Harry Redknapp admits he’s ‘pleased he grew up in a council house with no showers, central heating or inside toilet’ because it means he doesn’t take his £3.5 million Sandbanks home for granted
- Harry Redknapp, 72, has revealed that he’s glad he grew up in a council house
- The former West Ham manager lived on an east London council estate as a child
- Then Harry’s successful football career saw him move to Sandbanks in Dorset
Harry Redknapp has revealed that he’s glad he grew up in a council house as it means he doesn’t take his luxurious life for granted.
The former midfielder and West Ham manager, 72, lived on an east London council estate as a child before his successful football career saw him move to Sandbanks, Dorset, one of the UK’s most exclusive postcodes.
In 2015, he sold his first Sandbanks property to Barry Bester, who co-founded Topps Tiles in the 1980s, for £6.8 million, making a profit of nearly £4 million, and bought his current home for a bargain £3.5 million.
But the I’m A Celebrity…Get Me Out Of Here 2018 winner said he wouldn’t have swapped his childhood home – which had no showers, no central heating and no inside toilet – when appearing on tonight’s Harry Redknapp’s Sandbanks Summer.
The ITV programme sees Harry and his wife Sandra throw open the doors to their home of 20 years – in a neighbourhood where one 850ft street with 13 properties was valued at £93million a couple of years ago.
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Harry Redknapp (pictured left as a youngster and right, recently) has revealed that he’s glad he grew up in a council house as it means he doesn’t take his luxurious life for granted
On tonight’s Harry Redknapp’s Sandbanks Summer, Harry and his wife Sandra (pictured in their house) throw open the doors to their Sandbanks home of 20 years
In episode two, airing at 8pm, Harry is joined by footballing friends John Barnes and Chris Kamara and takes them, and viewers, to the water to show off what Sandbanks has to offer from the sea.
Sitting on a luxurious yacht that he’s been loaned for the day, the former Birmingham City manager admits that it is larger than his childhood home.
‘This yacht is about three times bigger than the house I grew up in,’ he tells Sandra and John. ‘And it’s got an inside toilet on this boat, which we never had.
Harry (pictured as a youngster) lived on an east London council estate as a child before his successful football career saw him move to Sandbanks, Dorset, one of the UK’s most exclusive postcodes
The view from Harry and Sandra’s floor-to-ceiling glass-fronted mansion (pictured) gives an uninterrupted overview of the sandy beach
‘We had a couple of rooms upstairs in my great grandmother’s house, we had no showers, we had no central heating.’
He continues: ‘I’m pleased I grew up like that because if I’d have grown up and been given everything as a kid, you’d just take it for granted. We’ve been lucky and I appreciate that.’
At the start of the show he admits: ‘I grew up in East London, we had nothing. My holidays were going in a caravan down to Clacton.
‘Once we moved down here we never wanted to move away. It’s a lovely life, we just come on the beach and swim in the sea.
Harry (pictured on the Sandbanks beach lined with luxury homes) explores Sandbanks’ delights with friends in the four-part series Harry Redknapp’s Sandbanks Summer
Harry is crowned King of the Jungle and is joined by wife Sandra Redknapp on I’m a Celebrity… Get Me Out of Here! in 2018
‘I think when you’ve had nothing and you’ve grown up like that, you appreciate things more don’t you?’
The episode also sees Harry discover, to his horror, the existence of a nudist beach as he sails past Studland Beach.
Despite John’s enthusiasm to talk to the nudists and find out why they do it, Harry spends the afternoon worrying about naked visitors turning up for tea on his terrace.
The view from Harry and Sandra’s floor-to-ceiling glass-fronted mansion gives an uninterrupted overview of the sandy beach.
The interior boasts an enormous blue velvet sofa and tasteful art work on white walls.
Homely touches such as sculptures of their beloved bulldogs Barney and Lulu adorn the living room, alongside treasured photos of their life and Harry’s sporting trophies.
Harry Redknapp’s Sandbanks Summer continues tonight at 8pm on ITV.