Two women who live a pampered lifestyle in Chelsea experienced a culture shock when they swapped their opulent surroundings for a TV exper...
Two women who live a pampered lifestyle in Chelsea experienced a culture shock when they swapped their opulent surroundings for a TV experiment.
Last night's Rich House, Poor House on Channel 5 saw Geeta Sidhu Robb relocate from her £7million rented home in Chelsea to single mother Andrea's two-bedroom flat in a community housing project in Lambeth.
Andrea, who lives with her three daughters in the cramped flat used to work as a care assistant, but now lives on benefits, and has £150 disposable income a week, compared with Geeta's £1,500.
With her two teenage daughters away for the summer, Geeta's friend Harriet Waley-Cohen, joined her for the swap, but the women were instantly horrified by Andrea's block, with Geeta saying: 'I don't want to be at qthe top of that tower thing, it's my idea of hell on earth.'
The pair then struggled to make dinner because they didn't know how to use a tin opener and Geeta balked at her £150 budget, saying she didn't want to drink tap water, prompting viewers to brand them 'out of touch'.
Geeta Sidhu Robb and Harriet Waley-Cohen left the comfort of a house worth £7.million to swap with a mother-of-three's Lambeth two-bedroom flat (pictured)
Andrea with eldest daughter Shanice, and Jaida (left) and Amyah (right), in front of Geeta's house in Chelsea
Andrea's home left little space to spare, and was cluttered with the family of four's possessions (pictured)
A view of Geeta's spacious living-room. The mother-of-two used one floor of the property as her office
Viewers felt very differently about Andrea than they did about Geeta and Harriet, who they felt lived 'in a bubble'
'When you're so rich you don't even know how to use a tin opener,' one wrote.
'Christ, those two Chelsea women are really awful aren't they,' asked another
'Geeta is so ignorant to the outside world, she’s clearly lived in a bubble her whole life,' wrote another.
Geeta is the owner of Nosh Detox, which offers luxury health treatment such as IV drip, 'boosters' and juices to its exclusive clientele, costing as much as £400.
Geeta , pictured in front of the £7million Chelsea home she rents, and her friend Harriet Waley-Cohen swapped lives with a struggling single mother for Rich House, Poor House
Cleasea-based Geeta Sidhu-Robb and Harriet Waley-Cohen found it hard to adapt to the budget and lifestyle of a single-mother living in a two-bedroom Lambeth flat with her three daughters
Andrea, mother to Shanice, Jaida and Amyah, lives on benefits because she cannot afford to not look after her girls
Geeta and Harriet (pictured) admitted they were nervous at the idea of a night out in Lambeth because they preferred their usual haunts in Chelsea
Geeta said she found it hard to 'survive' on Andrea's budget of £150 a week, a far cry from her usual £1,500 of weekly disposable income
Andrea lived in a ground floor two-bedroom flat in a housing community of Lambeth (pictured), with her three daughters
Left homeless with her three children 15 years ago, she built her business up from scratch and now likes to be surrounded by 'beautiful things'.
She quickly found herself struggling to adapt to life in Lambeth, and even in the car leading to South London, Harriet and Geeta seem uncomfortable with the idea of leaving 'safe' Chelsea.
'You can feel it's a little bit edgier,' Harriet said, while looking out the window.
They were disappointed to find out that they would be living on Andrea's £150-a-week budget with Geeta declaring that she didn't want to drink tap water.
Harriet added that she got a sense of 'survival mode' in the Lambeth property.
Cooking dinner on a budget proved difficult for the two wealthy Chelsea-dwellers, because they could not use a can opener to prepare their meal, and confused Jamaican jerk seasoning for a dip.
After an evening spent cooking, Harriet said: 'It just takes time and energy and it means you're too tired to do other things like for example, thinking about changing your circumstances.'
A view of Geeta's room in her Chelsea house, which comes with an en-suit, to the delight of Andrea and her family
Andrea wanted to turn her life around by becoming a teacher, but had not had the means to dedicate herself to her training. She applauded Geeta for being a successful single mother-of-two
Geeta and Harriet in front of Andrea's flat in Lambeth. The two women were nervous about staying in South London
Andrea had her own room, while her two youngest daughters shared another. The edlest, Shanice, slept in the flat's living room
Leaving the Lambeth flat for an evening was also a challenge for the women, who admitted they were nervous about going on a night out in Andrea's neighbourhood.
'I really think the next few days are gonna be hard,' she told pal Harriet.
But when the two women travelled to Brixton for the first time ever, they were amazed by the 'vibrant' atmosphere and added it felt very 'safe.'
Meanwhile, Andrea focused on how she could turn her financial life around while enjoying Geeta's luxury lifestyle,
The mother-of-three used some of her expanded budget to buy herself a computer in order to study for her teacher training.
The mother-of-three from Lambeth treated her family to a day-trip to Brighton to see the sea and have some fun on the pier
At the end of the episode, the three women from different world met. Geeta and Harriet used the remaining money of their budget to pay for boxing lessons for Andrea's daughter Shanice (pictured in the pink top)
'This is money well-spent,' she told the camera. This is my future, here, so good on us.'
She applauded Geeta for creating and caring for her business while being a single mother, and said she was 'motivated' by it.
She also took her girls to Brighton for a day trip, and paid for drama lessons for her eldest daughter Shanice, who wants to be an actress.
At the end of the episode, the three women met and Geeta and Harriet used the remaining money from their budget to pay for boxing lessons for Andrea's daughter Shanice.
After the show Harriet took to Twitter to address viewers' comments, saying: 'What didn’t make the cut tonight was that both Geeta and I have turned our lives around from massive lows.
'We have both experienced poverty, hardship, fear and having to dig deep to turn things around. We’ve worked v hard to get where we are now.'
No comments