A mother raised eyebrows when she admitted to sharing a bunkbed with her son because it took him ‘forever’ to adjust to sleeping apart on last night’s episode of Council House Swap.
Artist Leonie appeared on the Channel 5 show because she wanted to swap her £105-a-week, two-bedroom house in Weymouth for a property in London under a scheme that allows tenants in council properties to trade.
Fellow artist Alison, of Streatham, south-east London, was open to the move and popped by to visit.
During the tour, Leonie admitted she still shared a bedroom with her son, whose age was not given, despite there being a second bedroom in the property.
Her admission raised eyebrows among viewers, who wondered how old her son is.
Leonie, an artist and mother-of-one from Weymouth, right, showed her two-bedroom, £105-a-week house in Weymouth on the show, and was looking to trade for a property in London. Alison, a fellow artist from Streatham, left, was interested in a potential swap
Viewers were struck by the fact that Leonie and her son slept in bunk beds in a tiny room on the show
Some people took to Twitter to point out the detail as they watched the property show on Channel 5 last night
Leonie lived just a stones throw away from the Weymouth beach front, in a two-bedroom house with a concrete slab garden.
The artist had put her mark on the house by painting the staircase and painting the upstairs bathroom in dark brown and yellow.
Alison, who fancied living in a seaside town, travelled to Weymouth to visit Leonie’s home, and was charmed by the quirks of her home.
When the women got to the upstairs part of the home, one detail stuck out.
The small room housed bunk beds made of wood.
‘This is the bedroom that me and my son sleep in,’ Leonie told Alison. ‘We got bunks because it took me a long time to get him out of the same bed because we co-slept.’
Alison nodded politely before moving on to the next room, the bathroom.
Viewers, however, could not help but comment on the unusual sleeping arrangement.
Leonie explained she and her son slept in the same room because it had taken them a while to stop co-sleeping
‘She sleeps with her son,’ one said.
‘How old is this son,’ another asked.
‘Is anyone else watching #CouncilHouseSwap? Who are these people,’ one asked.
At the end of the visit, Leonie gave Alison some time alone to think things over.
‘I think she’s absolutely lovely, what a nice person, wouldn’t know if she is interested, though,’ Leonie told the camera.
In total, Alison saw three properties on the show, and did not take a liking to any of them.
People also called out the fact that Alison was too indecisive on the show and compared her to Goldilocks
She was looking to swap her three-bed South London Victorian house she rented for £111-per-week for either a smaller property with a garden in London or a seaside house.
‘I love this property and I hate this property also because it’s such hard work, looking after this property by myself is too much,’ she explained.
She first visited a small one-bedroom flat in Putney where a woman named Michelle lived with her daughter.
Alison was charmed by the location, which went for £148 a week, but unsure of the small dwelling, which she said made her feel ‘claustrophobic.’
Hard to please Alison viewed three properties on the show but did not fall for any of them for various reasons
She was also bothered by the fact plane flew over the house and said noise pollution is a big issue for her.
‘The airplanes, that’s a real thing for me, it’s quite noisy, and an important thing for me,’ Alison told Michelle.
‘Also, staying in London is a question for me,’ she added, before ending the viewing and saying she needed time to think.
Later on in the show, she visited another London two-bedroom flat, where mother-of-four Asia lived with her children.
And while she loved the master bedroom and the kitchen, which overlooked a nice garden, Alison remained unconvinced.
‘It’s not what I don’t like, it’s what would work for me and actually it feels really big for me,’ she told Asia.
‘I think if I were to move here, there’s a lot of work for me to do,’ she added, ‘you have made it so beautiful but without all this stuff there is a lot for me to do.
‘And the energy for me to put into that makes me feel a bit “I don’t know if I can manage”.’
Alison’s indecisiveness did not endear her to the viewers, who grew increasingly frustrated with her house search.
‘Omg this woman on Council House Swap. A slightly sloping garden is going to be a showstopper? Last house she thought she didn’t have the energy to make her own… who is she, Goldilocks?’ one asked.
‘These people are so lucky to have housing this this, they’re really annoying me now with their stupid nitpicking,’ one wrote.
‘I can’t get my head round this programme. There are people, families in real need…. and these entitled idiots are faffing about over kitchen size and location? Entitled muppets,’ one said.
At the end of the programme, Alison failed to find a home to swap with.
Council House Swap airs on Wednesdays at 9pm on Channel 5.