As Laurence Llewelyn-Bowen celebrates his 61st birthday this month, the acclaimed property expert and interior designer candidly shares his mounting concerns about financial security. Known for his work on TV shows like Changing Rooms, DIY SOS, and Celebrity Bear Hunt, Laurence has enjoyed a successful career, but admits he is facing a sobering reality.
“There’s a moment when you sit down with all these financial advisers and they say: we can guarantee the kind of lifestyle you’ve got for 20 years,” Laurence revealed. “So basically, I’ve got to die at 81 or else I’m going to be in total Jane Austen penury.”
Reflecting on his past, Laurence fondly recalls the days of carefree indulgence—shopping at London’s Burlington Arcade after “a good lunch,” buying whatever caught his eye without hesitation. Fortunately, the lockdown helped him curb what he calls his “shopping addiction.”
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Known for his extravagant tastes, Laurence admits to spending about £1,000 on each tailored suit and once gifting his wife a hat from celebrated milliner Stephen Jones “just because it was Tuesday.”
Before rising to television fame, Laurence was a fine artist and worked in prestigious stores such as Liberty, Harvey Nichols, and Harrods, where he humorously recalls selling jewellery to Monty Don before his gardening career took off. His flair for interior design eventually led him to decorate luxurious Knightsbridge boudoirs for wealthy clients, paving the way for his TV breakthrough in 1996.
Despite the fame brought by Changing Rooms and co-stars Carol Smillie and “Handy” Andy Kane, Laurence acknowledges that celebrity didn’t translate into financial windfall. Speaking to The Times, he explained, “My earnings went through the floor. You got paid virtually nothing and were put in a minicab after making the most-watched programme on BBC1.” Additionally, his aristocratic clientele began distancing themselves from his TV persona, causing a drop in commissions.
Laurence and his wife Jackie have managed their finances wisely through property investments, living in a 17th-century manor house in the Cotswolds with their two daughters and four grandchildren. An inheritance at age 24 allowed Laurence to enter the property market, despite a loss on his first flat sale. However, subsequent investments—including a once “ugly” bungalow in South-east London and a property in Greenwich—yielded substantial profits, with their Gloucestershire home’s value more than doubling. Their second home in Cornwall has also notably appreciated.
Still, Laurence is realistic about the future. “We’re the last generation to be able to say that,” he remarked about property profits. “Nobody else is going to be able to make those enormous leaps in the property market.”