A Very British Cult

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The sinister life coaching company that takes over your life. Catrin Nye investigates.

The sinister life coaching company that takes over your life. Catrin Nye investigates. As the story hots up, they fight back, and there's a surreal final showdown.

The sinister life coaching company that takes over your life. Catrin Nye investigates. 

In early 2019 Jeffrey Leigh-Jones from Portsmouth got a life coach. Someone to mentor him in life and help him realise his business ambitions.  

Two years later, Jeff had sold his house, his relationship was in pieces, and he had handed over tens of thousands of pounds. And he wasn't the only one. In this eighteen-month investigation for the BBC, journalist Catrin Nye and her team expose control, intimidation and fear at a mysterious life coaching company taking over people's lives and ripping families apart.   

As the investigation hots up, the group fights back, and there's a surreal final showdown.

A Very British Cult: 1. Lighthouse

1. Lighthouse

BBC Radio 4 - A Very British Cult, 1. Lighthouse

It all starts with a call from Dawn, who says her boyfriend is in a cult.

It all starts with a call from Dawn, who says her boyfriend Jeff is in a cult, but it doesn’t sound like any cult Catrin Nye has ever heard of.

In November 2021 investigative journalist Catrin Nye got a call from Dawn. She said her boyfriend Jeff was trying to leave a cult. But this cult was also a life coaching company.

Dawn said Jeff had handed over more than £100,000 to them and wasted years of his life. And what Dawn is really worried about is that the group are still active; they’re recruiting new members and she needs to raise the alarm. Jeff had simply signed up for a life coach, so how did it all go so wrong for him? 

What happens when a life coach takes over your life? Catrin Nye and her team expose control, intimidation and fear at a sinister life coaching company.   

Reporter: Catrin Nye 
Written by: Jamie Bartlett and Catrin Nye 
Producers: Osman Iqbal, Natalie Truswell, Ed Main and Jo Adnitt 
Researcher: Aisha Doherty 
Executive Producer: Ravin Sampat 
Sound engineer: James Bradshaw 
Original music by: Phil Channell 
Commissioner: Rhian Roberts 

Archive clips from: Stephen Covey Video on Choosing Success (Success Television)

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A Very British Cult

1. Lighthouse

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