This is the man who was brave enough to buy Katie Price‘s notorious nine-bedroom ‘mucky mansion’ – which she has claimed is cursed.
James Mercer, 62, a furniture tycoon and divorced father of two, paid £1.15 million for the run-down West Sussex property, which Katie insisted was jinxed following years of dramatic episodes, including break-ins, numerous pets dying, and even reports of ‘seeing ghosts‘.
Mr Mercer, originally from Northern Ireland, bought Katie’s former troubled home in January just months after bailiffs evicted the star and her family when she failed to keep up payments on the monthly mortgage, The Daily Mail can reveal.
But while he may not put much credence in the suggestion that it is possessed by evil spirits, Mr Mercer apparently does agree that it was left ‘mucky’ by its famous previous occupant.
To remedy that, he has commissioned extensive remedial work to make it fit once more for human habitation.
The home has found itself in the spotlight once again after Katie’s daughter Princess Andre branded it a ‘very scary place’ and confessed she had a lot of bad experiences in the notorious ‘mucky mansion’.
But none of that put off Mr Mercer, a keen cyclist and known for raising money for charity, who has bought it to seal his new relationship after divorcing the mother of his children.
He was previously married to Susan Mercer, who still lives in Northern Ireland, but is now in a long-term relationship with Leike Qu, with whom he now co-owns Katie Price’s former home.
TODAY: The entire facade of the faux-Tudor house is clad in scaffolding with construction materials, including planks of wood scattered in the driveway
BEFORE: The house is pictured above in January this year looking in dilapidated state
James Mercer, 62,(pictured) a furniture tycoon and divorced father of two, paid £1.15 million for Katie Price’s run-down West Sussex ‘Mucky Mansion’
Today, Leike told The Daily Mail that the couple had ‘fallen in love’ with Katie’s ‘mucky mansion’ despite its notorious reputation.
She said: ‘We are just very ordinary and quiet people who fell in love with this country house.’
As well as spending over £1m on the freehold, the couple are also understood to have set aside a substantial sum to repair it.
The entire facade of the faux-Tudor house is clad in scaffolding with construction materials, including planks of wood scattered in the driveway.
A mechanical digger has been left by the side of the house and a builder’s van is parked up by the front door.
Keep fit enthusiast Mr Mercer raised more than £800 in May 2022 for the Salvation Army for its work to support displaced Ukrainian people who came to the UK by cycling over 100 miles across London and Surrey.
He has also regularly posted his cycling exploits on social media after pedalling for hundreds of miles across the UK, along with photos of his travels to exotic locations around the world.
His business involves selling household furniture from around the world, but, like the former owner of his lavish home, Mr Mercer also appears to have suffered his fair share of financial challenges, according to Companies House records.
Mr Mercer is in a long-term relationship with Leike Qu (right), with whom he now co-owns Katie’s former home
Mr Mercer, pictured with his daughter, fell in love with the Katie Price’s old Mucky Mansion
Mr Mercer’s partner Leike told The Daily Mail that the couple had ‘fallen in love’ with Katie’s ‘mucky mansion’ despite its notorious reputation
A mechanical digger has been left by the side of the house and a builder’s van is parked up by the front door
Katie has insisted the home was jinxed following years of dramatic episodes, including break-ins, numerous pets dying, and even reports of ‘seeing ghosts’
Mounds of rubbish is piled up outside the property in a video that was posted onto Katie’s YouTube channel in 2019
The swimming pool, as seen in a video in 2019, that Katie fenced off. She described it as ‘looking a bit better than a swamp’
One of his companies is listed as being forcibly dissolved in 2011 while another was dissolved after going into voluntary liquidation.
Mr Mercer snapped up Katie’s former home for less than the £1.35 million it was originally listed for after she struggled to find a buyer because of its dilapidated state. The swimming pool was also empty and there were concerns that the land could be contaminated by waste.
Contract cleaners were brought in to clear away piles of rubbish and spruce up the property before it was put on the market by local estate agents HJ Burt.
But the star did not see a penny of the money that Mr Mercer paid for it as it was swallowed up by the debts she previously ran up against the Sussex home, which she purchased for £2 million in 2014.
After leaving, Katie claimed the home, which she lived in for a decade, was ‘hell’ and left her battling anxiety and overcome by panic attacks, which forced her into therapy.
She warned the new owners: ‘I hate that house. Whoever buys it, I warn them, they will get bad luck there.’
She continued: ‘It is absolutely cursed. My anxiety got worse with that house. There was a point when I couldn’t even walk up the driveway without having a panic attack.
‘I had therapy about the house. I should never have gone back there. Now I’m out of it, it’s the best thing I’ve ever done.’
Katie also spoke in the past about her fears that the home is haunted by the spirit of a small child, while a number of her pets died in the property.
In 2024, Katie shared pictures of two men she feared were trying to break into the mansion – just days after she was forced to call police over another gang of strangers outside her home.
Katie’s daughter Princess Andre branded it a ‘very scary place’ and confessed she had a lot of bad experiences in the notorious ‘mucky mansion’
The home, pictured in May last year, featured mounds of rubbish, a discarded horse box and Katie’s now-legendary pink Range Rover
An aerial view of the swimming pool filled with grimy water — pictured in August 2018
Rubbish is seen piled up in the house when Katie was carrying out renovation work
Another Mucky Mansion shot during the Channel 4 documentary showed the shocking state in a toilet
A hole in the ceiling of the kitchen as seen in Katie Price’s Mucky Mansion documentary
Katie’s home became so infamous it became the subject of a documentary chronicling her attempts to overhaul the mess
Some discarded children’s play equipment sits among cables and metal fences in the garden during Katie’s renovation project
Katie showed the amount of the work that was needed to the mansion in order to bring life back into the property
After leaving, Katie claimed the home, which she lived in for a decade, was ‘hell’ and left her battling anxiety
She posted alarming doorbell footage on Instagram of an intruder approaching the front door before walking away.
The ‘mucky mansion’ also became the subject of a Channel 4 documentary when Katie attempted to bring life back into the property for the last time.
During her time living there, Katie’s treatment of animals also came under scrutiny after five dogs, a horse, and a chameleon all died while in her care – many of them in traffic accidents near the property.
She attributed these tragedies to ‘bad luck’, with most occurring while she was away. She has since secured the garden of her new home to ensure her pets’ safety.
Responding to people who say she shouldn’t own animals, Katie told The Sun: ‘When people say I shouldn’t have animals, it’s circumstances that were out of my hands.
‘It’s no lack of me not looking after them or anything like that. I love animals, I love nurturing.’
Katie’s former home is made up of three reception rooms, nine bedrooms and four bath/shower rooms spread over three floors plus a one-bedroom annexe. It is set in expansive grounds which also have stables.
While speaking about living there, Princess did not reveal the exact details of why she found it ‘scary’ and what her bad experiences were.
Discussing contrasts of life at Katie’s new home with where her father lives, she went on: ‘Dad’s house is a lot quieter, a lot more peaceful, a lot more organised. Whereas my mum’s house is much more just do what you want.
‘I love being in the middle. I love the two different houses, because if I fancy a bit more chaotic and busier, I’ll go to Mum’s and if I fancy more relaxed, I’ll go to Dad’s.’
