Farage paid for £1.4m house with I'm a Celebrity cash, says Reform

Nigel Farage paid for a £1.4m house in 2024 using money he received for taking part in I'm A Celebrity Get Me Out of Here, Reform UK have told the BBC.

Sky News reported on Thursday that Farage completed the purchase of the house shortly after he received £5m from Reform mega donor Christopher Harborne.

Harborne's payment, which Reform UK say was a personal gift to be used for Farage's security, is now the subject on an inquiry by the Parliamentary Standards Commissioner.

But Reform say the property purchase was completely unrelated to Harborne's payment and was instead funded with money from his appearance on the ITV reality programme.

Land registry documents seen by the BBC show that Nigel Farage completed the purchase of a £1.42m property in Surrey on 10 May 2024.

The documents show that the purchase was made in cash and without the use of a mortgage.

In a statement to Sky News, who first reported the purchase, Reform said "Mr Farage had already passed proof of funds and the relevant checks before receiving the gift" from the crypto billionaire Harborne.

Farage appeared on I'm a Celebrity Get Me Out of Here in December 2023, finishing in third place and was reportedly paid a seven-figure sum.

Harborne, a Thailand-based British businessman, gave £5m to Farage on 5 April 2024, two months before he announced he would stand in that year's general election.

in April, Harborne told The Telegraph he "wasn't expecting anything in return apart from ensuring his safety" when referring to the gift.

Harborne also said he gave the money to Farage "because of my great admiration for the decades of work he had done to achieve Brexit".

Parliamentary rules state that new MPs must declare any donations received in the 12 months before they were elected.

The payment did not appear on Farage's declaration of interests and only became public knowledge after being reported by the Guardian newspaper last month.

Reform UK has consistently said it does not believe the payment needed to be declared because it was a "personal, unconditional gift".

Harborne has gone on to become Reform's biggest donor and gave the party £12m in 2025.

Farage has said that Harborne gave him the money to pay for his lifetime security.

A Reform UK Spokesman told the BBC: "The relevant chronology is straightforward. The offer and purchase process for the property commenced before the gift.

"Mr Farage had already passed proof of funds and the relevant checks before receiving the gift. The purchase was therefore already proceeding independently of it."

The party went on to confirm that the property purchase was "nothing to do" with Harborne's gift and that the money came from his ITV fee.

BBC News understands the Parliamentary Standards Commissioner is launching an inquiry into whether Farage broke Commons rules by not declaring the £5m payment from Harborne .

On Thursday Farage told The Sun newspaper that the payment was "given as a reward for campaigning for Brexit" and that he was "not in the least bit worried" about the inquiry.

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