“What a waste of time.": Four in a Bed shock as Blackpool hotelier quits half way through
A Blackpool hotelier surprised audiences this week by quitting Four in a Bed early.
This week, the second group of B&B owners for series 19 of the popular Channel 4 show are battling it out to be crowned the best value for money.
The first B&B owner to host their three rivals was Blackpool based Andy Pattison, who runs the The Sefton Blackpool on Northumberland Avenue.
The episode starts off normally enough but half way through, host Andy quits the competition in what is a show first.
Alluding to the disruption, the narrator starts the episode by saying “Today things are all shook up.”
A teaser clip is also shown where one host asks Andy “How do you deal with tricky customers” and he responds “up until today, I haven’t actually had any.”
What happened during the episode?
Introducing himself at the start of the episode, Andy, whose hotel has six rooms costing up to £80 night (£10pp for breakfast), says: “I’m currently living my childhood dream- to run a guest house. It’s my job but it’s also my passion. I did view over 50 hotels when I was choosing Sefton and as soon as I walked through the front door, I just fell in love.”
“My role here is one man band yeah, I’m everything: the receptionist, cleaner, cook - anything you can think of, it’s down to me. I do believe Sefton’s a true reflection of me, yeah.”
“I think Blackpool’s got wrong stereotypes. If you hear something negative about Blackpool, it tend to be from people who have never actually been.”
As Andy’s three competitors arrive - Karen and Bryan from Newton, Wales; Yin and Gewn from Powys, Wales and Charlotte and Matt from Warwickshire - they all seem impressed with the hotel and their rooms.
This comes as a particular surprise to Charlotte and Matt who spoke of their dislike for Blackpool before even getting there.
Sitting at their glampsite, Charlotte told the cameras: “I’m probably just being ridiculously stereotypical but a Blackpool B&B probably wouldn’t be my first choice. I hate Blackpool.”
Whilst driving down the promenade, first time visitor Matt then said: “I didn’t really have too many expectations. I know it’s going to be trashy because the young farmers come here every year and trash the place. That’s probably why it looks so run down, the young farmers have trashed it.”
But after their activity day - of course a trip to Coral Island- Charlotte said: “Blackpool probably wouldn’t be somewhere we’d choose to come but I think you could have a fabulous family holiday here. We have been pleasantly surprised.”
Andy then finishes off the activity day with his guests by taking them to a Blackpool bar and again no controversy arises, with all competitors praising their stay in Blackpool so far and their host.
The following morning is then when things all go tip top with the narrator stating: “In Blackpool, the sun's up and the guests are stirring.
“Due to unforeseen circumstances, host Andy is unable to continue in the competition so this morning, his guests are venturing out to a local caf’ for their breakfast.”
At this local cafe, guests express their disappointment in Andy’s exit and their pleasure at the service they received.
Declaring that The Sefton Blackpool was good value for money, the couples did not however rate Andy’s B&B as is usually done and our Blackpool businessman goes on to not feature in any of the remaining episodes.
So why did Andy leave?
A Channel 4 spokesperson told us: “Andy left for personal reasons”.
Sefton Blackpool has also been contacted.
What have viewers said?
When For in a Bed posted about this week’s group on Instagram, their comments action was filled with those addressing the elephant in the room.
Some expressed their disappointment in Andy’s exit.
For instance, one user wrote “He would have one [won] . Shame he didn't continue 😢”, whilst another said: “Such a pity the young man from the hotel in Blackpool wasn't able to carry on I enjoyed watching him 😢 Good Luck to him 👍 🙏 😀”
Others instead were disappointed in Channel 4’s choice to still air the Blackpool episode.
One Instagram user said “so weird to continue the episode when the place isn’t being judged. felt pretty pointless” and another commented: “What a waste of time. They should’ve scrapped the first ep, got a new hotel owner to join and then re-started the week.”