A SOUTHBOURNE hotel owner has appeared on Channel 4’s Four in a Bed, less than two years after buying the property.

Richard Norris, owner of Cliff House Hotel, was approached to appear on the show, an opportunity he didn’t think twice about accepting.

Mr Norris said: “We bought the property 18 months ago. The hotel was going to be turned into flats and we basically stopped that.

“We had barely been open two weeks and Four in a Bed contacted us saying do we want to be on the show.

“My wife said no but I had already emailed saying we would do it.”

Mr Norris appeared on the show on Monday evening with chef Matthew Head.

The show was filmed in July 2019 and they visited hotels in Cambridgeshire, Wales and South Downs.

He continued: “It was strange, I have never been in front of TV cameras before, it was nervy.

“You are basically putting your livelihoods on the line and have three couples come and criticise.

“We believed in ourselves and believed in what me and my wife are trying to do.

“I believe there has been four or five hotels from the area on the show and they have not done too well.”

Rarely on the show do the hoteliers get on perfectly, however Mr Norris said that wasn’t the case for them.

“We got on really well with the contestants all the way through the process,” he said.

“You try to judge them on what they don’t offer that you do.

“How small the rooms are, how limited the breakfast is, you compare it to yourself.

“It was tough to do it but it got easier as it went on.

“But we all got on really well, it was like inviting old friends back to your place.”

Mr Norris also said that, unlike the other hotels, they were open for trading when the filming was taking place.

“We wanted to showcase what we do. Even if it is for the local people of Bournemouth thinking ‘that looks quite nice we could pop in for lunch’.

“It was a great experience and nice to see what other people do in the industry.”