29th March 2023 – (Flintshire) Experts advise that we should clean our bedding once or twice a week to avoid a build-up of skin cells, sweat, and other dirt. However, one woman shocked television viewers when she admitted to never washing her bedding. Cornelia Bayley, a retired antiques dealer, lives in a Grade I listed 17th century manor in Flintshire, North Wales.
Bayley bought the 10 bedroom Jacobean mansion in 1985 for £70,000 and devoted herself to preserving the historic home. She moved there from London following the breakdown of a relationship with a man she described as the “love of [her] life.” At the time of her move, the property was a derelict shell, prompting her to spend tens of thousands of pounds to keep the property standing.
However, Bayley’s funds have since dried up, and she has been forced to live off her small pension, which she supplemented by holding paranormal evenings in her home. Over time, her living conditions have become increasingly grimy, as she only cleans once or twice in the whole time she has lived there.
In a 2013 episode of the show Obsessive Compulsive Cleaners, Bayley admitted that she had not bathed in two or three years because the boiler was broken, and she couldn’t afford hot water. She claimed to be “living in another age” as people in the 18th century did not bathe frequently. However, the real horror of her living conditions was revealed in the bedroom.
Bayley confessed to never washing her bedding and believed her mattress was 100 years old. Cleaning obsessives Hayley and Dann were shocked over her revelations.