Essex chip shop owners on Channel 4's Place in the Sun

John Lord and Liz Silk are the owners of high street chip shop the Jolly Fryer in Burnham.

The couple met eight years ago in Puerto Rico de Gran Canaria and hope to retire on the island together.

Tonight, they will star in Channel 4’s A Place in the Sun at 4pm.

They filmed the hour-long episode across six days in Gran Canaria, while they were living there, as they often enjoy six-month rentals on the island.

Liz said: “It was a good experience and very informative and helpful.

“We want to retire to Gran Canaria as we love it there and have a lot of friends out there now.

Looking for their dream home - on TV tonight

John, Liz and presenter Ben Hillman in Gran Canaria

“We were out there in a rental at the time and saw on Facebook that Channel 4 were looking for applications, so we emailed and doubted that anything would happen.

“Within an hour we had an email back asking us to do a screen test.”

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They had to be socially distanced while filming as their episode was made in November 2020, when strict Covid restrictions were in place.

Liz said: “Everyday we had Covid tests done and had to wear masks whilst walking around but while we were filming we were allowed to take our masks off.

“We love it out there. We call it our spiritual home because we love being there.

“The show and team helped us a lot and the presenter Ben gave us loads of ideas of things we could do with certain properties.”

She said off screen they all had a laugh and were mucking around. 

Liz said the director kept telling John and presenter Ben Hillman off for being cheeky.

The couple will be watching the episode while they work at their fish and chip shop this afternoon.

Friday is the busiest day at the chip shop so the owners will have a TV at the front of the shop and out back to watch the episode while they serve customers.