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Main character syndrome: How to live like the stars of your favourite tv show

James Fisher

Are you a fan of Bridgerton or The Bear? Then these four properties will turn fantasy into reality.

It’s one of the great lies in life that we choose to accept. You might be wondering what I’m referring to. Trickle down economics? Yes, but also that’s a discussion for a different time. Santa Claus? The Moon landings? No, none of those. I refer, of course, to young people living in exceptionally nice houses in TV shows.

You’ve seen Rachel and Monica’s flat in Friends. That’s where it started for me. How on earth does a service worker afford a giant apartment in downtown New York City? Once you think about it, you can’t stop thinking about it. 

I know what you’re saying. ‘It’s just TV, it’s not even real’. Yes I know that, but it still bugs me. So with that in mind, I got some help from my friends at Knight Frank, who provided me with a list of TV shows, and accompanying properties that they currently have on the market in which the characters might live in the real world. Put it like this, you would probably have to have a slightly higher-earning job than working in a coffee shop to afford them.

Emily in Paris (Netflix)

A show that is the very definition of ‘it’s so bad, it’s good’. No idea how Emily in Paris has made it to a fourth season, but a fourth season it has. Emily is an aspiring marketing executive who moves to Paris. The first season was laughable, but a laugh is a laugh. I have not watched much since then, but like I said, we have a fourth season, so someone must be.

Live like Emily

The view from le balcony.

For €5.9 million, you can own this two-bedroom apartment in Paris. It features exceptional views of the Seine and the Louvre, due to being on the top floor of its block (thankfully there is an elevator). Split over two floors, it features a dining room, living room, two balconies and a home office. Tres bien.

A most enjoyable living room in the heart of the French capital. Incroyable!

My Lady Jane (Amazon Prime)

Not seen this one, but a cursory check of Wikipedia reveals some interesting results. It’s set in an alternate 16th-century England, where Lady Jane Grey is ‘coerced into marrying Lord Guildford Dudley’. So far so good. Now it gets interesting. In this version of England, there are people called Ethians, who can turn into animals. I must have been asleep in that part of my history A Level. It was cancelled after one season, despite having a 94% score on Rotten Tomatoes and being described as a ‘romp-antasy for revisionary souls, My Lady Jane has her cake and slays it too’. Remember that bit about trickle-down economics?

A castle fit for a lady (Jane or otherwise)

There are imposing façades, and then there’s this.

15th century. Four floors. A tower. Named ‘The Tower’. You get the idea. This property is available for rent for £16,000 per month, and is situated in a private gated development in Esher. Plenty of original features remain, but have been complemented in a recent restoration. Five bedrooms.

The interiors, where applicable, are delightfully contemporary.

The Bear (Disney+)

Finally! Some delicious TV! If you have not seen The Bear, you must. A tale of one man’s dream to open a fine-dining restaurant in Chicago, it’s equal parts funny, moving and dramatic. The episode titled Seven Fishes in season 2 might be one of the finest pieces of television ever made. Olivia Colman is in it. What more do you want?

Cook like the bear

When the agents said ‘concrete’, they meant it.

For sale with both Knight Frank and Douglas Elliman, this property in Beverly Hills costs $68 million. Which I think we can all agree is Quite A Lot Of Money. However, you get five bedrooms, unobstructed views of the entire Los Angeles basin from downtown to the ocean and a home that is described as ‘bold and brash, built entirely in exquisite poured in place concrete’. It features every conceivable amenity, including this state of the art chef’s kitchen. Time to get the liquid nitrogen out and throw a serious dinner party. If you do not like The Bear, and Star Wars is more your speed, the above property would also make a perfectly reasonable Death Star. Plenty of roof space for a big laser and parking for some Tie Fighters.

The professional kitchen. Gordon Ramsay, eat your heart out.

Bridgerton (Netflix)

It was inevitable that Bridgerton would appear on this list. Everywhere you look it’s Bridgerton, Bridgerton, Bridgerton. I have seen a few episodes and didn’t care for it, but I have been wrong about things before, if you can believe it. There are three seasons and a film. Eight members of an aristocratic family try to get married in the Regency Era. Jane Austen all over again.

An apartment for The Season

When it comes to Grade I Regency living, it’s hard to look past Bath.

This Grade I-listed townhouse in Bath is impeccably presented and sits in one of the city’s most desirable Georgian garden squares. It is everything you think of when you think of either Bridgerton, or Bath, or both. Extensively renovated by its current owners, the property is a delightful mix of period opulence and contemporary comfort, set over six floors with four bedrooms. It costs £3.25 million.

The interiors are deliciously period and well maintained, with views over the garden square.

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