Channel 5's Rich House, Poor House has transformed the life of a Portsmouth mum

Nadine Hill has had three whirlwind years after she appeared on Channel 5’s Rich House, Poor House in 2020, which was where she met Katy Jobbins, from East Sussex.

Nadine, who has a son called Morgan, was living in a small two-bedroom flat and had a mere £86 of disposable income to live off each week, and she was drowning in debt.

The single mum said: ‘Before my circumstances changed, I was a shoe shop manager and I had never been on benefits before and I didn’t even know what it was like to be on benefits.

‘When I went on maternity leave, I had so many creative outlets but nowhere to go with them because of my circumstances and watching the show one night, I thought actually it would be really good to show that not all single parents or people on benefits just sit there and do nothing with their time and to showcase that there are little gems sitting in dirt that have nowhere to shine.’

The Channel 5 television programme features two groups of people, at different ends of the financial scale, swap their lifestyles for a week to get an insight into how the other half live.

Katy swapped her luxurious life, where she earns £1,800 a week, with Nadine, who was struggling to pay the bills and had racked up thousands of pounds worth of debt, for a week – and they felt an instant connection.

Katy, who has made her fortune by running a permanent makeup training academy and clinic, said: ‘It was really, really real, I took it very seriously and it was so much fun. I didn’t know what I was walking into - and I walked into Nadine’s house and it was just absolutely lovely, it was tiny, but it was just full of creative stuff everywhere, and you could tell she was really good at making things out of nothing at all.’

At the end of the episode, which is titled ‘Louboutins and £20,000 in Debt’, Katy decided to offer Nadine a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity by offering her free training and mentorship in a bid to help her get out of her financial situation.

Katy and her partner Paul also offered to mentor her on the business and marketing side over the next couple of years, which is an additional service they also offer students at their training centre.

Katy added: ‘It was a bit of a risk on my part because if it didn’t work it wouldn’t look good on me, but Nadine isn’t the type of person to let that opportunity go, and she has inspired so many of my students as well.’

Since then, Nadine has come a long way and she is now working at NTC Hair & Beauty Havant, where she offers permanent makeup to her clients and she has secured herself a trusted list of customers.

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She has also taken inspiration from Katy and is now offering free treatments to cancer patients to give something back to the community.

Nadine said: ‘When Katy offered me the training for free, I was amazed. I did think these sorts of things don't happen very often and definitely not to me.

‘Katy training and mentoring me has been life-changing in so many ways. From not just the big things like homes and finances, but down to the smaller things like being able to put my son into clubs he is interested in. He loves theatre and learning drama. These were all things I simply couldn’t afford to do before I did the show.’

As a result of Nadine’s initial success, Channel 5 commissioned a one-hour special follow up show called, ‘Rich House, Poor House Changed My Life’ which aired in April 2021, to show their journey since the first show, and how their relationship has blossomed into friendship.

Nadine’s life has been transformed for the better, and, not only has she cleared her debt, but she has now moved out of her small flat and has moved into a house with a garden.

In December 2022, Nadine found out that she has been shortlisted as a finalist for two major awards at the 2023 National Hair and Beauty awards for ‘Best Semi-Permanent Makeup Artist of the Year’ and ‘Best for Brows in Semi-Permanent Makeup’.

The pair have recently met up for a celebration to mark it being three years since they met, and Nadine travelled to Brighton for a night out and she was dropped back to Portsmouth in the limo Katy laid on to celebrate.

Nadine said: ‘I’ve had more time for my own self-development both creatively and spiritually. The best thing I’ve learned is results aren’t always instant but keep on chipping away and building momentum and results will come.

‘I feel so much more independent now, have much more self-esteem and truly believe in my own worth knowing that anything is possible. This has all come from Paul and Katy helping over the last few years and I will be eternally grateful.’

Katy added: ‘It was the best feeling in the world to show my three children how far Nadine has come and what can be accomplished with a lot of belief, support, practice and hard work.

‘Nadine represents everything I try to say in all of my work, on creating a life you want as a trainer and mentor and a mama. It’s yours for the taking if you’re willing to go out there and grab it.’