Escape To The Chateau's Dick and Angel Strawbridge 'halt business'

Escape To The Chateau’s Dick and Angel Strawbridge ‘halt business’ after Channel 4 cut ties ‘following clashes with producers and bullying claims’

Escape To The Chateau’s Dick and Angel Strawbridge have halted wedding bookings at their French castle after cutting ties with Channel 4.

The broadcaster has confirmed that it will no longer work with Dick, 63, and Angel, 45, on any new productions ‘following a review’ into their conduct. 

The couple, who wed in 2015 and have two children, have now put the £38,000-a-time wedding service on hold.

Also on the backburner is their Chateau Under the Stars experience — where guests sleep in a glass dome for £350 a night — and a £75 Working Garden Day.

Their website says: ‘We are currently on a two-year wedding ‘catch up’. We will reopen enquiries as soon as we can!’

Taking a break: Escape To The Chateau’s Dick and Angel Strawbridge have halted wedding bookings at their French castle after cutting ties with Channel 4

Halt: Their website says: ‘We are currently on a two-year wedding ‘catch up’. We will reopen enquiries as soon as we can!’

Angel is reportedly now looking to increase her profile with a TV gig on Strictly or I’m A Celeb.

A source told The Sun: ‘Now she is no longer attached to Escape to the Chateau she is considering all options.

‘She would be sure to ruffle feathers in the jungle and is not afraid of speaking her mind.’

It comes after they were branded ‘spiky’, ‘volatile’ and ‘a nightmare to work with’ amid their feud with Channel 4.

Sources close to the couple told MailOnline today that their behaviour on set was nothing like their ‘gorgeous’ on screen personas.

Insiders added that they couldn’t hide their ‘real characters’ to crew members who spent weeks with them filming the popular show in north-west France .

It’s also been mooted Channel 4’s culling of the hit show was ‘convenient’ given the series – which has been on screen for seven years and sparked numerous spin-offs – had run its course.

A source said: ‘Dick and Angel come across on screen as the most gorgeous and lovely couple, literally like butter wouldn’t melt, but they’re not like that off screen.

‘It’s a full-on show, production is with them at the chateau for weeks so they can’t hide their real characters – they can’t turn it on for two hours of recording and then not go back to their real persona.

‘They’re just spiky and volatile people and, as you can imagine, that’s a nightmare to work with.’

Business: The couple, who wed in 2015 and have two children, have now put the £38,000-a-time wedding service on hold

Popular: Their show Escape to the Chateau became one of the channel’s biggest hits when it started airing in 2016 

Channel 4 launched an independent inquiry after production company Two Rivers Media raised concerns about the Strawbridges and announced it would no longer work with them.

A Channel 4 spokeswoman said: ‘Following a review, we have taken the decision not to work with Dick and Angel on any new productions in the future.’

The series turned the couple into household names as 2.5million viewers regularly turned in to see the renovation of their 19th-century Château de la Motte-Husson in Martigné-sur-Mayenne, France.

The series was previously made by production firm Spark Media Partners, who oversaw the first four seasons from 2016 to 2018. But it also allegedly cut ties with the Strawbridges due to a feud.

Sources claim that, in the current climate, Channel 4 could no longer be associated with them.

They said: ‘After the first fallout, Dick and Angel had significant leverage with Channel 4, so they were able to replace [the production company]. It was less woke times then.

‘But because we now live in much more woke times, Channel 4 can’t be seen to be connected to that type of behaviour. It just doesn’t wash now.

‘And there’s a feeling, also, that the series had run out of steam anyway – there’s virtually nothing left to do on that chateau, so they had a convenient end game.’

The exact nature of the allegations is not known, but Hollywood website Deadline reported that three of the Strawbridges’ former colleagues alleged the couple have clashed with producers.

Feud: Sources claimed Two Rivers Media, the company that produces Escape To The Chateau, raised concerns about the presenting duo

In 2021, The Times reported that Angel branded a producer a ‘f*****g c**t’ after he complained about his treatment in a recording.

However, Jonathan Hales – who produced and directed the final two seasons of Escape to the Chateau – told Deadline he found the couple ‘warm and welcoming.’

He said: ‘Château de la Motte-Husson is primarily a family home, and since the day I arrived, I have treated the Strawbridges with a level of respect that has always been reciprocated.

‘Although the location of much filming, the chateau is not a normal film set. Allowances must be taken into account for the fact that Dick and Angel run not only a busy events company, but have three generations of family living together.’

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