Michael Jackson's bodyguard bids £7.5million for 'saddest ever' Grand Designs house

dailystar.co.uk:

Michael Jackson's former bodyguard has bid £7.5million for the "saddest ever" house featured on Grand Designs.Matt Fiddes, 43, worked as a personal security officer for the late Thriller singer for over a decade.He has since built a global martial arts company worth £120million and is also a property developer. READ MORE:Freddie Mercury and Michael Jackson aged up in 'heartbreaking' Instagram projectEarlier this month, Matt placed a bid on Chesil Cliff House, in Croyde, Devon - which is situated a short distance from the bedsit he was once evicted from.The property originally featured on Grand Designs in 2009.Owned by music executive Edward Short and his wife Hazel, the couple shared their dreams of turning the 1950s home into an art-deco white lighthouse.In a follow-up appearance on the Channel 4 show in October 2019, Edward confirmed a recession and building problems had left the project and his marriage in tatters and listed the property for sale for £10million.Making an offer of £7.5 million, Matt has called his bid on the property an "achievement stamp".The self-made millionaire left school with no qualifications and aged 17, worked as a lifeguard in Croyde until he was evicted from his first rental property for not making the £35-a-week rent.Confirming his bid, Matt said: "This property is five minutes away from my first rental when I moved out from my mum and dad's in Swindon."I have memories of planning my business and my dreams in Croyde so we've come full circle."People told me I wouldn't make it and it wouldn't work out."But I've been buying houses since I was 18 and it doesn't matter I can't write well because I only have to sign autographs and cheques."Matt hopes to convert Chesil Cliff House into 12 flats.