Chat Ed : Welcome to this evening's MASTERS AND SERVANTS webchat with Mandy and Kevin Nutley! In this series two families find out what it's like to be both masters and servants in this modern day version of Upstairs Downstairs - with explosive results! And here are Mandy and Kevin…
Mandy Nutley : Hi everyone! Mandy here ...
Lotte : hiya
becky295 : Hello
Kevin Nutley waves
Tommy : yeah lo
Jacqui : Fantastic Programme, just want to say that I do feel that you were cheated, and that they did not deserve you being servants to them, would you do the whole experience again
Mandy Nutley : Yes we would, but with different people. We'd do it with people that are equal to us.
Fraser : What was your least favourite task given by your evil overlo..... masters
Mandy Nutley : I would say everybody complained about the polishing the wooden floors.
Kevin Nutley : And constantly sweeping the pebbles from the drive and yes polishing the wooden floors in the hallway.
Beefy : Kevin - great job! Do you think Tom measured up to the standard you set?
Kevin Nutley : No I don't. He wasn't in control of his staff under him. I was in control of Mandy and the boys. That's where the communication links broke down for him. When we were at their house Cheryl was the master, when they were at our house Tom was meant to be in charge of the servants but Cheryl was dictating to Tom what to do.
matty t : how did the children cope? surely they were very annoyed, having not known about what used to happen and not ever having to experience it themselves
Howard Joanne Lee : We think your two boys were very well behaved our two would have burnt the house down!!! WOT A HORRIBLE WOMAN... It will come back on her!
Mandy Nutley laughs
Kevin Nutley : The children were very upset, one day Jennifer was in tears because when she was at Cheryl's she was up at 6am through to 10pm working very hard, which is not her normal routine. Cheryl promised her a big dinner, pedicure and all that. Tom did her pedicure and her hair and when it came to filming the nice special meal with her boyfriend the day before Cheryl walked out. Cheryl said she'd had enough and the whole film crew went with her to try and calm her down to try and see if they could get her to stay for the rest of the week. In fairness to Tom, after Cheryl had left, (this wasn’t shown on the programme) he came back because he is a gentlemen and felt obliged to fulfil the promise he made to the boys which was to take them to school in the Merc and do their paper round with them.
Odette : My observations of this programme were-what good sports the Nutleys were, and what bad sports theother couple were. Would this be a fair assumption of what went on?
Mandy Nutley : Yes, very fair.
Dee : I want to know how Mandy & Kevin felt, after playing the game so fairly themselves, when Cheryl got the sulks and acted like a stroppy madam. P.S. Have they now seen the programme and all the nasty things said behind their backs?
rob4man : Did that lady ever apologise for her criticisms of you
Mandy Nutley : No they didn't apologise.
Kevin Nutley : We felt sorry for the children who missed out on their treats for putting in all their hard work that week.
Mandy Nutley : We have just seen it yes, it just goes to prove to us what very small-minded people they are. We now know that we are nowhere near beneath them, we put 110% in there and we are better than they will ever be. I'm speaking for the population of Britain as a mother of 6.
Kevin Nutley : We signed a contract to fulfil their needs. We did it and they failed.
Looby : I would love to be a master what was the best part of the job?
kitb : when it was your chance as masters do you feel you made it more harsh just to get your own back?
Mandy Nutley : Not having to do the laundry and ironing, but then I had to do it because she did such a bad job!
Kevin Nutley : No, because as a servant you need direction and timescale so I made up the rota for them. This was taken as tasking by Cheryl. If they had followed the rota their life would have been a lot easier. As a family we don't always sit down to dinner at the same time, we have teenagers and toddlers and ourselves to feed so we tried to make life easier for them, but when challenged about certain tasks, they didn't like it.
rachael : What did you feel could have changed the end situation, do you think it was just that the other family appeared to consider themselves upper class and therefore too good to be servants or was it that the 4 of you just didn't get on?
MartinC : You are more than equal to them. There interpersonal skills were very poor, and you management skill far superior. Did you think them very spoilt?
Mandy Nutley : Yes, they thought they were above us.
Kevin Nutley : Well, Cheryl did. I felt that Tom...
Mandy Nutley :… had to have Cheryl's say so before he could do anything!
Kevin Nutley : Tom was a gentleman, he tried to do his best, it was Cheryl that was influencing Tom. I found them to be very unreasonable, MartinC. I managed to get Tom to agree to run a bath, but Cheryl was very defensive and, as seen in the film, made it very clear to her friends that she didn't have to be a very good servant. But servants, if they are not very good, will be tasked otherwise they will walk all over their masters eventually.
Odette : Did you feel that, as servants...Tom and Cheryl were constantly trying to re-assert themselves as the masters?
Kevin Nutley : Tom was trying to play mind games with me. For example, this wasn't on the film, but when I asked for a cheese sandwich he gave me lots of different options - ham sandwich, pizza etc. I had to say 'No Tom, I want a cheese sandwich'. He tried to direct me into what he thought I should have. Cheryl just didn't want to do anything.
Ellen : Mandy and Kevin, I think you deserve a pat on the back for what you went through! well done! Slightly off topic, what happened to their two young sons? who looked after them? they weren't mentioned at all during the filming apart from their arrival!
Kevin Nutley : They had 2 young sons roughly the same age as our 2 young sons that were not shown on the film. It was interesting to see that the things that weren't caught on the camera was our 5 yr old son Connor putting his arms around their 5 yr old Freddy, after we'd shown them round the house. The kids of a similar age got on very well indeed. They got on a lot better than the adults did.
Looby : Do you think there is a place for servants in this day and age?
Ashley : would you still like to have a career as a butler Kevin
Kevin Nutley : I think servant’s roles are different in this day and age.
Mandy Nutley : There is more respect.
Kevin Nutley : All staff need to be valued. In any industry you can see that valued staff are looked after. I wouldn't particularly like to be a full time servant unless the person I was working for had respect for me. In this day and age you need to have respect for the people who work FOR you. It used to be the other way around.
peach : Cheryl said that just because you were 'playing by the rules' so to speak that she was cheeky and you didn't like it kevin. I think that’s really underhand and unsporting, why bother to agree to take part when you're not prepared to 'play' by the rules. Was someone monitoring the situation ' big brother style? Did she get told off for not keeping her end of the bargain?
Kevin Nutley : Yes, at one point, it took me 3 attempts to get her to sign the contract that Mandy signed. She just handed it back to me. I had to ask for it on 3 separate occasions before she would sign it. There was no one imposing the rules but the film crew were acting as objective observers.
SMUTLEY : Did you expect to be treated well, having treated them well, and were you disappointed when you were not?
penny : mandy and kevin should get some proper servants for a week to make up for it
Mandy Nutley : Oh bless you penny!
Kevin Nutley : We were a bit naive because we're quite straightforward, open people and we thought that they would put as much effort in as we did. People are not always what they appear to be, that makes us more wary of others whereas before we took people as we found them.
Matticus : I can't believe some of the comments Cheryl made. She was extremely class orientated. Did it shock you that people like this exist? (it did me!)
st eve : do you think that they could change
Mandy Nutley : What shocked us more than anything with Cheryl is that she actually married into the money. Tom had inherited it and he was lovely - he appreciated what he had.
Kevin Nutley : Tom didn't pre-judge us, he appreciated what we did for him and he was more than willing to go the extra yard for us.
Chat Ed : Our half hour with Mandy and Kevin is almost up, so last few questions now...
francesca : Did it ever cross your mind to leave, or how near did you get to doing so?
Kevin Nutley : Again, naively being working class, we were there to do a contract. We were asked to go to a house anywhere in England, do the job, play the role - and we did it. The only time it crossed my mind to leave was when the servants quarters were cold and damp and I had to go to the Producer one night and say that if the heat wasn't turned on we'd have to book ourselves into a hotel for the night because Mandy has a bad back as it is.
alexandsue : Do you think that the order of your assignments should have been reversed to avoid the circumstances of T&C walking out on you?
Mandy Nutley : No, I wouldn't have had it any other way.
penny : mandy and kevin should get some proper servants for a week to make up for it
Kevin Nutley : The boys wanted to be servants first because if they were servants first and they were treated badly they could get revenge when they were masters.
xmazx : Kevin and Mandy let me just say you rock! well done mate how did you keep a smile and be so nice?
Mandy Nutley : Because we were brought up properly and taught not to lower ourselves to other people's standards and our love shone through for each other. It's not being bitchy, we're just being honest.
Chat Ed : That’s it folks! Thanks for coming and talking to us Mandy and Kevin!
Mandy Nutley : Thanks ever so much for watching everyone, thanks for all your support and we enjoyed the programme immensely.
Kevin Nutley : We were disappointed that we missed out and the kids missed their treats, but it was a great experience.
gary : hey i think u guys were great , chin up, and you guys are alot better than they will ever be, bye guys
l : We luv ya!
stef : thanks. you rock!
Sarge : Well done folks!
zippo : nice people well enjoyed it
DarranR : Well Done
slick : bye
Mandy Nutley leaves the room
Kevin Nutley leaves the room
