Inspired by American reality series The Hills, Made in Chelsea follows a privileged set of young West Londoners as they go out, hook up, break up and jet off to luxury destinations.

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Full of gossip, drama, romance and ever-changing loyalties, E4’s BAFTA-winning series has launched many cast members’ media careers and spawned everything from a fitness DVD to live concerts.

How can I watch Made in Chelsea?

Made in Chelsea is available on All4, YouTube, iTunes and Amazon Prime. You can also purchase the series on DVD.

How many seasons of Made in Chelsea are there?

So far, there have been 18 London-set seasons of the show, plus several international spinoff series featuring members of the London cast. The Made in Chelsea brand has also spawned a number of offshoot products like a fitness DVD featuring cast members, several web series and a number of live music gigs presented by the cast.

Where is Made in Chelsea filmed?

Like the title suggests, a lot of Made in Chelsea is primarily filmed in and around Chelsea. Favourite local hotspots include the Jam Tree bar on King’s Road, Beaufort House private members’ club, The Botanist on Sloane Square and the Bluebird Café.

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Of course, this is a cast of hip young Londoners: they’re not just going to stick to one neighbourhood, and have been filmed at trendy venues across the Big Smoke. Shoreditch and Farringdon have been popular nights out—the Made in Chelsea team have been spotted at Flight Club, Aviary and Bounce, to name a few.

International filming destinations have included Ibiza, LA, NYC, Croatia, the south of France and South Africa.

Who stars in Made in Chelsea?

Each series of Made in Chelsea features familiar faces as well as a few newcomers to shake things up—and not everyone was, in fact, made in Chelsea.

Here are some of the current cast members:

Made in Chelsea: Croatia
Made in Chelsea: Croatia (E4)

Jamie Laing has lived a pretty sweet life — he is the heir to the McVitie’s biscuit fortune and also runs his own gourmet candy company, Candy Kittens. The Oxford-born television personality has also appeared on Bake Off and was slated to be a contestant on Strictly Come Dancing in 2019, until injury forced him to quit.

Jamie’s best friend, Oliver Proudlock, attended Eton at the same time as Prince Harry. Though the fashion designer dated a number of Made in Chelsea castmates, including Lucy Watson and Alice Davidson, he is now engaged to model Emma Louise Connolly.

Olivia Bentley joined in series 11. Bentley, who is a photographer specialising in nudes, attended Bradfield College, a boarding and day school in Berkshire, and was briefly suspended from the series after a video emerged allegedly showing her snorting cocaine at a house party.

Influencer Sophie 'Habbs' Habboo is a Newcastle graduate with over 200,000 Instagram followers. Having been in relationships with fellow castmates Laing and Sam Thompson, the socialite has appeared in four series.

Sophie Habboo (NBC, EH)

One of two original cast members, Mark-Francis Vandelli is never afraid to voice his opinion on something — or someone. The jewellery line founder and Insider editor also published a book called Chic: Being Divinely Stylish In the Modern Age.

Of course, there have also been a number of notable cast members who’ve moved on to other things (and shows):

Stephanie Pratt was an original cast member on The Hills, the American reality series that inspired Made In Chelsea. After appearing on eight series of Made in Chelsea, Pratt relocated back to LA and joined the cast of The Hills: New Beginnings.

Georgia Toffolo: I'm a Celebrity 2017
Georgia Toffolo: I'm a Celebrity 2017 (Getty, FT)

After appearing on 99 episodes of Made in Chelsea, Georgia 'Toff' Toffolo appeared on other reality programs like I’m A Celebrity…Get Me Out of Here! and Celebs Go Dating. She is now working as a presenter on This Morning.

Spencer Matthews, Pippa Middleton’s brother-in-law, was popular with the Made in Chelsea women, dating more than five throughout his time on the show. The Eton graduate was also the lead on the fifth season on The Bachelor UK.

Spencer Matthews, Getty, SL
Spencer Matthews, Getty, SL

How much of Made in Chelsea is real?

Like other structured reality shows, Made in Chelsea stars real people having real interactions, but it isn’t a fly-on-the-wall documentary either: producers definitely play an important role.

Original cast member Hugo Taylor told Business Insider he thought the first four seasons were “really real” in part because the group had all known each other for a decade before filming.

Another former cast member, Cheska Hull, told Grazia the show was “constructed reality”.

“You knew the conversations you had to have… the producers spoke to us on the phone for hours every week. They’d come on nights out with us. They put us in situations that created drama,” she said.

Hull also thinks the series’ 2013 BAFTA win was a factor: “They had to up their game. If the producers can find a hole in a relationship they will. If there’s an ex-boyfriend in America, they’ll fly him over. It’s the same with friendships. If there are two best friends and there’s a rumour it’s not going well, they will do whatever they can to make it worse.”


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