| Sarah Lucinda Beeny | |
|---|---|
| Born | Sarah Lucinda Beeny 9 January 1972 Reading, Berkshire, UK |
| Residence | London and East Riding of Yorkshire |
| Nationality | British |
| Education | Luckley-Oakfield School Queen Mary's College |
| Occupation | Property developer Businesswoman Broadcaster |
| Spouse | Graham Swift (m. 2003-present) |
| Children | 4 sons |
| Website | |
| http://www.sarahbeeny.com | |
Sarah Lucinda Beeny (born 9 January 1972) is an English property developer and television presenter, best known for presenting the Channel 4 property shows Property Ladder, Streets Ahead, Britain’s Best Homes and Help! My House Is Falling Down.
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Beeny was born in Reading, Berkshire, to Richard and Ann.[1] Beeny has an elder brother, Diccon.[1] The daughter of an architect for Bovis Homes,[2][3] her mother loved the self-sustained outdoor life. The family lived in two converted brick cottages in a nine acre plot on the edge of the Duke of Wellington's estate Stratfield Saye,[4] in a style that Beeny describes as "a bit like The Good Life."[2] The family kept goats, chickens and ducks, while her father made Dolls House furniture to raise extra cash: "They were crafty-entrepreneurial but more craft than entrepreneurial."[2]
After her mother died aged 39 of breast cancer[1] when Sarah was aged 10,[2][5] she was educated as a weekly boarder at the all-girls Luckley-Oakfield School in Wokingham.[6] Although her friends went to university, Sarah did not and was encouraged to study drama by her English teacher, resultantly taking a leading role in Brecht’s Caucasian Chalk Circle.[7] Pursuing the idea of becoming a professional actress, she studied drama at Queen Mary's College, Basingstoke, but failed to get into a drama school.[7]
Advised by her father and stepmother Trisha[1] to get out and see the world, Beeny travelled around the world solo at the age of 17 and felt "lonely and seasick" most of the way round.[5][2] She returned to the UK to take a series of jobs, including: working for Save the Children; window cleaning; door-to-door vacuum cleaner selling and running her own sandwich making business.[2][7][5] Assuming she would be self-employed for the rest of her life, at weekends she would study the property market, which gave her a good grounding in the market. Having saved up a deposit, without any formal training Beeny began her own property developing business with her brother and her husband. Beeny is also the co-founder of the popular UK dating website Mysinglefriend,[6] with childhood friend Amanda Christie.[5]
Beeny met her husband and business partner, Graham Swift, when she was 18 - her brother is married to Swift's sister, Caroline.[1][8] Beeny and Swift have four sons: Billy, Charlie, Rafferty and Laurie.[1] They have homes in Streatham, London[9] and at Rise Hall, in the East Riding of Yorkshire.[6]
Sarah supported Breakthrough Breast Cancer's Crocus Walk campaign in 2009.
After meeting the sister-in-law of a researcher at Talkback Thames at a hen party,[3][10] she was asked to undertake a screen test to front a new programme series about property development, which was to be fronted by a property expert. Taking the advice of her stepmother and never turning down an opportunity,[2] the successful format Property Ladder has led to various spin-off series, including Streets Ahead and Britain’s Best Homes. In 2006 Sarah Beeny presented another Channel 4 programme One Year to Pay Off Your Mortgage. She has written a number of books to accompany the series, and a weekly column for the Mail on Sunday.
In other media appearances, in August 2007 Sarah starred in a promotional trailer for Channel 4 which was made in the form of a parody of a Kung Fu movie. The classic line "You dare to challenge the might of the Beeny", was said by Sarah to the evil nemesis. Later that year, she also appeared on the Five motoring show, Fifth Gear, where she raced Jason Plato in an articulated lorry around a course. Beeny has appeared on Gordon Ramsay's The F-Word, as she offered up her garden for Gordon's sheep to feed on.
She regularly appears on television and is a friend of DJ Christian O' Connell. She has also appeared on Bob the Builder alongside Dermot O'Leary, on which she estimated the value of Bob the Builder's house to be "Two Bob".
From August 2010, she began fronting Channel 4's new show Help! My House is Falling Down (working title: House Rescue).
In November 2010 she presented Beeny's Restoration Nightmare on Channel Four,[11] showing her renovation of Rise Hall, a Grade 2* listed historic house near Rise, East Riding of Yorkshire, to create a wedding venue.[12]
In August 2011, Beeny began presenting a new series for BBC One titled Village SOS. In this series the programme follows a group of passionate villagers who want to restore their village to its former glory. [13]
In 2007, Beeny set up a new dating site, mysinglefriend, that encourages people to recommend their single friends as an ideal date by describing them on the site. In June 2009, she launched property site, Tepilo, with business partner Will Miller.
| “ | Graham [Swift - her husband] says I have. This sounds really morbid, but my mother died when she was 39 and I've always thought I should fit it in before then, just in case. I'm not planning on dying at 39, but you never know. And you only get one go, don't you? I think she would have done lots of stuff had she lived so I think I do all the stuff for me and all the stuff for her | ” |