‘We are just waiting now for DNA clarification. And after that, I will probably just fall apart,’ said Malcolm Timbrell, who appeared on the reality show in 2023
A former contestant who appeared on Channel 4 reality show A Place in the Sun is feared dead in the wake of horror wildfires that tore through the south of Spain in recent days. Malcolm Timbrell, 70, and his wife Annette Kilgore, 69, lived in the village of Bédar after having moved there from Cornwall after appearing on the reality show in 2023. Bédar, in the province of Almeria in the south, was razed by flames last Thursday (July 9), leaving at least 13 people dead. Timbrell told the BBC that he had become separated from his wife and 12 of their friends and neighbours as the flames raced towards their home. “We have had an amazing life together and now it’s stopped,” he said. “If we had done the sensible thing and gone the other way and let our cats die, we both would be alive. But when you’ve got animals, you don’t think like that.”
He added: “We are just waiting now for DNA clarification. And after that, I will probably just fall apart.” A Place in the Sun presenter Leah Charles-King helped Malcolm and Annette find their dream home in Spain three years ago, with Annette telling the host at the start of their episode that she wanted to enjoy the Spanish way of life after retiring from a career in mental health. “We’ve started kayaking, which is great fun. I haven’t fallen in. I now know that I don’t panic when I fall in, so that’s a good thing,” she said back in 2023. Although they had never visited the Almeria region before, Annette and Malcolm were sure that it was the perfect spot for them and their beloved cats, Charlie and Misty, to unwind.
“It’s not as commercialised, it’s smaller areas of villages, so it just seemed the perfect place,” Annette said, with Malcolm adding: “It will extend our adventure.”
Annette added: “So, to sit and have a glass of wine in our own property that we’ve thought about for so long and just have that lovely feeling, ‘This is ours, we’ve done it.'” The couple had a budget of £200,000 to find their perfect Spanish home, which they found in Bédar. The stone cottage was on the market for £215,746 at the time of filming, and, at the end of the episode, Malcolm and Annette put down a “cheeky” initial offer of £175,000. It was initially rejected by the owner, but the negotiating parties eventually agreed on a sale at £200,000. After confirming the sale, Malcolm said: “I couldn’t be happier at the moment,” before Annette added: “We’ve just bought that Spanish beautiful stone cottage up on the top of a mountain. And that isn’t what we came for? It’s what we’ve bought, because it’s what we fell in love with.”
Scorching temperatures, incredibly dry ground and powerful winds saw fire spread rapidly across the region on Thursday afternoon; another day of extremes in a summer heatwave with the mercury hitting 44C in some parts of Spain.
Authorities in Spain are now trying to identify those unable to escape the blaze with DNA. Relatives of those missing have been asked to provide samples to the Bédar’s civil office, with many victims suffering burns so severe that it would be impossible to identify them without it. Pete and Fran Gillam, who also lived in Bédar were among the 13 people killed, the couple’s daughter confirmed. The pair went missing on Thursday, after Fran texted her daughter Danielle Gillam-Kirton to confirm they were evacuating. That text, sent at about 7pm Thursday, was the last time Danielle would speak to her parents. Communication was cut off after that, with messages and calls failing to connect to their of her parents from there.
In a heartbreaking update shared on social media, Danielle confirmed the news nobody wanted to hear. “We are heartbroken to share that we have received confirmation from the police that Mum and Dad did not survive the fire. Thank you for all your love, support and prayers over the past few days. They have meant more to us than we can ever express.”
Officials confirmed that a British couple were among the first victims identified on Monday. A Spanish man and his British wife, as well as a French woman and Belgian man have also been identified as victims. On Sunday (July 12), Andalucían authorities confirmed a 93-year-old British woman injured in the fire had later died in hospital. The number of missing people remains unclear, with authorities wait on DNA results and autopsies to identify those killed.
