Michael Jackson's former bodyguard slams 'saddest ever Grand Designs home' after £7.5 million bid rejected
31 July 2023, 15:30 | Updated: 1 August 2023, 07:46
Michael Jackson's former bodyguard has hit out after having his bid rejected for a home labelled one of the saddest ever seen on Grand Designs.
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Matt Fiddes, 44, has seen his bid for The Chesil Cliff House in Croyde, Devon, rejected.
The four-bedroom cantilevered steel-framed property appeared on Grand Designs in October 2021.
The property, which was supposed to take 18 months to build, ended up under construction for a decade and left its owner £7 million in debt.
He ended up falling into debt and endured the breakdown of his marriage.
Mr Fiddes said that owner Edward Short should have taken his offer while it was on the table, adding that the property was worth only £3m or £4m.
"He should have taken my offer as I would have turned one section into luxury apartments and the other into an Airbnb," he told Bristol Live.
"If it does come on sale for a realistic price I will buy it but not as it is right now as he's flogging a dead horse."
Mr Fiddes left school at 16 with just £100, moving to work on the Devon coast as a lifeguard. After serving as bodyguard to the King of Pop until his death in 2009, Mr Fiddes now runs a martial arts company worth £120 million.
He had said buying the house would be an "achievement stamp".
He said: "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."
Mr Short, 52, has long been unable to sell the property, which took ten years to build while debts mounted - as documented on the Channel 4 show.
The lighthouse was featured on Grand Designs in October 2019, with some viewers calling it the "saddest episode ever".
The music business executive said that the building issues, the recession, and the end of his marriage to his wife Hazel had brought him to the brink of bankruptcy.
He said: "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.
"I had no idea it would end up costing so much but I've accepted now that I'm never going to be able to live in it because I have money I need to pay back.
"It was my overconfidence and arrogance that got me here in the first place so I'm doing what I need to do."
Christopher Bailey of Knight Frank, the estate agents for the property, said: "It is iconic in the true meaning of the word and there is nothing else to compare to it on the market right now."
