Craig Rowe - A Place in the Sun

[Deleted member 21838]

Jonnie not Johnnie…My apologies

 

[Millie's Mum]

Johnnie Irwin comes over not only as a very decent man, but also somebody who might actually know something about the process of buying, maintaining and owning properties. On that show, so many times, you hear the tedious preamble from the male or female presenter aged 12, that they have been buying and selling property since the mid-1300s. Or does this mean that in reality they have bought a house or a flat like the rest of us do from time to time? For me, Johnnie and Jasmine are the only two with any credibility on that show. Johnnie has been quoted as saying as soon as difficulties were encountered by the production team in getting insurance for him after his cancer diagnosis, they immediately sought and brought in a replacement. I know that is a big issue (insurance cover abroad) but surely they could have done something with him - even if it was introducing the programme and ending it from the UK.

Very sad about Jonnie, like him presenting Escape to the Country. In an interview last week on GMB he expressed him disappointment re Place in the Sun

 

[Bea Frugal]

I was shocked and sorry to hear his diagnosis. I didn’t much like his rather abrupt presenting style at first but he’s grown on me a lot. He’s quite funny and certainly a salted cracker amongst a box of baby rusks! He said he’s still presenting escape to the country so that’s something. May his treatment buy him a few more good years.

 

[maymorganlondon]

Horrifying to find you have terminal cancer. Good on him for not fading away.
I know most folk in entertainment are contracted, and often self-employed, but someone who has contributed to the success of the show... you'd hope that their humanity, empathy and decency would extend to finding good work he can do.
So many people are badly hit financially when they have a cancer diagnosis, it's like having the rug pulled from under you on so many levels... and I personally know what an important anchor work can be in that type of situation. It helps you feel you are still you, not just a cancer patient; and it gives you something to focus on besides the 1001 questions you have and the fears you try to ignore.

 

[Dame Fondacox]

Agree with everything that's been said about Jonnie and Jasmine

 

[Silver Fox]

Just watched an edition of a Place in the Sun - and the first that I've seen Craig Rowe present. Apparently during the last 20 years he has 'designed, renovated and sold numerous properties ". Well, he can't have been a success at it or he wouldn't be flogging on QVC - he wouldn't have the time with all that 'renovating' !!! I mean, he's posted endless photos of his small flat, and that speaks volumes alone.

His 'presentation' on P in the S I found to be stilted with all the usual paraphrases from the programmes script. He did, use the question "and how are you feeling" practically as every other sentence which was beyond annoying. Then there was the "and I bet you would really like to see inside wouldn't you " - dear God they haven't gone there to pick tulips, they want to buy a bloody property ! Grrrrrrrrrrr. Won't be watching him again.

I saw P in the Sun yesterday presented by Craig, with 2 Irish ladies in Fuerteventura (sp?) which seemed ‘hard going’.They we’re people of few words, probably concentrating on the properties but Craig was his usual fawning self.His constant grinning and ‘how was he doing’, not natural at all quite cringeworthy at times!


I share with the comments on Jonnie Irwin and his Cancer diagnosis.A great shock and sadness, so young in the prime of his life.All out thoughts are with him, his wife and their young family.

 

[Deleted member 21838]

Didn’t Rowe win some sort of competition in Whizzer and Chips, with the first prize being a one year contract as a presenter on QVC. Second prize (for us) - two years…I have to say I find him simperingly oleaginous and that’s on his more bitter and acerbic days. And if he mentions that nephew and niece again…I suspect he must regularly walk around various forests, staring at the trees for inspiration, as his presentational style is so wooden. More repetitious than a 45 stuck in the middle on 16 speed. Still, I don’t want to big him up too much..On to his negatives…

 

[User 23988]

No wonder Jonnie spoke out,look what replaced him.

 

[Brissles]

I saw P in the Sun yesterday presented by Craig, with 2 Irish ladies in Fuerteventura (sp?) which seemed ‘hard going’.They we’re people of few words, probably concentrating on the properties but Craig was his usual fawning self.His constant grinning and ‘how was he doing’, not natural at all quite cringeworthy at times!


I share with the comments on Jonnie Irwin and his Cancer diagnosis.A great shock and sadness, so young in the prime of his life.All out thoughts are with him, his wife and their young family.

That was the edition I watched, where he kept asking "what are you feelings ?" A very uncomfortable watch.

 

[Bunnytown]

That was the edition I watched, where he kept asking "what are you feelings ?" A very uncomfortable watch.

Yes I agree. I saw that and it was just awful. I have watched a few episodes with him and some were better than others but I really don't enjoy watching him, it feels very shallow and forced - he rarely seems to be "feeling it" but more going through the motions. And sometimes like he just can't wait to get it all over with. He doesn't connect with the buyers at all.

 

[Brissles]

Yes I agree. I saw that and it was just awful. I have watched a few episodes with him and some were better than others but I really don't enjoy watching him, it feels very shallow and forced - he rarely seems to be "feeling it" but more going through the motions. And sometimes like he just can't wait to get it all over with. He doesn't connect with the buyers at all.

I would hazard a guess that most of the clients have watched QVC at some time or another, and probably think "what's this guy doing ? one minute he's flogging me Cooks Essential saucepans, and now he's telling me he's going to find me the perfect 2 bed apartment because - he loves a challenge ".

If nothing else, this programme shows that anyone can do that job, because there is a research team in the background doing all the legwork (computer work), finding properties within a price bracket. If the clients can use a computer they could actually do the job themselves !!!!!

 

[puffin48]

Johnnie Irwin comes over not only as a very decent man, but also somebody who might actually know something about the process of buying, maintaining and owning properties. On that show, so many times, you hear the tedious preamble from the male or female presenter aged 12, that they have been buying and selling property since the mid-1300s. Or does this mean that in reality they have bought a house or a flat like the rest of us do from time to time? For me, Johnnie and Jasmine are the only two with any credibility on that show. Johnnie has been quoted as saying as soon as difficulties were encountered by the production team in getting insurance for him after his cancer diagnosis, they immediately sought and brought in a replacement. I know that is a big issue (insurance cover abroad) but surely they could have done something with him - even if it was introducing the programme and ending it from the UK.

I feel so sad for Jonnie. I also read about the problem they had getting insurance because it was during the pandemic so you can imagine that it would have been difficult for them to have got insurance at that time when someone has a terminal illness. However, as you say, surely they could have sorted something for him. I do wonder whether Craig replaced him but he cant be blamed for that.

Its the same old thing - its not what you have done for someone, it what you are going to do for them. I learnt that early on in my working life.

 

[User 23988]

Poor Craig all those freebies on his mind,no wonder he cannot concentrate on the job,house expert your having a laugh in fact it’s more than laughable it’s in the realms of fantasy.
Stick to baking tins and frocks it’s more in your line of work Craig

 

[Bunnytown]

I would hazard a guess that most of the clients have watched QVC at some time or another, and probably think "what's this guy doing ? one minute he's flogging me Cooks Essential saucepans, and now he's telling me he's going to find me the perfect 2 bed apartment because - he loves a challenge ".

If nothing else, this programme shows that anyone can do that job, because there is a research team in the background doing all the legwork (computer work), finding properties within a price bracket. If the clients can use a computer they could actually do the job themselves !!!!!

But that's just it, I don't think just anyone can do it even with a research team doing the donkey work. When Jonnie takes people round you can tell he is knowledgeable with some of the ideas he has and also the way he responds to the house hunters. With Craig you imagine he would say exactly the same thing more or less whether he was showing them a lock-up-and-leave in Tenerife with a communal pool or flogging a Dyson hairdryer.

 

[Brissles]

Jonnie - being a Surveyor is the only one with a professional property background who could do the job.

There is a tall Scottish blonde called Danni who also "comes from a family property background", but she made her money as a model. When she first appeared she had the annoying habit of saying "you guys" in almost every sentence. It drove me mad, so much so that I wrote to Channel 4 to complain. I barely watch the programme now so I wouldn't know if she's improved or not.

 

[Deleted member 21838]

It’s an interesting watch looking at how the format is employed in the actual episodes. Unlike shows like Escape to the Country that positively welcome brick kickers (who you suspect were more interested in showing off themselves and their alleged budget by being on TV) in numbers, C4 property shows appear to demand actual outcomes each programme. I don’t watch it much nowadays, but my late wife loved the show and would watch episode after episode on All 4. Then, you rarely saw a show end without an offer of some sort being initially accepted. The interesting thing was, for me, listening to the show during the end credits with it then being explained that sadly, the offer fell through for whatever reason. That seemed to happen relatively frequently, and it made me wonder whether the offers accepted thing is for more theatrical effect as it were, rather than having any solid or serious foundations behind them? Whether those euphoric climax at the table with a Lambrini endings are shot in real time or not, who knows. But a thirty second phone call, followed by a couple of other thirty second ones, doesn’t seem a very realistic way of parting with £100000 plus.

It would be also interesting to know whether these production companies actually want proof of the so-called financial resources to buy and position to actually proceed these couples say they have and are in. I certainly strongly suspect that the BBC don’t do that, and are more interested in their personality than anything else

 

[donna255]

It’s an interesting watch looking at how the format is employed in the actual episodes. Unlike shows like Escape to the Country that positively welcome brick kickers (who you suspect were more interested in showing off themselves and their alleged budget by being on TV) in numbers, C4 property shows appear to demand actual outcomes each programme. I don’t watch it much nowadays, but my late wife loved the show and would watch episode after episode on All 4. Then, you rarely saw a show end without an offer of some sort being initially accepted. The interesting thing was, for me, listening to the show during the end credits with it then being explained that sadly, the offer fell through for whatever reason. That seemed to happen relatively frequently, and it made me wonder whether the offers accepted thing is for more theatrical effect as it were, rather than having any solid or serious foundations behind them? Whether those euphoric climax at the table with a Lambrini endings are shot in real time or not, who knows. But a thirty second phone call, followed by a couple of other thirty second ones, doesn’t seem a very realistic way of parting with £100000 plus.

It would be also interesting to know whether these production companies actually want proof of the so-called financial resources to buy and position to actually proceed these couples say they have and are in. I certainly strongly suspect that the BBC don’t do that, and are more interested in their personality than anything else

I believe I said somewhere early in this thread and have before in others, a friend sold her apartment on the show. The funniest part for me was it was one of the companies on Sun, Sea and Selling Houses who were the estate agents for it. She was contacted, asked if it was okay for her place to be on the show, yes and if she did not want to accept the offer did not feel pressure to accept. It was Jasmine who was the presenter on that show, friend did not accept the first offer but did the second and even sold the furniture in the apartment afterwards to the young couple who bought it. Channel 4 contacted her when her show was being shown as well. I missed it, so only have the photo she had on her phone to see that it looked like.

The people either need to be cash buyers or have the mortgage sorted before they make offers, as things can fall through if not.

Oh, friend has since bought a new built apartment in Spain, as I got the updates of how it was by the photos on her phone again.

 

[User 23988]

It’s a nice little earner (freebies)and a gig on a place in the sun, lol

 

[Brissles]

Back in the very early 90's I worked for a nationwide estate agent, and was Head of the Overseas Dept, selling property in the Alicante area. This was around the Torrevieja area - a totally different place to what it is now.

I now watch with great amusement at all the English e/agents who are portrayed in these shows. Glam mum and daughter duo, a plump Brummie with a permanently grinning husband - all maintaining they have X number of years experience. Personally I wouldn't trust any of them. I dealt with a professional Spanish woman who divided her time between England and Spain. As a native she knew all the pitfalls, we dealt with English speaking Spanish lawyers who knew which rustic land and developers who should be avoided.

 

[Silver Fox]

These programmes which I usually watch glamorise the life spent in the sun.My late partner and I met people who had sold up in Britain and those who has kept their property at home and bought in Spain.We rented an apartment for a couple of months and although people want space outside for living in the winter months it is just too cold after the sun goes in the daytime.The lovely pools unless heated (a rarity) are too cold to use.We spent nights huddled over little heaters, but sunny days were lovely.Be realistic, full time there is not a holiday.You get tired of walking along the beach and wine time can get earlier each day! Maybe that is a good thing?!