Channel 4’s Rise and Fall was the sleeper reality TV hit of the spring with thousands logging on each evening at 10pm to watch 16 contestants trying to win up to £100,000. And Eddy, who spent most of the series as a grafter – living in poverty and working to raise money for the prize fund – won the series after being picked by other grafters to claim the prize fund. of £85,610.

But most people have no idea who Eddy really is, or why he was much more comfortable in the Penthouse, living in luxury with the Sovereigns, who make all the decisions and direct the grafters to work.

On the show, viewers saw Eddy telling other contestants he lived in a huge house on an estate in Devon – where his family never had much money. He’s also been a stable and calming fixture on the show, baking bread for his fellow grafters every day, working hard at chores, and operating with honesty and integrity.

What most don’t know is that this is far from Eddy’s first time on television.

Eddy is actually Edmund Fulford, the youngest son of Francis Fulford, and one of the stars of a series of TV shows and documentaries, including Channel 4’s The F***ing Fulfords and BBC Three’s Life is Toff . And, as well as sharing photos of his life at the 3,000-acre estate and Tudor mansion on the edge of Dartmoor on social media, Eddy also joined an army regiment dedicated to espionage four years ago. years.

His family shared a picture of him in his uniform after passing out with the Honorable Artillery Company – the nation’s oldest regiment, specializing in covert surveillance and target acquisition. It also protects distinguished guests on state visits to London.

Eddy is also an Exeter City FC fan, sharing photos of games and wearing an ECFC top. After completing his studies, he spent a gap year touring South America with friends – visiting countries like Nicaragua, Colombia and Peru. He also made a trip to Kenya.

Eddy, 27, born in 1996, appeared on The F***ing Fulfords, a 2004 documentary-style reality TV show. He made the name of Francis Fulford and his family when it aired as part of the Channel 4 TV series Cutting Edge.

The documentary told the story of Eddy, his family and his father Francis, who inherited Great Fulford, the crumbling 800-year-old mansion on a 3,000-acre (12 km2) estate in Dunsford, near Cheriton Bishop, Devon.

During the show, with their mansion increasingly dilapidated and the family struggling financially, Francis Fulford concocts several elaborate schemes to make money. Schemes include using a metal detector to search for treasure on the family’s 3,000-acre estate, searching for telephone cables so he can bill British Telecom, selling mansion tours, conjuring up ghost stories and tree harvesting. Meanwhile, his wife Kishanda tries to solve the family’s financial difficulties by betting on horse races.

Unaware of the hustle and bustle of the family, the four Fulford children amused themselves by fighting, playing indoor cricket, throwing mud at each other and watching television. At one point in the episode, Kishanda becomes so angry with her children that she takes the TV, carries it outside, and throws it into a lake.

Throughout the program, Francis expresses frequent outbursts of profanity, uttering 38 of the show’s 53 swear words.

The show was a hit with viewers and critics. When broadcast on Channel 4, 3.5 million viewers tuned in.

The program was nominated for a BAFTA, in the ‘Best Single Documentary’ category, in the year 2005. It was also featured in Channel Five’s ‘100 Most Swearing TV Shows’ and placed 7th with 24 swear words – mostly starting with F – in the first 26 minutes. It was largely this question – how the use of secular language divided individual strata within the British class system – that set it apart from any other program or documentary in the same vein.

In a later show called Why Britain’s F****, Francis raised further points about a declining sense of duty, a lack of responsibility and a basic knowledge of UK history.

Francis and the four Fulford children returned to television, without the presence of their wife and mother Kishanda, in the six-part series Life Is Toff, which aired on BBC Three in autumn 2014.

The six-episode 2014 documentary showed the eccentric and aristocratic Fulford family at home on their 800-year-old country estate as the children grappled with coming of age. Eddy starred alongside older twin brothers Arthur and Matilda and older brother Humphrey.

Eddy is the 24th generation Fulford to live at Great Fulford Manor in Devon. His father is Lord of the Manor of Great Fulford, the current owner of the estate which was granted to his ancestor William of Fulford by King Richard in 1191 as a reward for military service in the Third Crusade. The current large house dates from the 16th century.

Mother Kishanda has just published a book detailing the family’s ties to the slave trade – The Spite of Fortune: The Fabulous Story of an 18th Century Heiress. It tells the story of Louisa Carolina Colleton who, in 1777, at the age of fourteen, inherited valuable properties on both sides of the Atlantic. She went to live with her uncle on the Devon estate before moving to the Bahamas, then to his plantations in South Carolina.

On her return to England, she married a naval officer, with whom she had ten children. His affairs were then much discussed.

Francis Fulford is the son of Lieutenant Colonel Francis Edgar Anthony Fulford and Joan Shirley, younger daughter of Rear Admiral C. Maurice Blackman, DSO. He is a great-great-grandson of Francis Fulford (1803-1868), Bishop of Montreal.

Since 2004, the Fulfords have maintained an ongoing career in reality television, appearing in various entertainment and documentary-style programs.

The family’s TV appearances include…

Fulford Whores (2004)
How clean is your house? (2004)
Why America Sucks (2005)
Why England is Screwed (2005)
Country House Rescue (2012)[15]
Salvage Hunters (2012)
Life is Toff (6 episodes) (2014)
Help! My House is Haunted (2018).

Eddy’s older brother Arthur, who appeared in Big Brother, will inherit the estate.

Many of the family’s television appearances have focused on how little money the family has and the cost of maintaining the estate. In a recent interview, Kishanda said they turn off the heating most of the time, sleeping with dogs for warmth. As well as making money from TV appearances, they also market Great Fulford House as a haunted place – claiming it is haunted by the ghosts of many dogs.

It is also used as a wedding venue and location for events and festivals as well as a filming location.