‘Refugee’ Luisa Zissman swaps ‘Dubai war bunker’ to hunker down and dodge missiles in her £8million ten bedroom UK country pile
She spent days telling her hundreds of thousands of followers how Dubai was the ‘safest country in the world’ and ‘everything is fine’ – even as Iranian missiles and suicide drones rained down on the Gulf.
But after dutifully echoing the official line that the war-hit emirate remains open for business, Luisa Zissman has slipped back into Britain – swapping the ‘bunker’ basement of her UAE home for the sprawling comfort of an £8million countryside mansion.
Just three months after relocating her family to the tax-free haven in search of greater safety, the former Apprentice star is now back at her ten-bedroom country pile in Hertfordshire – though she insists the return was nothing to do with the war.
The palatial Grade II-listed manor, set in 2.8 acres of land, is where Zissman lives with her Irish millionaire husband Andrew Collins and their daughters Indigo, nine, and Clementine, seven, when in Britain.
Her eldest daughter Dixie, 15, remains in the UK while attending boarding school.
The estate boasts extensive gardens and enough space to house the family’s staff – including gardeners, housekeepers and nannies.
Ironically, it was here last year that Zissman found herself under attack from a very different kind of drone – one flown by a YouTube ‘auditor’.
The outspoken 38-year-old became embroiled in a dramatic row with a content creator who attempted to film her estate from the skies.
Luisa Zissman posted a photo of herself on Instagram saying she was back in the UK drinking margaritas
The palatial Grade II-listed manor, set in 2.8 acres of land, is where Zissman lives with her Irish millionaire husband Andrew Collins and their daughters
Since moving, Zissman has been a vocal online cheerleader of the UAE – showing steadfast support despite 12 days of Iranian missile attacks
The astonishing spat saw the podcaster threaten to ‘shoot’ the drone out of the air before embarking on a more than two-hour drive to track down the YouTuber’s home.
The row – which led to both parties alleging common assault – is believed to be one of the factors behind the influencer’s decision to relocate to Dubai in December.
Since moving, Zissman has been a vocal online cheerleader of the UAE – showing steadfast support despite 12 days of Iranian missile attacks which have six dead and more than 120 injured.
At the start of the conflict, she insisted the emirate was still the ‘safest country in the world’ despite explosions echoing across the city and a drone strike forcing the temporary closure of Dubai International Airport.
She told followers that despite preparing her basement in case of emergency, she had ‘faith’ that the country’s defence systems would keep residents safe, later adding: ‘Everything is largely fine. When you’re here it’s fine.’
In another post, she added: ‘We’ve had a very nice normal day. We had breakfast – well breakfast/lunch – with some friends…
‘One of my friends is stuck in England so her husband and kids, they’ve been round to ours the last couple of days just seeing how things go.
‘Last night was quite noisy but it’s kind of fine still here at the moment. It’s just not knowing what’s gonna happen next or when it’s going to end.’
The estate boasts extensive gardens and enough space to house the family’s staff – including gardeners, housekeepers and nannies. Pictured: Inside the house
Zissman has voiced her frustrations about being back in the UK after leaving her Dubai home on Monday with her children
The star has showed off her stunning back garden on Instagram – which has expansive lawns, while the indoors swimming pool features a sunken jacuzzi
But by Monday the entrepreneur was back in Britain – flying out of neighbouring Oman after travelling overland across the border.
Even then, Zissman took aim at the thousands of ordinary British holidaymakers scrambling to flee the war zone, sharing a mocking social media post suggesting scared tourists were acting as if ‘they just come back from the frontlines’.
Many travellers had described chaotic scenes as passengers were ordered off planes and flights abruptly cancelled, with the UK government forced to charter planes to return stranded citizens.
Zissman, however, insisted her own arrival in the UK had nothing to do with the relentless bombardment of Iranian munitions in the UAE – where more than 1,500 drones and almost 300 ballistic missiles have reportedly been tracked.
Instead, she claimed the trip had always been planned so she could record episodes of her popular LuAnna podcast.
She said she had only brought her daughters with her because she feared flight disruption might prevent her returning quickly to Dubai.
Within hours of landing, Zissman was posting videos from London as she walked through Chinatown.
Declaring she was in her ‘refugee era’ after being ‘displaced from my home’, she insisted: ‘I was due back for work anyway so I came back with the kids, they’re on school holidays now and I just wanted to bring them back with me.’
The star has been one of the most vocal Dubai-based influencers to throw their support behind the UAE government, even declaring it to be the ‘safest country in the world’
Today, Luisa also posted a photo of herself on Instagram with three female friends including Carrie Johnson with the caption: ‘Ok, being in the UK isn’t so bad when I’m with my best girls drinking margaritas…’
The reality star continued to paint Dubai in glowing terms by contrasting it with central London, telling followers she was ‘really paranoid someone is going to steal my phone’.
So what could be behind Zissman’s steadfast defence of the tax-free haven?
The Daily Mail has previously revealed how social media personalities are allegedly terrified to speak openly for fear of deportation, arrest or losing their homes.
In the UAE, criticising the government, spreading rumours or damaging the country’s reputation can carry fines of up to £200,000 or prison sentences of up to five years – followed by deportation.
Many who have chosen to flee Dubai are said to be fearful that saying anything negative could prevent them from ever returning.
There are estimated to be more than 50,000 influencers in Dubai, lured there by not just the weather and its tax-free status, but also by a coordinated government campaign under the name Creators HQ, which offers generous help and advice with setting up their businesses.
For now, Zissman finds herself back at the Hertfordshire manor which she and Andrew bought shortly after their 2015 wedding and has been likened by LuAnna co-host Anna Williamson to ‘a Champneys’ luxury spa hotel.
It was here that Zissman confronted a YouTuber last year after he attempted to fly a drone over the estate because he had ‘found it online’ and admired ‘the beauty of it’.
She later publicly named the man on Instagram as Harry Holton and offered £500 to anyone who could provide his address – claiming it would be ‘cheaper me doing this than paying lawyers’.
Soon afterwards she told her followers she had ‘just been to Harry’s house’, warning: ‘Oh this petty Polly will not let sleeping dogs lie.’
Holton, from Rugby, Warwickshire, was warned by police following the confrontation.
He was revealed by the Daily Mail to be part of a growing online trend known as ‘auditing’, where content creators deliberately film private property or security staff to provoke confrontations and generate viral videos.
Zissman divorced her first husband Oliver Zissman in 2014 following five years of marriage, after discovering he had been unfaithful.
She began dating Mr Collins shortly afterwards and he proposed during a romantic trip to Paris in October 2014, presenting her with an eight-carat diamond ring. The pair tied the knot in July 2015 in a secret ceremony in Dublin.
Mr Collins was listed as being worth £72million in the Sunday Times Rich List in 2020 after making his fortune selling a series of online businesses, a Dublin-based insurance company and a major stake in an Irish energy firm.
Last year, the family announced grand plans to relocate to Dubai in search of warmer weather and what Zissman described as greater personal safety, while also revealing that five of her horses were preparing to fly out.
Zissman told her followers in December: ‘Very sad have always loved the UK but looking forward to not being cold & being able to walk alone at night safely.’