I made £1million at 16 and thought poor were lazy until I lived like one - Dhillan Bhardwaj.


Entrepreneur Dhillan Bhardwaj only knew the finer things in life until the Channel 5 series Rich Kids Go Skint opened his mind up to the different ways people live. Bedding down for the night in a sleeping bag on the sofa of a small council house is a world away from Dhillan Bhardwaj’s millionaire lifestyle. Entrepreneur Dhillan, 21, is more used to the finer things in life, living in a huge mansion with his family. It has 42 acres of land, five living rooms, three kitchens, a tennis court, cinema, gym, a glass-walled orangery and 20 bedrooms. Dhillan’s family also own more than 20 cars, including Ferraris, Lamborghinis and Rolls-Royces. Dhillan himself drives to work in a BMW 4 Series.
So he had a shock when he spent two days with 59-year-old Elaine Sullivan, who supports herself and her five kids on benefits in Warlingham, Surrey. It is the next episode of Channel 5’s Rich Kids Go Skint, which has featured Chelsea playboy Fergus Prutton living with a family on a council estate.“Meeting Elaine changed my ­impression of people on benefits,” he said. “It’s a full-time job for some people to manage their money to survive.”
After designing clothes in his parents’ garage, Dhillan founded the trendy label Ratchet worn by Rihanna, Miley Cyrus and Azealia Banks when he was 16. He made £1million in his first year.He said: “I came on the show as I felt I needed a bit of a reality check. I am really bad with spending. I wanted to see how people can budget yet be happy.”Dhillan, from Loughborough, Leicestershire, regularly drops thousands of pounds in the fancy designer clothes shops of Paris, London and Milan.
Meanwhile, Elaine picks up cheap clobber in charity shops and buys food past its “best before” dates online.She hit “rock bottom” eight years ago after a relationship broke down and ­was hit by severe depression. Elaine lost her job as a food and drink taster and the family were homeless for four years before getting a council house. She said: “There are a massive stigma and negative stereotyping towards people with benefits. But I had supportive friends who told me that I’d paid into the system for years and that benefits are there for people like me.“I decided to go on the show to change people’s opinion about those on benefits. You never know what can happen to you. You can lose everything like I did.”
During his stay with Elaine, Dhillan got stuck into her lifestyle, cleaning out her chicken coop, cooking a cheap pasta bake for the family in her cramped kitchen and walking her two dogs Bengy and Oscar getting his £400 trainers extremely muddy in the process. And he treated them to afternoon tea, ­buying them new outfits from a charity shop and even hiring a skip so Elaine could clear her garden.One of the things that struck Dhillan the most was seeing that money doesn’t necessarily buy you happiness.His said his career left him little time for friends or a social life.“Elaine and her children are happy and clearly love each other. We will definitely stay in touch,” he said.
He has become friends with Elaine’s daughter Abby, 18, a student. “We hit it off right away. I was impressed that she knew who I was and had heard of my brand. I speak to her regularly on Instagram and I recently invited her to a Ratchet event.”Yet despite his luxurious lifestyle, Dhillan says he is down to earth.“When I was growing up before my parents started to earn a lot of money with their car mechanics business, we lived in a tiny house and didn’t have much. Even now there are 18 of us in one house and I contribute some of my earnings to the family pot, as well as pay rent to my parents.
“I’ve always worked throughout my life, even washing cars at the age of five for my uncles for £1 a time. Previously, I thought a lot of people on benefits didn’t work ­because they were lazy.“Now I know this isn’t the case. I feel very grateful that I have a safety net if anything ever goes wrong with my company. And I have realised there are valid reasons why people need help.”Rich Kids Go Skint is on Tuesday at 9pm on 5 STAR.
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