Bargain-Loving Brits in the Sun

Lore & Background

The series originated from the 2013 programme Gibraltar: Britain in the Sun, which was about Gibraltar and is a separate show. The actual predecessor was Bargain Brits in the Sun (first aired in 2014), which evolved from Gibraltar: Britain in the Sun but is not a direct rebrand. The original Bargain Brits in the Sun was a 20-episode series set in Benidorm, and the daytime slot expansion was to a 40-episode run, with episodes alternating between new content and repeats from earlier series. By 2024, the episode count had grown to over 100, with 136 episodes ordered in 2023.

Reader's Guide

Bargain-Loving Brits in the Sun represents a significant strand of Channel 5's daytime factual programming, focusing on the lives of British expatriates in Spain who manage their finances carefully. The series has documented a wide range of characters, including drag performers, animal shelter operators, antique dealers, and bar owners, offering a snapshot of expat life on the Costa Blanca and Costa del Sol. Its production by Zinc Media's Red Sauce label and narration by John Thomson have given it a consistent identity. The show's longevity—with multiple recommissions and a shift from primetime to a daily afternoon slot—reflects its popularity with viewers, as evidenced by 22 million viewers in 2022. The series has also spawned a British seaside counterpart, Bargain-Loving Brits by the Sea, and has been used as a branding umbrella for repeated episodes of earlier related programmes.

Did You Know?

• The series was originally titled Bargain Brits in the Sun in 2014, following the 2013 programme Gibraltar: Britain in the Sun, which was a separate show about Gibraltar.
• In 2022, 22 million people watched Bargain-Loving Brits across its various series.
• The show's narrator is John Thomson.
• The 2024 cast included drag duo Wayne and Des.

Premise & Observational Format

The series is an unscripted observational programme that follows British expatriates who have settled along Spain's coastlines, specifically the Costa Blanca, Costa del Sol, and the Romería de El Rocío area. Rather than imposing a narrative arc, the camera simply documents how these individuals navigate everyday life while keeping within tight financial means. Their routines reveal a colourful patchwork of pursuits: drinking lager, running animal shelters, and performing as drag artists. The very first series, an eight-episode primetime production filmed in Benidorm, also wove in practical segments such as a 'Top Ten Guide to Living in Benidorm on the Cheap,' blending light entertainment with genuine cost-of-living advice. By 2022 the franchise had drawn an audience of 22 million viewers, a clear sign of the broad appeal of watching ordinary people build unconventional lives abroad on modest budgets. The format's core strength lies in its unscripted intimacy, allowing the subjects' personalities and eccentricities to emerge naturally without heavy narration or contrived storylines.

Production & Schedule Evolution

Behind the camera, the series is produced by Red Sauce, the factual-entertainment label under Zinc Media Group, with John Thomson serving as narrator. The programme's scheduling has undergone a dramatic transformation over its run. It launched as a compact eight-part Sunday-night primetime show, but by 2020 Channel 5 recommissioned it as a 40-episode weekday afternoon series airing at 4pm, initially carrying the working title 'Costa Living' before that subtitle was dropped to fold the episodes into the main brand. Over the first eight series the total episode count reached roughly a hundred, including a Christmas Special. Demand continued to climb: in 2022 the channel ordered 46 new episodes, and in 2023 that figure ballooned to 136. Although the 2023 order included 16 peak-time slots, only three of series 11 actually aired in the 8pm Sunday window—one a tribute to the late Graham 'Happy Days' Boland—before the remainder shifted into the daytime block. By September 2024, series 12 was airing in the 4pm slot, and an October 2024 recommission added another 80 episodes, cementing the show's permanent home in Channel 5's afternoon schedule.

A Rotating Cast of Eccentric Characters

One of the franchise's greatest strengths is its ever-shifting ensemble of memorable personalities. The original Benidorm cast featured Graham 'Happy Days' Boland, drag performer Dusty Crack, and residents of the Villamar campsite. The 2019 season introduced Jose and Jan, a couple who left their roles as Harrods florists to run the Animals in Distress shelter on the Costa del Sol, caring for 60 dogs over more than 15 years, alongside antique dealer Andy Wainwright, who had relocated from Wollaton and spent a month hunting discarded treasures. The 2024 lineup brought in Ding Dong Val, an Avon sales representative; Uncle Ron, a former haulage contractor pivoting into the Benidorm bar scene; pitmaster Chunkz (Paul Devlin) from The Saucy Pig barbecue business; holiday park representative Bambi Dhami; part-time drag queen Colin 'Coco' Brown, who splits his time between evening performances and running an animal rescue centre with his Spanish partner Sebastian in Murcia; TikTok guide Nigel; and the drag duo Wayne and Des. Series 12 added Welsh singer Laura Elen, bar owner Simon Dearing, and JoJo Love, keeping the roster fresh.

The By the Sea Spin-off & Brand Ecosystem

Channel 5 extended the Bargain-Loving Brits umbrella beyond Spain with a British seaside counterpart. What began in 2017 as Bargain-Loving Brits in Blackpool gradually expanded to east-coast locations before being rebranded as Bargain-Loving Brits by the Sea. Its cast was eclectic: impresario Simon Green (stage name Betty Legs Diamond), Kurt and Lisa Walsh who run The Crypt on Blackpool's Birley Street, residents of Merlewood Caravan Park, and the team behind Beeston Lodge Hotel in Skegness—a Rock 'n' Roll-themed B&B that featured one of comedian Duncan Norvelle's final television appearances. Other regulars included Phil Charles and Adam Tugwell's Doctor Who-inspired B&B, Daisy and Matt at the Natureland seal sanctuary, the drag queens of Funny Girls cabaret bar, and John and his daughter Thalia, who run a donkey business in Skegness. Scarborough also featured across the four series. The first three seasons ran six episodes each, but the final series saw only three episodes broadcast in primetime before the show was dropped, its last episode featuring comedian Mick Miller. A 2013 programme, Gibraltar: Britain in the Sun, was rebranded as Bargain Brits in the Sun and slotted into the 4pm repeat window for brand coherence.