I was too skint to buy food & had to sell VW I got for 18th…Mum’s brutal response taught me to hustle says Love Islander
SHE’S a Love Island star with two series under her belt, 1.3m followers on Instagram and a successful modelling career.
But Arabella Chi is also a savvy spender, with a business head on her shoulders and a fledgling property empire to safeguard her future.
Now the Love Island beauty, 33, reveals her financial ups and downs to The Sun’s Money Talks series – from her mum’s sage advice when she was too broke to buy groceries to the designer shoes she bought as a 30th birthday treat.
She puts her thrifty nature down to events organiser mum Eunice and dad Paul – founder of mountain bike firm Saracen – who refused to bail her out when she found herself on the skids during her early modelling career.
“My parents both came from nothing and built really successful businesses so they were self-made and self-taught,” says Arabella, who grew up in Leamington Spa. “I would say I got my work ethic from them.
“I grew up around mountain bikes and I remember going into the factory. My dad was travelling a lot, he was in the Far East and my parents were always working.”
Mum Eunice, who was a model and hostess on the 1970s game show Sale Of The Century, provided the glamour in Arabella’s childhood.
“My mum was a model when she first met my dad and set up a fashion events company but she was also in TV so I followed in the footsteps of my mum.
“I would say that they’re massive hustlers and that’s where I get my hustle background from.”
‘Stuck in stockroom’
Arabella’s first job in Next, when she was 16, was far from the glam world of Love Island and modelling shoots she inhabits today.
Paid minimum wage, she was up at the crack of dawn for the famous Next sales – and barely saw the light of day.
“I loved playing shops when I was little so when I got a holiday job, at 16, I really wanted to work on the shop floor,” she says.
“But they would only give me the job in the stock room, so I spent all day in there, counting stock.
“Then for their huge Boxing Day sale, I’d have to get up at 3am, leaving all my family in bed, and go down to the store to sort the stock. People would be queuing for miles for the sale.”
At 18, Arabella — whose second name is pronounced ‘chai’ to rhyme with high – had already started modelling and a year later, after being scouted for agency Models 1, she took the brave decision to move to London – and admits the cost of living in the capital came as a shock.
“My dad actually said to me, ‘If you want to be a model, that’s absolutely fine, but you’re on your own. You won’t get any financial support from us.’ From that time I haven’t had any support from my parents,” she says.
“I didn’t understand London prices or London areas and I remember saying to my parents well I need to be in the centre of London, so I got a flat off Oxford Circus, but I had quite a shock because it was very expensive in comparison to what I was earning as a new face in modelling.
“But I had absolutely nothing and I remember getting to the checkout at my local supermarket, to pay for my groceries, and there was no money in my account so my card bounced.
“I rang my mum crying ,saying, ‘I need my dinner. My card’s not working,’. I was freaking out.
“She said, ‘You’ve got bread in the freezer and you’ve got a can of beans in the cupboard. You’ve got dinner.’
“It really made me understand the value of money so I started budgeting because I knew I was on my own. It was a good lesson”
There were more financial lessons to come, with Arabella getting a rude awakening after coming home from a stint in Australia to a massive tax bill she couldn’t afford.
“I didn’t really understand the whole tax thing – I think you should be taught it at school,” she says.
“But I had been given a car for my 18th birthday, a Volkswagen Polo, and when I came home from Australia, when I was 19, my mum said ‘You’ve got a lovely tax bill to pay. You know that nice car you got for your 18th birthday? You’re going to have to sell that.
“So the worst money decision I’ve ever made was not saving for a tax bill and then having to sell my 18th birthday present. That was tough because your first car, it’s your baby.”
Jet setting career
Although appearing on Love Island, in 2019, brought bombshell Arabella into the public eye she says her big break came before fame.
“I had an amazing modelling career,” she says. “I lived in incredible places – Australia,New York, Milan and Germany.- and even though at times it is very up and down, I was in a really good place before I went into Love Island.
“Love Island obviously changed things for me but not massively in terms of finances. I’ve always worked hard to get to where I am as a model and I’ve done well.”
I rang my mum crying ,saying, ‘I need my dinner. My card’s not working,’. I was freaking out
Arabella
Fame, she says, has given her more freedom to be creative. As well as lucrative deals with Fashion Nova, Superdry, Pretty Little Thing and Boohoo, she has recently designed her own jewellery range with the high-end brand Say It With…
“It’s great to be able to create content that I want to create because for so many years, as a model, it was what the client wanted.”
Property queen
Looking to her future, Arabella has made the sensible decision to invest in property and is now the owner of a flat in London and a house in Leamington Spa, close to her parents.
“When I was younger, I set myself a target to buy my first property by the time I was 30,’ she says.
“I bought my first flat, in Battersea, in December 2020 and I turned 30 the following March so I just made it.
“It was a one bed flat and I lived in it for almost three years. I think your first property is always your baby and I’m so proud I managed to achieve that.”
Battersea is close to Arabella’s heart as her parents also own a flat in the area and her brother Simon used to own a property.
Having renovated her first flat, she decided to rent it out, last year, when she went to live in Ibiza.
She is now back in the area and is currently renting a luxury water-side apartment.
“My parents have always been massively into properties, buying hidden gems around where they’re from and doing them up.
“They have a very good eye for potential and I think that’s started to rub off a little bit on me so I want to get more into this.
“In the fickle industry I’m in it’s really important to invest your money but also to have something that you have a passion for. Seeing my parents do up these amazing properties and seeing the outcome of that, I knew that was something I wanted to get into.
She has recently bought a fixer-upper in her hometown, at an auction, and is excited to be putting her own stamp on the house.
“It needs a lot of work, she says. “It needs everything ripping out right now then it will be a blank canvas.
“I’m really excited to create a lovely space and have another property I’m able to rent out. “That’s definitely what I see myself doing more in the future,
“My Pinterest board is full of my dream houses. I like the interior design side of things and my parents are holding my hand on this one. But on the next one, hopefully they’ll feel I’m able to do it on my own.
Thrifty spender
As a Love Island star, you’d be forgiven for thinking Arabella has a walk-in wardrobe stuffed with designer labels and £5,000 handbags.
But, asked what her most extravagant purchase has been, she reveals her practical side.
“I’m not a massive spender,” she says. “I wouldn’t say I am one of these people that sees a designer handbag and has to have it.I try and buy things that are more investments and I get a lot more enjoyment out of seeing my money being saved than spent.”
She does admit to owning a pair of Louboutin heels, which she treated herself to for her 30th birthday, splashing out £1000
“I said to myself, I really want one pair of Louboutins I’m going to have for life so I saved up and that was my 30th birthday present to myself,” she says. “They’ve got a special spot on the shelf in my wardrobe.”
But her most extravagant buy, she says, is her beloved Range Rover Evoque,which currently retail at £40,000 – although she went down the second hand route.
“It’s always been my dream car and I put off having a car for so long because I wanted to be able to save up for a Range Rover,” she says. “It’s a few years old but I’ve worked so hard for this car and I love it. I use it like my office sometimes and even eat my lunch in it.”
After 15 years in the modelling business, and a lucrative career as an influencer, Arabella has her head screwed on.
Recent collaborations include Boohoo, Shein, Superdry and the furnishing company Lewis andCo and her new jewellery collection, designed by Arabella for Say It With launches this month.
And she has learned to keep on top of her books, filing to her accountant every month and her biggest money tip is not to leave finances to chance.
“I would say get a good accountant and get a good pension,” she says. “No matter how young you are, it’s never too early to put money away for your future.”
Quickfire Questions
Q. If money was no object, what would you spend your money on?
A: I’d love to take my mum and my dad and my brother and his wife on an amazing holiday to the Maldives, flying first class. I’ve never flown first class so it would be a great new experience.
Q. What is your favourite cheap treat?
A: I love a jacket potato with tuna mayonnaise.
Q: Most expensive indulgence?
A: I love getting my nails done, which is getting more and more expensive. I have them done every three weeks.
Q: Most expensive holiday you’ve ever had?
A: It wasn’t really a holiday but probably flying to Australia when I had no money, as a model, was the most expensive flight I’ve ever bought. I wanted to travel around Australia but I couldn’t actually afford it once I got there.
Q. Would you lend a friend a large amount of money?
A: It depends what for. In a crisis, yes.
Q; Have you ever rowed with a partner about money?
A: No
Q: What job would you never do, no matter how much money they offered?
A: When I was younger, I used to work in the stable, so there’s probably not much I wouldn’t do, but I would rule out anything to do with heights. Skydiving instructor is out!
Q: What popular product do you think is a rip off?
A: Starbucks coffee. It’s like £4.50 now.
Q: What discontinued brand would you like to see return?
A: Woolworths. Because I used to love the pick and mix and the little cans.
Q: Favourite high street shop for clothes?
A: Zara by far. You can’t go wrong with Zara.
Q: What supermarket do you shop at?
A: Waitrose. But I shop online on Ocado and Amazon. I love an online food shop. I get excited when it comes.
Q: Favourite high street shop for bargains?
A: TK Maxx
Q: What’s the most expensive pair of shoes you own?
A: My £1,000 Laboutin heels that I bought for my 30th birthday present.
Q: Favourite beauty treat?
A: I love a facial massage. I would say that’s what I spend my money on – massages and facials.
Q: How much money is in your purse?
A: I don’t even have a purse! I use Apple Pay.
Q: Are you better off than your parents?
A: (Laughs)I bloody wish I was ! No