HE’S about to transform a shabby stately home into a luxury retreat — but Alan Carr’s last efforts suggest he doesn’t have the Midas touch when it comes to property renovation.
The comedian is preparing to film Castle Man for Disney+, in which he will move into 19th-century Ayton Castle in the Scottish Borders, which was on the market for £3.75million.
But the Corfu house he did up on Alan & Amanda’s Greek Job on BBC One with Amanda Holden has just had its price slashed in a bid to get it sold.
An insider said: “The property they renovated was initially on the market for £585,000 but now they have reduced it by a six-figure sum and it’s now on at £457,000.
“That is quite a drop by anyone’s standards, but it had been for sale for four months and clearly not drumming up enough interest at its original price.
“But it will be a bit gutting for Alan who, together with Amanda, put a lot of time, effort and money into the makeover.
“And it doesn’t bode well for his castle project, where the stakes are much higher.”
I revealed in February that the Corfu pad in the village of Kokkini had gone on the market at a much higher price than the holiday-home refurbishment series’ last do-up — a Spanish townhouse they sold for £240,000 last year.
Since then, Celebrity Traitors winner Alan has had his attention taken up almost entirely by his new life as a castle dweller.
He was even seen last week patrolling the battlements at another castle on his other BBC One show, Interior Design Masters.
But by the end of the year we might just be watching him trying to work his magic on Ayton as he experiences a bit of a midlife crisis, which will surely be in full swing after he turns 50 next month.
Hopefully, finally selling the pad in Greece will be the perfect gift for Alan’s milestone birthday.
ITVX broke another streaming record partly thanks to the success of I’m A Celebrity . . . South Africa.
The channel got 311million streams last month – up a quarter on last year – and it marks the sixth consecutive month ITVX has gone past the 300million barrier. I’m a Celeb had 30million.
