The organiser of the infamous Willy Wonka-inspired experience in Glasgow has told of how he has lost the “love of his life” and his life has been “ruined” because of the event.
Billy Coull said his life has been turned upside down due to the controversy surrounding the event and claimed he was made out to be the “face of all evil”.
Speaking in the Channel 5 documentary Wonka: The Scandal That Rocked Britain, Mr Coull said: “My life has been turned (upside down). My life is ruined.”
He added: “Because of everything that had happened, it ran into my personal life.
“I have lost my friends. I’ve lost the love of my life. I was made out to be the face of all evil. And genuinely, that’s really not the case.”
Seven-year-old Elliot dressed up as an Oompa Loompa. Pic: Janine Yardley
Willy’s Chocolate Experience gained viral notoriety after images and videos of the event were shared online.
The £35-a-ticket experience at the city’s Box Hub venue was sold as a “chocolate fantasy like never before” where “dreams become reality”.
Instead, families were met with a near-empty venue decorated with a handful of Wonka-themed props and a small bouncy castle.
Pic: Stuart Sinclair
The quarter cups of juice. Pic: Jack Proctor
Parents also told of how their children only received a couple of sweets and a quarter of a can of limeade.
Mr Coull claimed key visual equipment for the event wasn’t delivered.
He said: “I was gutted, but I believed that we could push on.”
The event was brought to a halt on its opening day as parents demanded their money back from Mr Coull’s company, House of Illuminati.
The Unknown. Pic: London Dungeon/Felicia
Mr Coull said it turned into “absolute chaos”, adding: “It was absolute carnage.”
Mr Coull told the documentary he received hundreds of nasty messages branding him a “villain or devil”, adding: “Saying that I’m a horrific dad, I’m better off dead, I should kill myself.”
He said he was left “devastated” over the response to the event and felt “sick to the pit” of his stomach.
Read more from Sky News:
Why music is heading back to the noughties
Eric Cantona hints at possible role at Manchester United
Glasgow mum Maryanne McCormack, whose video of The Unknown scaring children went viral, told Sky News she still hasn’t received her £75 refund.
Ms McCormack said Mr Coull should find a different way to boost his income.
She added: “He just isn’t cut out for what he’s trying to do. (He should stop this) for his own good and his own mental health.”
Please use Chrome browser for a more accessible video player
Glaswegian teenager Felicia took to TikTok to reveal her identity after her role in the experience went viral
Performers at the event described it as a place “where dreams went to die” and said the scripts had been AI-generated.
Mr Coull claimed he wrote the scripts, but he ran them through AI to check the spelling, grammar, and continuity due to his dyslexia.
The performers themselves have since become internet sensations.
Please use Chrome browser for a more accessible video player
Wonka actor reveals behind-the-scenes ‘bonkers’ experience
Glasgow teenager Felicia, 16, who played The Unknown, has been booked to scare children at London Dungeon this Easter.
Announcing her upcoming guest appearance, she said: “Who would have thought my wild Wonka experience would have led me to this.”
