A dad who appeared on Rich House, Poor House has completely turned his life around after leaving behind his zero-hour contract to making £50,000 a year.
Ben Gowland-Jeffries appeared on the Channel 5 show in 2019 along with his partner Demi and daughter Lillie.
He was working on a zero-hour contract as a roofer and could take home as little as £30 for the week. Demi was at home looking after Lillie, which meant the family were surviving on only 50p per meal.
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They swapped homes with multi-millionaire and former army sergeant Steven Green and his partner Gemma Sharples, who are now both property developers.
The rich couple, who live in a five-bedroom home in Redcar, North Yorkshire, swapped lives with Ben and Demi, who were living in a rented mid-terrace home in Newton Aycliffe, Durham, at the time.
Steven and Gemma were left with £57 to cover food, clothes and emergencies for the week. Ben and Demi, however, had £1,600 to live on after bills.
Since appearing on the show, the families have kept in touch, with Steven confirming he continued to help Ben by giving him a job.
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“We’re really close with Ben and Demi now,” Steven told Fabulous.
Ben was offered a job as a sales and marketing executive in Steven and Gemma’s professional training business.
“He’s part of our team,” Steven added. “He’s getting on really well.”
"His wage when he come on board with us was £10k and he's now making around about a £50k salary.
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"He's bought a new motorbike and is doing his driving lessons at the minute, Demi's set up her own beauty business and they've actually moved into a bigger house and have now got another child."
Steven didn’t come from a privileged background and credits his success to a ‘chance’ opportunity that came his way while in the army in 2001.
"I came from a broken family and it was a bit tough," the multi-millionaire said. "We didn't have a lot of money.
"I ended up going into the army because I couldn't really see myself progressing anywhere and I started to get into a bit of bother.
"I was pretty fit as a soldier and one of our bosses came in and said there was a coaching course available if anyone wanted to do it because the guy that was meant to go on it was injured.
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"I ended up going on it by chance and that really changed my life because it was all about coaching and mindset, having a clear vision and knowing what you want in life."
Steven went on to establish successful property, mindset and coaching firms.
Topics: Channel 5, TV and Film, Money, UK News
Gregory Robinson