26 Flavia Cacace and Jimi Mistry After Strictly, it’s the Good Life


F


ormer Strictly Come Dancing star, Flavia Cacace-Mistry says moving to the South Hams to run a smallholding was a “leap of faith” for her and husband Jimi Mistry. The professional dancer and the ex-EastEnders star, who met when they were partnered on the show in 2010, swapped their bungalow in Guildford for a seven-acre smallholding near Blackawton in January. Quitting fame for the good life, the pair


say they are “very happy” here even though the move was scary at first. They now live in a converted barn, sell


eggs from their flock of hens, keep three rare breed sheep – Enzo, Freddy and Flash - and grow their own fruit and vegetables, including tomatoes, lettuce, artichokes, aubergines, melons, grapes, onions, beetroot, beans, apples, pears and cherries. “We decided to live on a smallholding because we


“We wanted to be near nature and live a more sustainable life”


as we were never at home! “It’s all totally new to us but it’s amazing


what you can achieve. “We bought a book on chicken keeping and a manual for smallholders, plus we did lots of research online which all helps - but


took the leap of faith,” Flavia, 42, said. “We wanted to be near nature and live a more sustainable life. “It was a bit scary but it was something we both needed. “The only animals we had before were our two boys,


Pablo and Zak who are both cockapoos, and as far as plants – well, we used to tell people not to buy us any


it’s when you get hands on that you really learn. A typical day on the farm starts at 6am and sees the pair clean out the chickens, check the sheep and walk the dogs all before 9am. Before lunch they also make bread, water the plants,


harvest and prune the vegetables in their polytunnel and green houses and catch up on paperwork and emails. In the afternoon the couple take Pablo and Zak for another walk before resuming renovation work on


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