Esme Young, 75, has a keen eye for design and it’s showcased in her role as a judge on The Great British Sewing Bee. The stylish star launched her own fashion brand in the 70s, Swanky Modes and now the TV judge has over 100,000 Instagram followers on Instagram, but her home revelation just may surprise you…
Speaking to The Telegraph, Esme made a confession about her current living situation as well as her previous rent-free home.
When quizzed about the property she owns, she admitted that she doesn’t own any – and she never will. “I’ve never been able to afford my own home. I’ve lived in social housing since 1983 – in a one-bedroom flat in Islington, north London, rented from the charitable housing trust Peabody. It is rent controlled and I have tenure for the rest of my life.”
Although not a residence, she did reveal she owns a beach hut on the north Kent coast which she bought for £500 many years ago!
When she launched her fashion line with fellow designers Judy Dewsbury, Melanie Herberfield and Willie Walters, she wasn’t able to afford to live in London. She said: “I couldn’t afford to pay rent, so I lived in a squat in a beautiful old house in west London. We had to feed the gas meter, but otherwise we lived rent free.”
© Love Productions/BBCThinking back to her childhood, Esme reminisced: “We lived in nice houses and I never had the feeling we didn’t have enough.”
As well as her on-screen job, Esme is a lecturer at Central Saint Martins, a London art school which is a full circle moment as it is where she completed her studies.
© James StackIn 2022, Esme published an autobiography, titled Behind the Seams: My Life in Creativity, Friendship and Adventure from the star of the Great British Sewing Bee.
Esme Young’s hidden disability
In a SheerLuxe interview last year, Esme revealed that she was “partially deaf” and because of her condition, she only learned to read when she was seven years old.
“My teachers thought I was thick and my father used to describe me as ‘dreamy’ – but, really, I was in my own little world because I couldn’t hear anyone.
“I also didn’t learn to read until I was seven because I didn’t know how to make the right sounds. It’s still a bit of a problem today because I have to look at everything visually.” Well her visual talents have certainly carved out an impressive career!
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