THIS time last year, he had a multi-million pound business, a customised Ferrari and holiday home in Majorca.
But TOWIE star Tommy Mallet has said he has “nothing financially” and is “starting from scratch” after been forced to “sell everything” over a massive tax bill.
The self-made businessman, who grew up on a council estate and was bullied at school for his budget trainers and clothes before becoming a TOWIE favourite, has vowed to bounce back with his new footwear brand after the setback.
It follows a year of devastation for dad-of-one Tommy, whose wife Georgia Kousoulou suffered a miscarriage.
We reveal how Tommy worked his way up to Forbes’ 30 Under 30 list, and earned a £6 million fortune thanks to a global footwear brand loved by the likes of Drake and Olly Murs – and how the “four month struggle” left him back at square one.
Tommy grew up on a council estate in North London, and was bullied at school for the clothes he wore.
The businessman said that he was humiliated when he was just 12 because his poverty-stricken family couldn’t afford to buy him fashionable trainers.
Struggling with dyslexia and undiagnosed ADHD, Tommy was “unable to read and write” in school, and “tortured” by his mind.
Speaking about his childhood, he told MailOnline: “I feel like at one point in my life I definitely could have had the potential to go down the wrong path but ultimately, I knew that I wanted to do things the right way and to succeed.
“So staying on the right track was important to me.”
Tommy left school with no GCSEs and trained to be a carpenter before joining the cast of TOWIE at the age of 21 – which is where he met his now-wife Georgia.
But he still struggled financially when he was first on the ITV reality show – despite looking like a “rich geezer,” wearing a flashy watch.
When he and Georgia first started dating, in 2014, she would even drive him to filming as he couldn’t afford to put petrol in his car.
Tommy told the Anything Goes with James English podcast: “I had this big watch on, I was going to these events.
“I was like ‘what the f**k am I doing?’ I looked like I’m the b****ks right now, anyone looking at me would think ‘you’re having it off, ain’t you?’
“I never had a pot to p**s in.”
He continued: “I couldn’t pay my gym memberships, I was on the show giving it the bigg’un to people and I must have looked like a rich geezer.
“I did not have a f**king pound, I weren’t paying rent at home, I sometimes didn’t have petrol in my car to get to filming.
“Georgia had to drive me a few times to work because I never had the money to get there, that’s the reality.”
I did not have a f**king pound, I weren’t paying rent at home, I sometimes didn’t have petrol in my car to get to filming
Tommy Mallet
Tommy added: “People don’t like admitting that sort of stuff, that’s the reality of what it took.”
It was Tommy’s poor upbringing that actually inspired him to launch his footwear brand Mallet in 2015 – selling shoes known for their metallic heel clip, for around £175 a pair.
He said: “When I was younger I never had enough money to buy a pair of trainers that I genuinely liked because they were all so expensive, so I put pen to paper and decided to design something similar.
“We went from having a £50k turnover at the end of our first year to having a turnover of around £2.5million towards the end of our second year.”
By 2020, the business had clocked up £11.8million in sales, was stocked in 150 stores around the world and was worn by A-listers including Drake, Olly Murs, Craig David, and Will.i.am.
In 2021, he even made Forbes’ 30 under 30 list, due to his success, and confessed he prefers to be known for his entrepreneurship than as a reality TV star.
We went from having a £50k turnover at the end of our first year to having a turnover of around £2.5million towards the end of our second year.
Tommy Mallet
He told MailOnline that it’s an “amazing feeling” to walk around Paris during Fashion Week and “90 percent” of people know him for his brand – rather than his TOWIE background.
In 2022, Mallet raked in more than £22.3 million after a bumper year which saw sales nearly double, and make a profit of almost £7 million before tax.
The sales were up by £10 million on the previous year and it meant that Tommy and his co-owner Evren Ozkarakasli could share a £2.5 million dividend payout up from £1.2 million the year before.
With cash and reserves from previous years, his business was left with £9 million – a rise of £3 million, up from £6 million the year before.
Tommy and Georgia spent the next few years in the lap of luxury, buying a holiday home in Majorca, to go alongside the £1million Essex mansion they bought in 2020.
Last year, the couple spent five weeks in their luxury villa – which has a huge pool – with their son Brody, who turns three next week.
Tommy even splashed out £330,000 on a customised Ferrari in October, followed by a 192mph Ferrari Purosangue in December, which cost a whopping £400,000.
The second car was bought despite Tommy insisting he had sold his first Ferrari just two months after purchasing it, in order to appear more down to earth.
Recalling his past struggles with fuel, he said: “So when the fuel prices are going up and me putting petrol in the car bruv, it makes no difference to me money-wise.
“When I pull up at the petrol station and you’ve got my man struggling to put a tenner in his car to get to work, do I want to be pulling up in the £200K motor jumping out, putting it in the car, jumping back in?
“No man, that’s not who I want to be. I want to be relatable. I want to be able to come across as a normal person.”
As recent as November last year, Tommy was celebrating a huge win for Mallet after teaming up with the world-famous sportswear brand Reebok.
Sharing the news on Instagram, Tommy posted a throwback image of him holding a Mallet shoebox, which then morphed into him holding a stack of trainers he created with Reebok.
He wrote in the caption: “I’ve given it my all over the last eight years. This was always something I felt like was needed for Mallet and I wasn’t going to rest until I got it. From the olders I looked up to on Gilera runners (scooters), to my PE teacher having a shiny boot polished black pair, the workout was part of my childhood and part of my culture!
“It’s been some journey – I’m ready now. Big thanks to all the team at Reebok and specially Authentic brands group for trusting me with this!”
But, shortly after, he departed the Mallet brand and offloaded all his assets following a “four month battle”.
Writing on Instagram, Tommy said: “It’s probably not over, but as it stands I can work and support my family.
“I’ve sold all my assets to defend myself and starting from scratch, but I’ve got some wonderful companies and I will give it my all to get it back so my family can continue living the life I worked so hard to give them.”
Tommy added: “Just call me the monk who’s sold his Ferrari for a bit.”
I lost the baby. That turned my whole world around and I was like, something needs to change
Tommy Mallet
Tommy addressed this during an appearance on the Getting There podcast and also insisted he had “no money”.
The Baby Steps reality TV star spoke about his wife Georgia’s heartbreaking miscarriage at the same time which he revealed left him feeling “weak.”
He said: “I’ve got nothing financially at the moment.
“I basically made an acquisition in January, it was quite a big one and it was to buy some shares back for Mallet.
“I put money into Mallet to get my shares back up thinking that I was going to go and basically build the next year, just full force.
“And obviously, after seeing you, I lost the baby. That turned my whole world around and I was like, something needs to change.
“I basically started from scratch. I’ve got the biggest tax bill ever.”
The star has now stepped out on his own to launch a new trainer brand called CTRNE – labelling itself as the “one and only crystal-infused sneaker brand”.
The trainers – which sell for around £200 – incorporate citrine crystals which the website claims ” dispel negative energy and self-doubt, creating a mindset of optimism and clarity.”
The brand adds that it is “creating footwear that not only elevates style but also empowers the journey towards achieving your dreams.”
It currently boasts over 209,000 followers on Instagram.
In his latest post, he thanks fans who expressed concerns for his welfare adding: “We are fine mentally but thanks for checking, the next chapters going to be more inspiring then ever.”
As wife Georgia hailed his “comeback” he wrote: “I’ve got a point to prove and will make all that I’ve lost back abundantly.”
With his track record, there’s no doubt he’ll be true to his word.
