Piers Morgan in Marbella
Piers Morgan, former editor of The Mirror turned celebrity judge on Britain’s
Got Talent revealed his true opinions of Marbella in his latest travelogue
filmed on location in Marbella last summer. Louise Cook Edwards reports.
He’s done Dubai, lived Los Angeles and now he’s mooched around Marbella all
in the name of research for his own series of savvy TV documentaries.
Like a new, better-looking Alan Whicker for the "Oneders" or
the Twenty Tens, the utterly charming and articlulate Piers
Morgan has chosen to put Marbella in the spotlight in the latest of his
travel programmes.
Defies Definition
In the hour long programme, the smooth, besuited media giant, Piers Morgan
admitted that Marbella, unlike other resorts such as Barbados or parts of Thailand, is
difficult to define.He expected a rough tough Marbella full of glamour models,
footballers and gangsters – and was surprised to find that, while there
are elements of that clichéd old, Costa del Crime vision of Marbella,there
is another "quite extraordinary side to Marbella – one of staggering wealth
and discretion."
Mr Morgan’s whirlwind tour of Marbella took in all the glamour and glitz
of the resort, with bird’s eye helicopter footage, a trip to the exlusive
Ascari race course and lots of zipping around the Golden Mile in sexy little
sports cars. Well-researchedand balanced, Piers Morgan’s Marbella was
desirable and dripping with glamour, and while he did poke fun at the town built
on under the table Bin Laden’s, the documentary focused on the positive reasons why
some 300,000 Britons live in the area, and another 2.5 million visited the
Costa del Sol last year.
In the documentary, Piers takes a glimpse at the disparate tastes and ambience
which make up the cosmopolitan cocktail that is Marbella… From Gary
Lineker’s bar in Puerto Banús, popular with beer-swilling, young
English holiday makers out for a good time, to the rarified world of the super
wealthy in La Zagaleta private estate.
Morgan looks in on a champagne spraying party at world famous, luxury beach
club Nikki Beach, where he interviews Gazza’s daughter, Bianca Gasgoine. He
later trawls the designer stores of Puerto Banus with Karren Brady,
former boss of Birmingham City football club, who succinctly says of
the resort, " There are two sides to this place – part euro, and part
trash – but both sides are quite fun."
In The Super League
But it seems to be the houses, not the people who inhabit them that most captivated
Piers Morgan’s imagination. He gained access to the home of a British
Knight of the realm – who remains nameless – a mind-bogglingly luxurious
property valued in excess of 60 million pounds which the owner inhabits for
just 3 weeks of the year.
On his travels, Morgan caught up with Marbella stalwarts PR Guru Max Clifford,
empresario supremo, Alan Sugar, and Princess Diana’s former love interest,
turned club owner, James Hewitt, all of whom have homes in Marbella.
"Butlins for billionaires," is Piers Morgan’s epithet for the resort
that has been home to European and Saudi Royalty for more than five decades
– but underneath the jibing, Piers Morgan seemed genuinely impressed. Let’s
see if Mr Morgan and his delightful girlfriend Celia are spotted here
next summer sipping champagne on some billionaire’s yacht. Come on Piers,
surprise us…Marbella has a magnetic effect…
