MICHAEL Jackson’s ex-bodyguard has hit back after the owner of a house dubbed Britain’s most disastrous Grand Design branded him a “time-waster”.
Matt Fides rubbished claims he’s not serious about buying Chesil Cliff House in North Devon – which left Edward Short £7million in debt.
Grand Design’s Kevin McCloud and Edward Short outside his ‘nightmare’ house
Michael Jackson’s former bodyguard Matt Fiddes and his wife Monique
The Devon home is on the market for £10million
Short, who lost his marriage over the “nightmare” lighthouse project, is looking to sell the mansion and it’s annex, known as The Eye, for £10m after 12 years of setbacks.
He said yesterday he’s been inundated with interest – including from Harry Styles and Fiddes, who wants to turn it into flats.
But music producer Short reckons Fiddes, who looked after Jackson for 10 years before his death in 2009, was wasting his time.
“I don’t think he was serious at all,” Short said.
“You can’t turn it into apartments for starters – in planning, you’d never have a chance.”
However, today, Fiddes and his singer wife Monique furiously denied the claims and insisted: “What Edward is saying is a complete lie.”
The 45-year-old said: “When Monique and I viewed the property he encouraged us both it could be turned into flats as did his estate agent – he even sent us architect plans to help my building team.
“We know it would be tricky for planning reasons but we were given positive encouragement we could make the project work.”
Entrepreneur Fiddes laid into the Channel 4 star further, describing the luxury home as “a million miles away from being finished internally”.
And he accused Short of being bitter that his offer was significantly below asking – and being “obsessed” with the idea of selling the property to celeb.
“There’s no way you would get £10m for a property in this condition,” martial artist Fiddes said.
“There’s no working kitchen, no bathrooms and first fix electrics.
“I offered £7.5m but he and his investors need to get the full price to cover debts.
“Perhaps he was just disappointed with our offer.
“Edward’s a lovely bloke but he has an obsession with selling the house to a celebrity.
“I live in the area and knew the Harry Styles link was a complete work of fantasy drummed up to help with the publicity to attract a rich buyer. His people even denied it.
“Edward even told me the boxer Tyson Fury was interested.”
‘LIVING IN A DREAM WORLD’
Monique added: “I’m afraid Edward is just a liar and fantasist who lives in a dream world.
“We’ve now contacted the agents Knight Frank and withdrawn our offer.”
The house first appeared on Grand Designs in 2010, when Short estimated it would take 18 months to build.
But by 2019, the main building looked more like an empty concrete garage than a home and he told host Kevin McCloud the strain had caused him and fashion buyer Hazel to break up.
Both have gone on to meet new partners and viewers labelled it the show’s “saddest ever home”.
Despite now finishing the four-storey tower, which boasts five bedrooms, four receptions rooms, an infinity pool and a sauna, Short, originally from Plymouth, is gutted he will never live in his dream home.
It was delayed further by Covid and the rising cost of materials.
He previously told The Celeb Report: “Every pound that was being spent, the value was going up but at the same time, the chance of living in the house was going down.”
He said it was “awful” for the family adding: “I pulled the stability rug from under them, without being able to give answers of how we were going to get out of it, other than that I had to carry on.
MONEY MUM
I'm a mum and I earn £10.6k a month with my side hustle…I work an hour a day
“I was so stressed about leaving that stain of failure on my wife and children that I was worrying a lot, I was losing sleep, but that effectively made me unable to function.”
Viewers this week watched Short and McCloud return to the home, which he once described as a “carcass” and as being like a wreckage on the seashore.
Fiddes was Michael Jackson’s personal bodyguard for more than a decade
Fiddes hit back at claims he was a ‘time-waster’ and not serious about buying the property
Short outside his half-finished luxury lighthouse-inspired home
The house first appeared on Grand Designs in 2010
Short estimated it would take 18 months to build but more than a decade later and it is still not finished
Short split from wife Hazel because of the stress
The house boasts five bedrooms, four receptions rooms, an infinity pool and a sauna
The house has been labelled the show’s ‘saddest ever home’
