A young heiress who splashed £1,000 on nights out and £1,500 on taxis a month because ‘walking is for peasants’ formed an unlikely bond with a single mother-of-two and former drug addict on last night’s Rich Kids Go Skint.
Nadia Nuseibeh, 24, lived with her parents in Knightsbridge in one of her family’s three London properties.
She went to stay in Bournemouth with single mother-of-two Natalie Russell, 40, who worked 16 hour weeks and makes ends meet with Universal Credit.
Natalie, who used to be homeless and addicted to drugs, lived in a two-bedroom house with her sons Kaliel, 16, and Ilai, 11, and was sometimes left in debt at the end of the month.
Viewers loved the two women, calling Nadia ‘funny’ and ‘down to Earth’ and Natalie a great mother.
Heiress Nadia Nuseibeh, 24, was used to splashing her parents’ cash on nights out, spending at least £100 per outing – pictured second left with friends at a casino
The Russell family, in Bournemouth, welcomed Nadia into their home so she could get a taste of their lifestyle. Pictured: Ilai, 11, Natalie, 40, and Kaliel, 16, in front of their home
In spite of a back injury she worked as much as she could and, with a top up of Universal Credit, has a monthly income of £1,560, which mostly went towards her children, rent and food.
The two women bonded in spite of their differences, opening up about the hardships they’d gone through.
The experience on the 5Star show acted as a stark reality check for Nadia – who was currently unemployed – and saw her admit to living in a ‘fake La La Land’.
Nadia, who was the daughter of a Palestinian self-made millionaire, was used to having a housekeeper and grew up partly in Jordan, where she had three maids.
‘I’m very scared about drinking tap water, I have a phobia of drinking tap water,’ Nadia explained.
The young heiress grew up with maids and a driver, and has a housekeeper in her London flat. She doesn’t clean and doesn’t know how to cook
Speaking about moving in with Natalie, she admitted: ‘I feel that I’m gonna feel guilty just for being born in a more privileged family with more opportunities.’
Nadia explained how she didn’t get an allowance from her parents – they simply gave her money whenever she asked for it.
The heiress, who had a Masters degree in international marketing and management, relied on her parents to fund her luxury lifestyle, asking them for a minimum of £100 each time she went out.
‘I can spend £1,500 on taxis, walking is for peasants,’ she joked. ‘I can spend £500 at a pub or a bar.’
She once spent £1,000 on a ‘crazy’ night out – the hangover from which lasted for three days.
Nadia on a night out with friends. The young woman got food delivered four times a day and went on expensive night outs several times a week
Nadia didn’t know how to cook, and would gladly get food delivered to her home four times a day.
This was on top of a £200 food shop her mother ordered twice a week for herself, her husband and her daughter.
Nadia’s father suffered from motor neurone disease, a rare condition which affects the brain and nerves, which worsens with time.
‘I think this experience will do you a lot of good,’ Nadia’s father, whom she’s very close to, told her.
Meanwhile, cash-strapped Natalie spent £50 on a food shop a week for her two sons and herself, and had learned to be savvy with her money.
Natalie said meeting Natalie was the first time she’d ever met a single parent, and admitted she expected the house to look ‘dirty’
When the women met for the first time it was a culture shock for Nadia, who was used to lavish apartments and luxury.
‘It’s my first time seeing a single-parent up-close,’ she said.
But she was pleasantly surprised by Natalie’s neat and cozy apartment, which left her ‘blown out of the park’.
‘I thought it was gonna be dirty,’ she added. ‘Maybe my expectations were too low.’
Nadia said she is very close to her father, who suffers from motor neurone disease. He encouraged her to go on the programme
Natalie was touched by Nadia’s sense of humour and kind heart as they got to know each other
Nadia was stunned when Natalie told her she’d take any job to put food on the table for her family, including cleaning toilets.
‘I think that’s amazing and I feel like such a piece of s***,’ Nadia told her.
The young heiress was challenged by the mother-of-two when she asked her to buy a list of cleaning products for the house with a budget of just £10.
‘She wants to get things right, I think she’ll give it a very good go,’ a confident Natalie said.
After an hour of debating which products to pick, the young woman managed to respect the budget.
Tasked with buying cleaning products on a budget of £10, it takes the heiress half an hour to pick the items she needs
Speaking to Natalie and her friend and business partner Debbie, Nadia later opened up about the pressures of living in a privileged environment.
‘I felt more emotional in the past couple of days than I have in a really long time,’ she admitted.
‘In my world you have to pretend that everything is perfect all the time and you’re laughing and you go for drinks.
‘You’re kinda living in this fake perfect La La Land where no one talks about problems or emotional struggles.
From left to right: Elai, Natalie, Kaliel and Nadia. The heiress had an eye-opening experience while learning about Natalie’s story
‘And everything they talk about is the economy or what the next trend is or what restaurant to eat at.’
Nadia’s experience was miles away from Natalie’s, whose acquaintance led her into a life of substance abuse.
She struggled to turn her life around, and at 18 she found out she was expecting her first son.
‘I ended up homeless at 15,’ she told Nadia. ‘And then I ended up in prison.
Nadia on the balcony of her Knightsbridge apartment. The heiress said she felt like she lives in a world of ‘fake perfection’
At the end of the show, we learn that Nadia and Natalie’s family stayed in contact and planned to meet again
‘I overdosed at the age of 18 and when I started to turn things around, I was pregnant with Kaliel and it was so scary for me.’
She explained how she managed to secure a spot at her local YMCA, which helped her bounce back.
‘I came with my bin bags of things and my little pregnant belly,’ she recalled as Nadia listens agog.
She told the mother-of-two: ‘You’re so lovely and kind-hearted and you opened your home to me and it hurts me that someone so amazing as you would go through all of that.’
In spite of their differences, the two women bonded as Natalie told Nadia her story of resilience, which profoundly touched the rich kid
Party girl Nadia explained she felt she goes out to distract herself from the fact she lived in a ‘fake perfect La La Land’
‘The more I focus on “It’s not fair,” the more I suffer – that’s why I’m massive about helping other people and extending my hand,’ Natalie said humbly, to which Nadia replied: ‘You really do inspire me.’
Hearing about Natalie’s own struggles was an eye-opener for Nadia, who’s visibly shaken.
‘There are so many people, specifically people that I know, that their problems are nothing,’ Nadia said.
‘They should be so grateful to have a roof over their heads, a meal on the table, a roof for the night. Nobody talks to you about it, it’s all hidden and it’s all pretend perfection.’
At the end of the experience, Nadia offered Natalie’s sons two vouchers for JD worth £100 (pictured)
Viewers felt Nadia was funny and down to Earth, and that Natalie had done a great job with her children
At the end of the experience, Nadia purchased two JD Sports vouchers worth £100 for each of Natalie’s sons to thank them for their warm welcome.
She also gave Natalie £100 in cash for her ‘rainy day fund,’ calling Natalie a ‘blessing’ in [her] life.
‘It was like an out-of-body experience, so surreal,’ Nadia said. ‘I didn’t think I would get what I did out of it.’
The experience had been so positive that Nadia was set to go and stay with the Russells again very soon.
Viewers loved the two women, with one calling Nadia ‘funny and down to Earth.’
‘The Kids are really well brought up. A credit to their mother. Nadia is funny and down to Earth,’ one said.
‘Enjoyed Rich Kids Go Skint, but a 24yo is hardly a ‘kid.’ I’d been working f/t for seven years by the time I was 24.’ pointed out one.
However, some felt Nadia still had a lot to learn about the world, with one writing: ‘This kid is clueless.’
Rich Kids Go Skint airs on Mondays at 9pm on 5Star.