‘Escape to the Chateau’s Dick Strawbridge and Angel Adoree Deny Bullying Staff
Published April 24 2021, 11:43 a.m. ET
If recent Escape to the Chateau bullying claims are to be believed, perhaps Dick Strawbridge and Angel Adoree don’t live the peaceful Château de la Motte-Husson existence that the Channel 4 docuseries portrays.
Staff members who worked on Escape to the Chateau’s first four seasons alleged that Dick and Angel were “aggressive and abusive,” according to a paywalled The Times article excerpted by the Daily Mirror.
Dick and Angel reportedly chewed out production staff.
According to the report, Dick allegedly said “F--k you” to a producer in a tantrum during filming, and Angel reportedly called a producer a “f--king c--t” after that producer complained about the couple’s treatment of the staff.
“I haven’t experienced anything as pernicious and spiteful as Dick and Angel, and working with them took a very heavy toll on staff,” a former crew member told The Times. “It was almost like being in an abusive relationship, waiting for what small thing one of them would blow up at and turn into a massive deal.”
Dick and Angel parted ways with the production company Spark Media, which produced the first four seasons, and the staff members behind the scenes for recent episodes told The Times they haven’t experienced abusive conduct, according to the Daily Mirror.
The couple has denied the bullying claims.
In a statement to MailOnline, a representative for Dick and Angel denied the reports of abusive behavior but did confirm that the couple had a disagreement with the former Escape to the Chateau producers.
“During the making of the early series of Escape to the Chateau, Dick and Angel had problems working with the then-producers, who tried to make it a trashy reality program,” the representative said. “Escape to the Chateau is set in their home, and they wanted an honest portrayal of their family journey rather than to enact the vision of a TV producer.”
A Channel 4 spokesperson, meanwhile, said that the network was not aware of the bullying claims but was aware of a breakdown between the couple and Spark Media.
Other colleagues are rising to Dick and Angel’s defense.
The Escape to the Chateau stars also have the support of producer-director Sean Lewis. “I have worked with [Dick and Angel] for three years,” Sean told MailOnline. “I found that giving them respect and understanding has always been returned and have never felt they were aggressive or unpleasant.”
Director Tom Thompson painted a similar picture, telling MailOnline he was on set at the time of the alleged abuse and saying the claims are “all nonsense.”
“The Chateau is not just a TV show; it is their home and business,” Tom added. “I found them professional, hard-working and generous.”
Escape to the Chateau, which finished airing its seventh season in December 2020, chronicles Angel and Dick’s life at their 19th-century residence in Martigné-sur-Mayenne, France. As we previously reported, the Château de la Motte-Husson is open to the public and available for weddings.
