0:00

Have you ever felt like starting

0:02

again, quitting your 9-5s, skipping town

0:04

and escaping to the desert island

0:06

of your dreams? Well, that's

0:08

exactly what Jane, Phil and their

0:10

three kids did when they traded

0:13

their English home for a tropical

0:15

island they bought online at a

0:17

bargain price. But soon they all

0:19

discovered that Paradise has its secrets

0:21

because the locals claim the islands

0:23

belong to them and they say

0:25

it's been sold illegally. Some

0:28

wondery this is the price of

0:30

Paradise, the real-life story of an

0:32

island dream that turns into a

0:34

living nightmare, one which leads to

0:36

kidnap, corruption and murder. We're

0:38

about to play you a clip from

0:40

the first episode. If you like what

0:42

you hear, search and follow The Price

0:44

of Paradise wherever you listen to podcasts

0:47

or you can binge the entire season

0:49

ad-free by subscribing to Wondery Plus in

0:51

the Wondery app or on Apple Podcasts.

1:03

Midnight in Paradise. Endless

1:06

stars and hot humid nights. A

1:10

remote island off the coast of Nicaragua,

1:13

an island that's been home to an English

1:15

family from Hampshire for the past seven months.

1:19

And for Jane Gaskin, this

1:21

island has become her dream, her

1:24

destiny. There's no

1:26

going back, she says. Even

1:29

if it all goes wrong and they end up

1:31

penniless. But now,

1:33

as Jane looks at her three children

1:35

and her partner Phil, it's

1:37

clear that something has gone

1:40

terribly, terribly wrong. The

1:42

Gaskin family is huddled together in a small

1:45

fishing boat, in the middle of

1:47

the night, dressed in soggy pyjamas, shivering

1:50

and looming over them,

1:52

three masked men. Just

1:55

an hour ago, Jane was putting the

1:57

kids to bed, cleaning their teeth. Before

2:00

they all crawled under them of ketone it

2:02

to sleep. When an armed

2:04

gangs through else in the door. A

2:07

march them off the island and onto

2:09

this boat. Is

2:11

it they won't gain? And civil

2:13

don't know. She squeezes her daughter's

2:16

hand is one of their kipnis.

2:18

As places is gone you need

2:20

to get as a million dollars

2:22

or someone will get hurt. Jane

2:25

locked eyes with them. And

2:27

mean. They have have that kind

2:30

of cash. It feels

2:32

hopeless. Richest.

2:38

People. In

2:40

his hand, staring at Jane with

2:43

a look she recognizes. Reggie.

2:47

And with. China.

2:51

Is one of the kidnappers. Hook

2:54

Officer written in the corner and which.

2:58

Was held for harmful fuse

3:01

shoulders. And

3:05

he reaches into his. Wife.

3:11

Called could not go whole hog.

3:16

Shayne Graham. Oh.

3:22

Hi. To your

3:25

shoes. And

3:28

go to a man. I

3:32

have wages, the. Kind. Of.

3:37

Is burning All make the English and

3:39

issue. Humble

3:42

home for sure That was

3:44

saying the children as it

3:46

right into the darkness of

3:48

nobody does look back but

3:50

then not free. Not that.

3:53

Was the family run. From six months

3:55

and edges on on. one

4:00

their minds. How does

4:02

their I'm in Paradise turn

4:04

into this nightmare? From

4:17

Wondery, I'm Alice Levine, host

4:20

of British Scandal, and this is

4:23

the Price of Paradise. Have

4:45

you ever wanted to start again?

4:47

Quit your job, leave town, build

4:50

a brand new life somewhere new? You could

4:53

hand in your notice to the boss you

4:55

have always hated, bid goodbye to friends you've

4:57

outgrown and the obligations of extended family could

4:59

be a thing of the past. You

5:02

could sprint into the sunset in search

5:04

of your own slice of paradise, whatever

5:06

that may be. I have

5:08

to say, I've been tempted to hit

5:10

the reset button, not because of the

5:13

friends and family bit, obviously, love you

5:15

all, call you soon, sorry I haven't

5:17

replied to your text, but particularly on

5:19

a grey winter's morning, on the London

5:21

Underground, nestled in a stranger's armpit, sweating

5:23

profusely in my outside layers. Yeah, I

5:26

think about my choices, sure. Well,

5:28

this series is about two women who

5:30

decided to do just that. Start

5:33

again, leave their old

5:35

lives behind and risk everything to

5:37

follow their dreams. They just happen

5:39

to have bigger dreams than me. This

5:42

is an informal disclaimer to let me off the hook. There

5:45

will be moments in this story where you want

5:47

to pull off your headphones and stamp on them

5:50

and maybe cry out on the bus or in the car, no,

5:52

and there might even be

5:54

some swearing, both in the programme

5:56

and possibly in your car, because

5:58

a lot of things are going on. things that happen involving

6:01

both of these women are

6:03

pretty extreme. The

6:07

first woman is ex-bunny girl

6:09

Jane Gaskin. I think

6:11

to understand Jane and all the wild things

6:13

that happen to her, sometimes because of her,

6:16

you need to understand where she's at when this

6:18

all starts. And

6:20

that's in January 2000, the beginning

6:23

of the new millennium. Jane

6:25

has just survived the millennium bug, good for her, and

6:28

she's just made the mother of all

6:30

resolutions. To leave

6:32

absolutely everything she knows in England behind.