Not sure Oxfordshire is noted for its tobacco plantations to be fair.

He grows his own tobacco. Organic of course!

I see Julia's eps are on More 4. We know Julia has left Benidorm and having just looked, Almond Tree Villa is for sale.

Are the lovely couple who won still there? Having looked at where the places are I was only a few miles from one of the places last year and went to the area where the nice couple Anna and Ben's place was. Gorgeous scenery. Although we were warned not to lift any rocks or stones or else we might get a nasty surprise as there were lizards, scorpions and snakes lurking about and no, it wasn't the contestants!

I wish the programme these days was as interesting as the comments on here about it are. I only watch it on 4od purely & simply so I can follow this thread .... It's hilarious at times. Take a bow posters ......

Won't someone, anyone, get the producers to read it through, then & only then we may get a good show back. Now, sadly, it's a mere shadow of it's original self .....

Very much enjoy reading this thread: thank you for some wonderful posts!

I wish the show would revert to its first manifestation: B&B establishments in private houses, rather than a mix of what I'd called "proper" B&B and then guest houses, pubs with rooms and full-blown hotels. I know it's meant to be based on best value. But how does one make a judgement on a £170 room in a swanky boutique establishment with a chef versus a charming but maybe faded - tho spotlessly clean - farmhouse B&B (with en suite bathrooms...I could not be doing with a shared bathroom!) charging £60 p.n. with a wonderful farmhouse breakfast cooked by the hostess? It's like comparing an orange to an apple.

And it's almost as if politeness in comments is actively discouraged in some cases, to create a frisson of friction.

I used to really enjoy the programme. Different houses and different people. I still watch, but with a degree of irritation rather than enjoyment!
Last edited by newbaby : 07-05-2016 at 17:50

No indeed, not does he have a problem driving a car or eating meat products that are very unfriendly to the environment!

Why does he have to have anything?

Exactly. Everytime someone appears on TV these days who is socially awkward someone on here suggests they are autistic or have aspergers.

Anyone can see it's quite obviously a gluten intolerance...

And an organic one at that. Double whammy. No wonder he's so socially inept.

Posters have suggested he might have it. What's the issue with that? It was just an idea. No one said he definitely had Aspergers.

He doesn't though. It just seems to be the first thing people suggest on these threads all the time.

I couldn't say for definite. What makes you say he doesn't and be so sure about it?

He shows no signs of autism or aspergers. He wouldn't be running his own B&B for a start if he did or have such a close relationship with his fiancé. He's also very sensitive which people with autism or aspergers usually aren't. He maintains eye contact with people also which sufferers usually don't.

Aspergers is such a wide spectrum. Such absolute statements are flawed.

Anyway, off now. Back tomorrow with next week's details. x

Great post absolutely agree

As much of a pain as Matthew was (and he was an almighty pain) the real vipers in the grass for me were Jade and her sidekick. Two of the most aggressive bitches (self titled according to themselves) this show has seen for a good while.

Wasn't it strange how the only person they had a problem with was Matthew? Yes none of them really liked him, but the other couples had the good grace not to poke fun at him all week long.

Jade relished the times she could stick her boot in and also got personal with him several times. A nasty vindictive woman. Diana was her prop egging her along.

Matthew was a pain in the arse, but he wasn't vindictive. It was such a shame that his fiancée didn't speak up a little more. She was too timid. The two harridans picked their prey well.

I'd stay at Metthew's place over theirs any day. I'd have my breakfast on the landing, share a bathroom, and listen to his never ending stories about healthy living. Anything would be better than spending time with those two aggressive madams.

You dont like no en suite, or no cooked brekkers, your not "Thinking outside the box"?

I've stayed at many B&Bs (and even chain hotels!) in the past where there were no ensuite facilities, so having to share a bathroom doesn't hold that many horrors for me, although given the choice, I'd rather have a bathroom to myself! It's actually quite a recent phenomenon to have ensuites even in small B&Bs, as houses just weren't built with them until the 90s/ noughties.

At £55/ night for a comfortable and pleasant double room with a continental breakfast provided, in Matthews part of the country, that's a pretty good price, , and I'm not surprised that he gets custom. Don't forget, normal customers wouldn't have to sit and listen to the healthy eating preaching as Matthew and Paula would probably be working behind the bar!

Jades attitude put me off completely, and I didn't like the way the breakfasts were all plated up ready for delivery for ages.

I didn't realise everyone on the very wide and diverse spectrum was so limited. I'll be sure to tell that to my cousin with Aspergers, who works in a customer facing role in retail and is happily married.

It's impossible to know from what we've seen of him whether he's on the spectrum or not. You are making some very sweeping generalisations in your post.

I am not making any sweeping generalisations. I said people with aspergers or autism usually show some of the signs I mentioned. The same way people on here keep saying someone who is socially awkward could be autistic or have aspergers. That is a sweeping generalisation if ever I heard one. I keep reading it over and over again on here. There would be a lot more people with aspergers or autism in that case than the experts are saying judging from comments on this site. It seems to be hip to say someone has it these days. People are too quick to label everyone these days just because they don't fit the "norm".

What you said you applied to Matthew. People with AS do have their own businesses and have girlfriends, fiancees or wives etc. AS people can also be sensitive and hold eye contact. Like the previous poster, I also have personal experience of AS, so I know that you can't apply the diagnosis so rigidly and because the spectrum is so broad.

BIB I take your point! But AS is out there and posters were just wondering about him because he doesn't fit the 'norm'! He did have a few AS traits but that might or might not make him AS.

Monday

The competition begins at Alston House in Cumbria, where owners Michael and Carole Allchorne are brimming with confidence, but Yvonne Copeland and Gail Wells are less than impressed with the decor. The guests are impressed with chef Michael's breakfast, but the hosts are left reeling by the criticisms levelled at their hotel during the feedback session.

http://www.alstonhousehotel.co.uk/

https://www.tripadvisor.co.uk/Restau...a_England.html

Tuesday

The second visit of the week is to Scotia House in Harrogate, where host Marie Lock is hoping her obsessive cleaning regime will give her the edge in the competition. In the rooms, both Michael and Carole and Yvonne and Gail find the deluxe teddy bears freaky, and for Billy and Billy, things are a little on the cosy side. In the afternoon, Marie's keen to show off her moves and pits her guests against each other in a Northern Soul dance off.

http://www.scotiahouse.co.uk/

https://www.tripadvisor.co.uk/Hotel_...e_England.html

Wednesday

The contestants travel to Canberra Guest House in Blackpool for the third day of the competition, where host Yvonne Copeland, joined by her part-time helper Gail Wells, hopes her cheap and cheerful B&B will win over her guests. However, Marie finds what she thinks is urine and hair on the toilet seat in her room, and a lack of wi-fi means Billy Junior has to put his business on hold. Yvonne takes her competitors to a local reptile house, but serious divisions unfold within the group, and later, tensions rise again at dinner.

http://www.canberrahotelblackpool.co.uk/

https://www.tripadvisor.co.uk/Hotel_...e_England.html

Thursday

The final visit of the week is to the Crown and Kitchen in East Linton, Scotland, owned by father and son Billy and Billy Jr Robertson, who see themselves as the jokers of the pack. Yvonne and Gail leave no mattress unturned in their room inspection, although Michael and Carole are impressed. Later, Yvonne makes quite a splash when the hosts organise an assault course for their guests, but slow service during breakfast leaves the B&Bers disappointed - especially when Billy Jr is at a loss to explain what the problem was.

http://www.crownandkitchen.com/

https://www.tripadvisor.co.uk/Hotel_..._Scotland.html

Friday

The B&B owners meet for the last time to find out what they have been paid and to settle some scores. Things are tense from the start as Carole and Michael from Alston House challenge Marie on her comments. Next, Marie from Scotia House wants to set the record straight with allegations of tit-for-tat scoring. The group members proceed to thrash out their differences before the week's winners are revealed.


REVIEW
by Jack Seale
Another week of satisfyingly bitchy bed-and-breakfast appraisals comes to an end with a visit to the establishment that redefines the term “B&B”: Billy and his son, Billy, welcome their rival proprietors to the Crown and Kitchen in East Linton, East Lothian. They’re funny, they’re energetic, they’re confident – none of which is any consolation if nobody’s breakfast arrives on time. Not everyone adjusts to this episode’s team-building interlude, a run around an assault course, either. By the time everyone offers their reviews, we’ve seen the usual rivalries, recriminations and signs of impending divorce.

People on the spectrum can do all of those things, I don't think he is on the spectrum though, he is just a bit of an arse.

I have 3 sons on the spectrum, and 2 of them have brilliant eye contact,2 of them are sensitive,1 of them loves closeness to other people.

he could easily run a business if he had Aspergers or autism, but I really do not think he does have it, i think he just likes to wind people up as his obsessions were flawed in the fact that he had all of the talk but did not adhere to them in real life.

There are two different types. The derbyshire one is bigger then the staffordshire one lol.....so usually served seperate, where the Derbyshire one is served under the food, or people fill them like wraps.