Fresh blow to Calum Best as his TV firm goes bust owing £85k to taxman after appearing in court on sexual assault charge
REALITY star Calum Best is facing more misery as his TV firm has gone bust owing £85,000 to the taxman.
The ex-Celebrity Big Brother contestant, 42, has raked in huge sums from reality TV shows including SAS: Who Dares Wins, Celebrity Love Island and Celebs Go Dating.
But Calum’s media firm Trouble to Triumph Limited has fallen on tough times.
The financial problems come days after he appeared in a Spanish court accused of sexual assaulting a British holidaymaker.
Calum, who is the son of the late Manchester United legend George, has put his company into liquidation owing HMRC £85,625 and a further £2,500 to other creditors.
The former model, who is also chairman of Dorking Wanderers FC women’s team, also owes his firm £48,971 by way of a director’s loan.
Forensic accountants have also been hired to recover the outstanding debt.
The firm was set up in 2015 when he made his first Celebrity Big Brother appearance, which he was paid £50,000 for.
He returned to the show for another stint in 2017 and then was declared the joint winner of SAS: Who Dares Wins in 2022.
In 2013, Calum was forced to surrender a £75,000 18 carat gold Jean Lassel watch after declaring bankruptcy due to unpaid tax bills.
Speaking about being strapped for cash in 2017, he said: “I wouldn’t be doing f***ing reality TV if I didn’t need to… I do these things as I need to earn a living.”
He was in court on Tuesday when it was claimed he had sexually assaulted a woman at an Ibiza beach club in April 2022 during a birthday party.
The teetotal star, who faces three years in jail if convicted, denied the claims.
The woman told the court via video link from the UK: “Calum Best told me he wanted to show me something, took my hand and guided me round the corner and asked me to close my eyes.
“Then he put my right hand down his shorts and guided it towards his penis.
“My hands and his were there and he was sort of rubbing it and there was some kind of forcing, although not enough for me not to pull my hand away and out of his trousers, which I did.”