“We were doing anything we could as we sort of worked through.”
Despite the struggle, the 65-year-old added that they “knew the direction” they were heading towards after setting up their website, leaving thousands of people wanting their weddings in their home.
The chateau has been having renovations done since 2016 when they moved in
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Their business quickly soared but it meant that the pair’s honeymoon plans were put on the back burner and they are still yet to celebrate their big day overseas.
He added: “We haven’t had our honeymoon yet, we’re 10 years in and we haven’t had a honeymoon. We’re waiting for that, but we go away and we get the odd day together and we have power dating, where we will go for a night away, have a lovely meal and go and visit somewhere and then we will come back.
“Or, if we’re going to work in the UK, we turn it into a holiday or turn it into a date.”
Despite their extensive renovations, the couple recently revealed that they were beginning more and left Strawbridge to worry about his wife’s obsessiveness to make sure their house is clean.
Revealing which renovations will be taking place on their podcast, Strawbridge began: “There is a lot of work going on in the chateau whilst we’re away on tour, so we want to get it up and running and ready.
“I was out there in the garden with Steve, builder mate Steve, he is still around the place, only a couple days of the week now but we are knocking down and putting a hole in the big barn so we can get plant into the garden.
“Some of the things that are going on are a lot of fun. We are beavering away.”
Defending herself, Adoree expressed: “Yeah exactly! And also if we are going to be showing our house, of course, you want it to be the best version of itself.”