Single mother of four swaps lives with wealthy Wolverhampton doctors - and struggles to spend their £3k a week budget
Two Black Country families swapped their homes for a week as part of a television social experiment.
And the experience on Channel 5 show Rich House Poor House proved eye-opening for both the Lee and Alsoud households.
Single mother Claire Lee, from Willenhall, and her four children moved into the Alsouds' £650,000 home in Tettenhall.
The Alsouds made the opposite trip for a week, swapping their five-bed, four-bath detached home for the Lees' £110,000 three-bed, one-bath semi in Willenhall.
Cardiologist Mahrous Alsoud, 54, and his paediatrician wife Rana, 49, left Syria for the UK in 2000 to find a better life for their four children.
As well as swapping houses, the families also switched budgets for a week.
This meant the Lees had to spend the Alsouds' £3,000-a-week budget to spend – a whopping 17 times more than the £170 they typically live on.
On her first day living in the Alsouds' spacious home, Claire visited Essington Farm shop and splurged £53 on a steak – nearly a third of what she would normally spend in one week.
Meanwhile the Alsouds had to get used to sharing one bathroom between six people.
Claire, 43, bought two takeaways on the first night, £140 worth of toys, and a £500 watch for her eldest son just to use up the cash.
She struggled to spend the huge weekly budget, although relished the opportunity to splash out on Jordan, 23, Nathan 17, Rose, 10 and Kiye, 9.
However, the extent of the financial disparity hit home with Claire as the show progressed.
The school finance clerk became emotional at the thought of what she wasn't been able to provide on her salary – crying when she saw two of her children given a piano lesson she simply could not afford.
"This is something that I would like to give them, but I can't," Claire said.
Claire was impressed by her counterpart Rana's bid to work full-time while still being a hands-on mother of four.
But she said she found their lives far removed.
Claire said: "I cannot comprehend that a job pays that much money that at the end you still have that much left over at the end.
"I'm not saying that the Alsouds haven't worked incredibly hard to get to that position they are in, but to help your children however you want and be able to do it...it must be lovely to give them the best start in life."
The Alsouds admitted their worries over the crime rate in their temporary home, with father Mahrous concerned to hear from locals who told him they carry knives for protection.
It proved eye-opening for the family from Tettenhall.
Middle daughter Zain said: "I think today has made me realise that Claire must be handling her money very well, or struggling to provide her children with the things that they need and should be able to have.
"I am so grateful… I have been sheltered from it my whole life. I am really lucky."
The show is due to air tomorrow night.
