RICH House, Poor House star Lloyd Girardi has shut down his company after being hit with a £500k tax bill.
The property development entrepreneur and his wife Lydia boasted of having a £24 million property empire as they appeared on the Channel 5 show in March 2021.
They swapped lives with a family of four, who earned just £75 a week, for the programme.
At the time, Lloyd and Lydia lived in a five-bed mansion with their children and owned a car collection worth £150,000.
But now they’re facing financial difficulties, with Lloyd blaming Covid for the collapse of their company, admitting they had paid back all their creditors.
The couple have put their property mentoring company, Whitebox Property Solutions Ltd, into voluntary liquidation after being unable to cover overheads.
A liquidator was appointed on July 2 for the company they founded in July 2014 along with two other listed directors.
In a statement of affairs, the company had assets listed of £5,440 but owed creditors including HMRC a total £578,691.00.
Lloyd Girardi is also a listed director of three other companies one of called Yellow Box Developments Ltd.
Despite their seemingly exuberant lifestyle on the show, things weren’t always this way.
In an interview with Fabulous at the time, Lloyd credited his success to Lydia’s parents who offered them £25k to start a business.
Lloyd, who spent years as a travelling salesman, recalled: “I was living in my overdraft and was struggling to get out of it.
“I used to just earn it and spend it and it wasn’t until November 2013 that, unfortunately, I lost my dad through brain tumor, and 56 days later my granddad passed away form dementia.
“That really was the turning point for me and realised that life was too short.”
Because of the help of Lydia’s parents, Lloyd was able pay off his debts and start a new life for himself.
In the programme, the coupel traded houses, schedules and budgets for one week with Mike Rigby and his wife Natalie, with both surprised by what they learn.
Natalie and Mike were thrilled to learn of their £1200 budget for the week, a far cry from their usual £75.
The property developer duo struggled to understand how the Birmingham couple got by on such a small budget, as they struggled to whip up a dinner for the kids.
On night one, the Rigby family decided to splurge on takeaway, a luxury they never usually had.
They got another taste of the high life the following day when they popped out to get groceries for the week and dropped a huge £107 in one shop – twice what they’d usually spend.
Meanwhile, Lloyd and Lydia were forced to budget with just £27, but manage to just scrape through.
Despite living just an hour away from one another, the Girrardis realised they’re worlds apart financially.
Lydia discovered the pile of unpaid bills in the kitchen and learnt of the couple’s £33k debt.
The truth hit home for Lloyd, who remembered what it feels like, and was thankful he was offered a helping hand – something Mike could benefit from.
But starting to understanding more about the couple’s situation, Lloyd and Lydia discovered Natalie’s health condition, and realised just how hard they really had it.
Natalie is forced to take medication in hope it will relieve her symptoms, but the meds often leave her completely drained and unable to play with her kids or help around the house.
Throughout the week, Natalie realised that her health condition has everything to do with their financially circumstances – and was thankful that her temporary life of luxury had given her a week without a fit.
Upon leaving, they gifed the couple with a new set of kitchen pots and pans, plus a £200 Morrisons gift card for their pantry.
The two families finally met and Mike was grateful to Lloyd for inspiring him to be better.
But Lloyd admitted to seeing himself in Mike and offered one on one coaching to help Mike on his way.
In addition, the couple gifted both Mike and Natalie with a self development retreat in Croatia, with all expenses paid – with hopes it will help steer them in the right direction.
And, thankfully, it does, as Lloyd’s mentorship allowed Mike to shave a huge £18k of his £33k debt.
He even managed to find a well paid full-time job to support his wife and kids.
