Tv times

22-28 Feb. 1997
Uri Geller’s home is as extraordinary as he is. And if you’ve ever wondered what he did with all that bent cutlery…
Beyond Belief ITV, Saturday
Uri Geller says Mindpower helped him buy his eight bedroomed house in the home counties.
‘The deal had fallen through when the owner decided not to sell,’ says Uri, who appears this week in Beyond Belief, a live investigation into the paranormal. ‘I drove to his house and sat outside beaming the thought “you will sell your house”. A few weeks later, he changed his mind and it was ours.’
It’s a beautiful, secluded house. ‘I wanted somewhere very private, yet near London. This is my ideal family home and we’ve been here 12 years,’ says Uri, who lives there with wife Hanna and their children Daniel, 15, and Natalie, 14. It has a heated outdoor swimming pool, tennis court, helipad and a cottage for guests.
‘I like this place as it has a good energy,’ says Uri. ‘The village was a healing centre 1000 years ago and is mentioned in the Domesday Book. I’ve certainly had a very blessed time since living here.’
Sally Brockway

‘This fireplace was from a haunted house in France, but I haven’t seen a ghost,’ says Uri who calls this the Family Room. The picture is by young artist Connor Wilson who Uri thinks will be famous. The big teddy is 90 years old and was bought at a Sotheby’s auction.
‘I’ve loved bears since I was six, when two bullets shot through our window and hit my teddy bear instead of me.’

Most of the ornaments in the living room were gifts from fans and friends. ‘I keep everything and display it. I respect the people who send me things and besides, the objects they send contain their energies,’ says Uri. Everything on the glass table was a gift even the gilt figure of a young boy with a chandelier on his head, from an Italian Countess.
In the vast hall hangs a 17th century chandelier of lead crystal. Another crystal stands on a pillar. ‘That’s raw crystal, millions of years old. One day, I saw beams of light coming from it. I’m sure it has powers,’ says Uri. On one wall is the bicycle on which Bruce Bursford broke the speed record he reached 210 mph after Uri had psyched him up.

A great believer in exercise, Uri cycles for an hour and a half each morning uphill! ‘While cycling, I answer letters -I get 700 a week.’ Uri cycles in the conservatory; its tiles were quarried in Germany from rock that’s millions of years old and contains plant fossils.

Uri’s car is never driven far – it once caused accidents being driven to a museum as motorists couldn’t help stopping and staring. It was Uri’s idea to cover the Cadillac with his bent cutlery, some of which belonged to the rich and famous. ‘There are spoons belonging to John Lennon, Churchill, Elvis and Kennedy. My favourite is a Tibetan medicine spoon, which is 700 years old.’