Languishing in the Caribbean sunshine, sipping champagne on the deck of a top-of-the-range cruise ship, life is rather wonderful for Made In Chelsea stars Ollie and Gareth Locke.
In a 90-second clip shared to Ollie’s 550,000 Instagram followers, which was boastful to say the least, the reality TV golden couple who married six years ago showed themselves living the high life, with their two-year-old twins, Cosima and Apollo, who were born via surrogate.
Ollie, 38, gushed about the trip – courtesy of P&O Cruises – describing it as ‘wonderful’ and ‘amazing’ with ‘world-class food, drinks and experiences’ in a series of Instagram posts all carefully pointing to the company’s social media pages and discretely labelled #ad to comply with advertising laws.
But it was far from their first expensive freebie. It wasn’t even their only recent cruise.
Ollie and Gareth’s extravagant lifestyle epitomises the champagne-soaked world of the Chelsea set – flying off on exotic holidays, flaunting designer wardrobes, and raising their twins in a palatial west London townhouse.
Only this week it emerged that despite living in opulence, life isn’t quite so grand away from the glitz and glamour portrayed on Instagram.
In fact, it would be fair to say the couple are on their uppers and face being evicted from their home after racking up more than £25,000 in unpaid rent.
Sources have even said they’re close to bankruptcy.
Languishing in the Caribbean sunshine, sipping champagne on the deck of a top-of-the range cruise ship, life is rather wonderful for Made In Chelsea stars Ollie and Gareth Locke
News of their financial troubles was revealed this week after the pair missed a critical deadline on January 30 to settle their rent arrears – which includes three months of missed payments and fees.
They now face a visit from the bailiffs as early as March 2. The Lockes are said to be ‘desperately trying to repay what’s owed’.
An insider explained: ‘Ollie and Gareth have struggled to meet their monthly rent for almost a year. They live in a very affluent area, but the money just isn’t there any more. It’s a far cry from the lavish life they project online.’
The public embarrassment was prompted when their live-in housemate – one of five godmothers to their children – claimed she’d dutifully paid her portion of the rent to the couple each month, only to later discover it had not been paid on to the landlord.
While their fans and followers might have been stunned at the revelation, those close to them are far from surprised.
One commented: ‘They’ve lived beyond their means for many years, they love to live it up and have become very good at learning how not to have to pay for it. It’s all quite embarrassing.
‘To the outside world, things are as idyllic as ever. It all looks flash, but they very rarely pay for anything themselves. They’re masters at nabbing a freebie and are always happy to accept a lunch invitation – but when the bill comes they’ve mysteriously vanished.
‘They’ve made lots of money along the way, but spent even more. And they’re happy to let other people pick up the tab wherever they go – it’s pretty shameless.’
The married couple have rented the four-bedroom, four-bathroom property (pictured) near the affluent King’s Road since 2023, often frequenting Notting Hill’s Portobello Road
Earlier this week, Ollie shared glamorous photos from a friend’s birthday party held at a castle, where he and Gareth both wore tuxedos and drank champagne, wine and espresso martinis
In truth, despite his plummy accent, his £30,000-a-year education at the Hampshire Collegiate School – in the former family home of Florence Nightingale – and star-studded connections, the truth is, Ollie was never in the same financial league as his fellow cast members on the Channel 4 show.
Eton educated Spencer Matthews, whose family own the prestigious Eden Rock resort in St Barths, and Millie Mackintosh, great-granddaughter of the family behind Quality Street chocolates boast vast inherited wealth. Ollie did not.
His parents divorced when he was eight, and very little is known about his father, John. His mother Sarah, meanwhile, used to be a DJ for Radio Solent.
He was part of the original Made in Chelsea line-up in 2011, using it as a launch pad for the glamorous lifestyle he always wanted, and has dipped in and out of the series ever since.
He and Gareth, 37 – who coincidentally share the same surname – met as models shortly before Ollie joined MIC.
In early shows, Ollie dated a number of his female co-stars before coming out as bisexual on the show.
As his popularity soared, his network of business and social connections opened the door to a conveyor belt of free gifts, trips and experiences – where everything from their designer outfits to a taxi home would be paid for by a sponsor or benefactor.
They have also been guests of a red top newspaper at their £20,000 VIP table at the BRIT awards in the past.
Ollie Locke and husband Gareth attending the Brit Awards afterparty in February 2023
‘It’s almost a full-time job in itself, grifting around town from party to party, picking up a goody bag and making sure someone is always paying for the champagne and arranging your transport,’ says a source who know the men. ‘But whatever it looks like from the outside it doesn’t pay the bills.
‘That’s why they’ve got themselves into such a state financially. You can’t pay your bills with free gifts, as they have now seen.’
Just days before their Caribbean cruise, Ollie, 38, and his family enjoyed Christmas dinner at an upmarket Chelsea restaurant – complete with designer gifts – all documented for the cameras and carefully labelled as #gifted online.
A week earlier the couple and their children posed in expensive matching pyjama sets from Selfridges – hashtagging in the designer label and vowing to wear them until New Year.
In mid-December the reality stars told how they were ‘treated by The Four Seasons’ hotel to another expensive jaunt, enjoying champagne and afternoon tea while posing for the cameras – just days after they were ‘lucky enough to be invited’ to another ‘wonderful new venue’ off Chelsea’s posh King’s Road for a top-of-the-range meal.
Again, the social media posts were quietly labelled #gifted.
Other freebies within the last few months include mobile phones, an all expenses paid holiday to Cornwall with meals at celebrity chef Rick Stein’s restaurant.
In January, the couple attended a cruise to Barbados, which they were paid to promote on their Instagram profiles (pictured with Towie’s Lydia Bright)
Then there was a luxurious party for their twins’ second birthday complete with gifts and a professional chef, another five-star P&O cruise, this time to the Norwegian fjords, designer Harley Street dermatology treatments, expensive skincare products and many more.
Their entire relationship appears to have been sponsored in one way another. They married at an exclusive ceremony in 2020, held at London’s Natural History Museum, surrounded by thousands of flickering candles and flowers.
Covid restrictions at the time meant there were just 13 guests, including Made In Chelsea co-stars, but the couple were sure to invite Hello! magazine along to document the event in a lucrative magazine deal which will have comfortably covered many of their costs.
A similar deal with the same glossy mag followed in 2023 when Apollo and Cosima, were born – with the family posing for photographs at the same Chelsea home they now face losing.
Despite releasing an autobiography, many paid-for endorsements and countless podcast appearances, Ollie has occasionally admitted the steep cost that IVF treatments and surrogacy has taken after multiple failed attempts to become parents – including selling his previous home to fund their efforts.
After quitting MIC in 2023, they went on to launch a YouTube show documenting their life as new dads, called, Our Daddy Diaries, which was launched with much fanfare.
They now appear to have given up on the project, and there have been no updates for two years.
There have been some business successes however: Ollie co-founded a gay dating app, Chappy, which was sold to Bumble in a deal worth a reported £1million in 2019.
However, various follow-up business ventures never did as well:
Ollie’s name appears on a series of now dissolved business records, including Chelsea Harbour Wine which folded in 2024, while his longest running business Laughing London Ltd is facing efforts to have it struck off the official register at Companies House.
The couple pictured with their now two-year-old twins, Cosima and Apollo, on Lorraine in 2023
Another, Chelsea Pub Company Ltd, is also facing applications to have the company dissolved, while a fourth record. Bear and Otto Ltd, is long wound up having never appeared to have traded.
Gareth’s business history tells a similar story – with his own firm Huzzah Beauty also facing an application to have it struck off, having never filed trading figures.
While their finances are giving the Lockes a ‘massive headache’ they are also, say friends, ‘terrified’ of what the unedifying news will do to their reputation.
Indeed, when approached by the Daily Mail about their financial position, they offered up other alternative stories about their children to be published instead.
They did not respond to our request to comment.
‘The money troubles are bad, but for them the embarrassment is probably even worse,’ says an associate of the pair.
‘Most people would be more worried about their bills than their brand – but for these two image is everything, and how that will affect their next freebie.’
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