Steven Bartlett is said to have angered Cape Town residents with the decision to sell his local mansion – but a friend described the pad as a ‘victim of his success’.
The Dragons’ Den star is selling his property in South Africa, which he has done up since buying it in 2024.
The 33-year-old podcaster has put the seven-bedroom mansion, which sits on the slopes of Table Mountain, on the market for £8.5million – twice the price he paid.
A friend of Bartlett’s has clarified that he ‘loves’ the South Africa home, adding to Metro: ‘He’s just not able to visit it enough.
‘In the last couple of years, his business has exploded. Diary of a CEO is on track to be the biggest podcast in the world, and his team has grown hugely.
‘His business has expanded so much – with offices now in the US as well as the UK – that most of his time is taken up criss-crossing the Atlantic. Unfortunately, that means the pad in South Africa has had to take a back seat.’
The friend of Bartlett’s also noted that he and his girlfriend Melanie Lopes, who he proposed to earlier this year, only visited the property for four weeks in 2025.
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They added: ‘With him basically splitting his time between London and LA, that’s on track to be even less this year, so it just doesn’t make any sense to keep it. He loves it, but just can’t make the time to stay there.
‘In a way, the house is a victim of Steven’s success.’
A spokesperson declined to comment.
Bartlett has added a padel court, swimming pool, home cinema and spa to the property.
But the sale is said to have angered Cape Town locals, who have accused the BBC star of flipping it – buying a property, renovating it and then speedily putting it up for sale at a profit – and inflating house prices in the area as a result.
Resident Sedick Dawood told the Daily Mail: ‘I love Steven, but here again Cape Town is being bought by foreigners, under the guise of “foreign investment”, but in reality pushing up property prices for citizens.’
Meanwhile, underneath an Instagram video breaking down the local taxes Bartlett could be facing for the sale, viewed over 600,000 times, Gerry Walsh commented: ‘Man it hurts to see a non-resident inflate house prices like this and potentially walk away doubling their money.’
‘So this is why the property in Cape Town is so high,’ wrote Matt Levey, while @sincerely_natb commented: ‘More proof that only multi-millionaires are welcome here. We are unable to enjoy or afford to enjoy our own land because foreign demand [sic].’