Truth about Made in Chelsea’s Ollie Locke’s money woes: As he faces humiliating £25k rent bill, friends tell ‘shameless’ facts behind flash lifestyle, ‘grifting’… and appalling way he tried to stop us running this story says it all

Life is pretty great for Made In Chelsea stars Ollie and Gareth Locke, soaking in the Caribbean sun, sipping champagne on the deck of a first-class cruise ship.

In a 90-second clip shared with Ollie’s 550,000 Instagram followers, the reality TV golden couple, who married six years ago, showed them living the high life with their two-year-old twins Cosima and Apollo, born via surrogate.

Ollie, 38, spoke enthusiastically about the trip in a series of Instagram posts courtesy of P&O Cruises, describing it as ‘amazing’ and ‘amazing’ with ‘world-class food, drink and experiences’, all carefully pointing to the company’s social media pages and tagging #ad to comply with advertising laws.

But this was far from their first expensive freebie. This wasn’t even their last trip.

Ollie and Gareth’s extravagant lifestyle embodies the champagne-filled world of the Chelsea set: jetting off on exotic holidays, showing off their designer wardrobes and raising their twins in a palatial mansion in west London.

But this week it turns out that although we live in opulence, life isn’t that far from the glitz and glamor shown on Instagram.

In fact, it’s fair to say the couple are doing well and are facing eviction from their home after accumulating more than £25,000 in unpaid rent.

In fact, sources say they are on the verge of bankruptcy.

News of their financial woes emerged this week after the couple missed a critical January 30 deadline to pay off their rent arrears; This includes three months of missed payments and fees.

They now face a visit from bailiffs as early as March 2. The Lockes are said to be ‘desperately trying to repay what is owed’.

An insider explained: ‘Ollie and Gareth have been struggling to meet their monthly rent for almost a year. They live in a very wealthy area, but there is no money anymore. This is very different from the luxurious life they portray online.’

Their roommate, one of the children’s five godmothers, caused public embarrassment when she claimed she was paying the couple her share of the rent each month, only to later discover that the amount had not been paid to the landlord.

Although their fans and followers were stunned by this statement, those close to them were not surprised at all.

One commented: ‘They’ve lived beyond their means for years, they love living and have become very good at learning not to pay for it. This is all pretty embarrassing.

‘To the outside world, everything is as idyllic as ever. Everything seems flash, but they rarely pay for anything themselves. They are adept at grabbing free meals and are always happy to accept an invitation to lunch; but when the reckoning comes, they mysteriously disappear.

‘They made a lot of money along the way, but they spent even more. And they’re happy to let others pick up the tab wherever they go; This is quite shameless behaviour.’

The married couple have been renting the four-bedroom, four-bathroom property (pictured) near the affluent King’s Road since 2023 and frequently use Notting Hill’s Portobello Road.

Earlier this week, Ollie shared dazzling photos from a friend’s birthday party held at the castle; here he and Gareth wore tuxedos and drank champagne, wine and espresso martinis.

In fact, despite his soft accent, his £30,000-a-year education at Hampshire Collegiate School – Florence Nightingale’s former family home – and his star-studded connections, the truth is that Ollie has never been in the same financial league as his castmates on the Channel 4 show.

Eton-educated Spencer Matthews, whose family owns the prestigious Eden Rock resort in St Barths, and Millie Mackintosh, the granddaughter of the family behind Quality Street chocolates, have inherited vast wealth. Ollie didn’t do that.

His parents divorced when he was eight years old, and little is known about his father, John. Meanwhile, his mother Sarah was also working as a DJ on Radio Solent.

She was part of the original Made in Chelsea cast in 2011, using it as a launching point for the glamorous lifestyle she always wanted, and has been in and out of the series ever since.

He and Gareth, 37, who coincidentally shares the same surname, met as models shortly before Ollie joined MIC.

In the early shows, Ollie dated several female co-stars before revealing that he was bisexual.

As its popularity grew, its network of business and social connections opened the door to a conveyor belt of free gifts, trips and experiences; where everything from designer clothes to a taxi house would be paid for by a sponsor or benefactor.

In the past, they have also been guests of a red-cover newspaper at the £20,000 VIP table at the BRIT Awards.

Ollie Locke and husband Gareth attend the Brit Awards after party in February 2023

A source who knows the men said: ‘It’s almost a full-time job; ‘wandering around town from party to party, buying a gift bag and making sure someone always pays for the champagne, and arranging your transportation,’ she says. ‘But no matter what it looks like on the outside, it doesn’t pay the bills.

‘That’s why they got themselves into such a situation financially. You can’t pay your bills with free gifts anymore, as they see it.’

Just days before their Caribbean trip, Ollie, 38, and his family enjoyed Christmas dinner at a posh Chelsea restaurant; all complete with designer gifts and all documented for the cameras and carefully tagged #gifted online.

A week ago the couple and their children posed in expensive matching pajama sets from Selfridges; They tagged the designer label and promised to wear them by the New Year.

In mid-December, the reality stars told how they were ‘treated’ to another pricey trip from The Four Seasons hotel, posing for cameras and enjoying champagne and afternoon tea, just days after being ‘lucky enough’ to be ‘invited’ to another ‘wonderful new venue’ for a top-notch meal on Chelsea’s posh King’s Road.

Social media posts were again quietly tagged #talented.

Other freebies over the past few months have included mobile phones, meals at celebrity chef Rick Stein’s restaurant and an all-expenses-paid holiday to Cornwall.

In January the couple took a trip to Barbados, which they were paid to promote on their Instagram profiles (pictured with Towie’s Lydia Bright)

Then there was a lavish party for her twins’ second birthday, complete with gifts and a professional chef, this time a five-star P&O trip to the Norwegian fjords, designer Harley Street dermatology treatments, expensive skincare products and more.

All of their relationships seem to be sponsored in some way. They married in 2020 in a private ceremony held at London’s Natural History Museum, surrounded by thousands of flickering candles and flowers.

Covid restrictions at the time meant there were only 13 guests, including their Made In Chelsea co-stars, but the couple were sure to invite Hello! They will work with the magazine to document the event in a lucrative magazine deal that will easily cover their expenses.

A similar deal with the same glossy magazine took place in 2023, when Apollo and Cosima were born; The family was now in danger of losing their photo op at the same house in Chelsea.

Despite publishing an autobiography, multiple paid endorsements and appearing on countless podcasts, Ollie has occasionally admitted the high toll that in vitro fertilization treatments and surrogacy took after many failed attempts to become a parent, including selling his previous home to fund his efforts.

After leaving MIC in 2023, they started a YouTube show documenting their lives as new fathers called Our Dad Diaries, which was launched to much fanfare.

They now seem to have abandoned the project and there have been no updates for two years.

There has been some commercial success, however: Ollie co-founded gay dating app Chappy, which was sold to Bumble in 2019 in a deal worth £1 million.

However, various follow-up business ventures never had the same success:

Ollie’s name appears on a number of business registrations that have now been dissolved, including Chelsea Harbor Wine, which closes in 2024; And its longest-running company, Laughing London Ltd, is facing efforts to have it struck off the official register of Companies House.

The couple were photographed in Lorraine in 2023 with their twins Cosima and Apollo, now two years old

Another, Chelsea Pub Company Ltd, has hit a record fourth level while also facing applications to dissolve the company. Bear and Otto Ltd appear to have not traded at all for a long time.

Gareth’s business history tells a similar story; Her own company, Huzzah Beauty, is also facing a cancellation application for never providing business figures.

While their financial situation is giving the Lockes a ‘huge headache’, they are also ‘horrified’ by the damage this uneducational news will do to their reputation, friends say.

In fact, when contacted by the Daily Mail about their financial situation, they suggested alternative stories about their children be published instead.

They did not respond to our request for comment.

‘Money problems are bad, but the embarrassment for them is probably worse,’ says a partner of the duo.

‘Most people worry more about their bills than their brand; But for these two people, image is everything and how it affects their next freebie.’