Telly favourites Ant and Dec and Phillip Schofield will reportedly lose £8 million after a villa complex they were buying holiday homes at went bust.
A court has ruled that the trio will not be entitled to any compensation.
It’s understood they have each put down millions as a down payment, which won’t be returned.
What’s happened to Ant and Dec and Phillip Schofield?
The telly kings were in the process of buying property at The Keys resort in Quinta de Lago on the Algarve in Portugal.
Ant and Dec were buying neighbouring homes, it’s been reported, while the This Morning star was buying a home nearby.
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It’s understood that court papers show Ant and Dec both put down deposits of £3.1m.
Schofe, meanwhile, has paid a £2m deposit.
Ant and Dec were apparently holidaying in Portugal when the bank pulled the plug on the project, The Sun reports.
So what’s happening with the villas now?
It appears the villas are standing unfinished and empty.
A source said they are currently “overgrown with weeds”.
Meanwhile, pools are said to be full of “green water and junk”.
Read more: Declan Donnelly ‘targeted by burglars as family slept at £5m home’
When developer Birchview went bust, the complex was sold to Brazilian financial firm SRESPX.
However, the deal is only said to have been done on the provision that the creditors didn’t need to be paid off.
Ant and Dec and Philip Schofield remain out of pocket.
Earlier this week, a Portuguese court refused an appeal to block the sale.
This in turn means the telly trio will be more than £8m out of pocket.
Lawyers for the creditors, who are owed a total of £250m, may now launch an appeal to Lisbon’s top court.
Ant and Dec and Phillip Schofield ‘still empty-handed’
A source close to the case said: “As things stand at the moment the investors who made down payments on holiday homes are still empty-handed.
“The courts have decided there was nothing untoward about the sale and that means Ant and Dec and Philip Schofield remain out of pocket.”
They concluded: “It’s a new reverse in what has been an exhausting legal battle.”
ED! has contacted reps for Ant, Dec and Phillip for a comment on this story.
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