Liz Fletcher and Kelvin Fletcher had planned to relocate to the United States, but the move to California collapsed after a year of plotting and testing the idea. Kelvin said the pair were gutted when it fell through, after months spent in California and a later visa application.
The failed plan mattered because it was built around family life as well as work. The couple, who star in ITV's Fletchers' Family Farm, live in the Peak District with their four children, and the move had been tied to a fresh start in California, predominantly LA.
Sliding Doors podcast
Kelvin first set out the plan on the Sliding Doors podcast. He said the couple decided in mid-2018 to spend about three or four months in California, and that the stay turned into a longer test of whether they could live there full time.
He said, "We decided - I think it was mid-2018 - to spend about three or four months in California, in LA predominantly. At the time, it was just myself, Liz and Marnie. That was our kind of family setup. I was CrossFitting every morning at 6 or 7 and was like, 'this is the life.'"
He added that the pair then moved from trial to intention: "And then it was just that thing of, 'let's just move here.' We didn't have any jobs at the time, we were working actors, and it was just like, 'let's just do it.'" He said they spent a year plotting and testing the concept before lodging their visa applications.
Liz Fletcher on Fletchers' Family Farm
The farm show episode that ran alongside the move story gave the clearest picture of what the couple are dealing with at home. One of their sheep struggled during the birth of her lambs, and the first lamb died before Liz and Kelvin stepped in to help the ewe deliver her second lamb.
Liz said, "That was hard because you feel like you're going to break their legs, but you have to get them out. It is just really sad to see them like that, all floppy and....it's horrible." Kelvin said, "It's heartbreaking to see that and witness that." He also asked, "Should we have got involved 15 minutes ago? Would that have made a difference?"
He said there was "a fine line between shoving your hand up every two seconds to letting nature take its course," and added, "It's never a good sign the first one being like that, though." Liz then said, "She has given up."
California plans and regret
Kelvin said the move was shaped by his view of risk and regret. He told the podcast, "I have got a big fear of regret, and I don't have a big fear of failing." He also said he would work as an Uber driver or in a cafe if the family had gone, while aiming to try acting in Hollywood.
That is the clearest reading of the collapse: the couple did not just lose a change of address, they abandoned a plan they had stress-tested for a year before applying for visas. The unresolved point is why the relocation did not survive that process, even after the pair had already treated California as a serious option.
