Eddie The Eagle Loses His Biopic Fee, Living In Shed Following Divorce

Eddie Edwards has said that he’s lost nearly all of the £180,000 he earned from ‘Eddie The Eagle’, the biopic movie made about his life, following his divorce.

Edwards also revealed that he’s now living in a shed in his garden, surviving mostly on egg sandwiches after the settlement ‘wiped him out’.

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The British ski jump star, who shot to fame in the 1988 Winter Olympics in Calgary, has had to hand over around 85% of his wealth to his now ex-wife Samantha Morton (not the film star).

“I moved into the shed in my garden while developing my new house. I’ve lived off sandwiches ever since, as I don’t have a kitchen,” he told the Sunday Times.

Former plasterer Eddie, real name Michael Edwards, was the subject of the Dexter Fletcher-helmed movie, released in March this year, which told the extraordinary story of his journey to the Olympics.

He was played by ‘Kingsman’ star Taron Edgerton, with Hugh Jackman playing his trainer.

His life story had been the subject of several movie projects over the years, including one by Steve Coogan, but it was Fletcher’s movie, penned by Sean Macaulay and Simon Kelton, which finally made it to the screen.

It received excellent reviews, but the money he made from it has now gone.

“I had to give all that to my ex-wife. I still haven’t paid the tax on it. I’ve had to sell my flat in Bedford, which I bought about 30 years ago, to pay my anticipated tax bill,” he went on.

“I was just unlucky. Because we had children, and other factors, I ended up losing 85 per cent.

“If you think about it too much, you get depressed, so I think, ‘I made it once, I made it twice, I can make it three times.’”

Though mocked by the press at home for his inexperience and bottle-bottom glasses – and eventually for finishing last in the 70m and 90m jump competitions – Edwards continues to be highly-respected by fellow ski jumpers for his achievements, which were made on a shoe-string budget.

He famously had to lodge at a mental institution in Finland while training, because it was the cheapest place he could find to live.

Image credits: Rex Features/Fox