Nigel Farage faces scrutiny over house purchase funded by reality TV fee vs crypto gift

Nigel Farage is facing fresh scrutiny over his claim that he paid for his £1.4m house from a reality show fee rather than the millions gifted to him by a crypto billionaire.

Accounts for the Reform leader’s personal media company, Thorn in the Side Ltd, suggest that money was not withdrawn from the firm at the time of the house purchase.

The apparent discrepancy raises fresh questions about Farage’s transparency with regard to his finances. He is currently being investigated by the parliamentary standards commissioner over his failure to declare a £5m gift from Christopher Harborne, as revealed by the Guardian.

He claims that the gift was made to fund his security. But Farage bought his house in Surrey on 10 May 2024, only weeks after receiving the money from Harborne, a billionaire who has lived in Thailand for two decades.

Farage’s spokesperson had told the BBC last week that he paid for the Surrey property purchase with his £1.5m fee for participating in I’m a Celebrity … Get Me Out of Here! in late 2023.

An analysis by the Financial Times raises questions about that claim.

Farage has previously said that his earnings from the reality show were paid to Thorn in the Side Ltd.

Accounts for the company show its cash position increased from £300,000 on 31 May 2023 to £1.7m on 31 May 2024.

The accounts suggest that no dividend was paid out in the period and its cash position increased from £1.7m to £2m between May 2024 and May 2025.

Farage, rather than Thorn in the Side, bought the Surrey home and there is no mortgage on the property.

A Reform spokesperson said the house was not bought with Harborne’s gift.

The spokesperson suggested that this was proved by the fact that anti-money laundering checks relating to the purchase were carried out before the gift was made.

The spokesperson said: “Nigel has multiple sources of income, as you can see from his parliamentary register.”

He did not respond to the question of whether the Reform leader stood by his claim that the money from the reality show was used to buy his home.

Farage did not register Harborne’s gift, which was made within 12 months of his election as the MP for Clacton, in his register of interests. He claims that this was not necessary as it was a personal donation.

The parliamentary standards commissioner has announced an investigation into the Reform UK leader’s failure to declare the gift.

Nimesh Shah, a tax expert at accountancy firm Blick Rothenberg, reviewed the company accounts for the FT and said they suggested money from Farage’s reality TV show appearance was not used to purchase the house.

Should Farage be found to have breached parliamentary rules by failing to declare a gift, he could be suspended from the House of Commons and a byelection could be triggered in his constituency.

Farage has repeatedly said that Harborne gave him the money to pay for his security although last week he told the Sun that the money was “given to me on an ​unconditional basis – completely unconditional basis – but frankly, it was given as a reward for campaigning for Brexit for 27 years”.

Farage was elected in July 2024. Parliamentary rules state that any benefits should be declared for the 12 months before taking up office as an MP. There is an exemption for personal gifts but the rules state: “If there is any doubt, the benefit should be registered.”

Harborne donated £12m to Reform last year, making him one of the biggest donors in British political history.