changing rooms© Photo: BBC

Is Changing Rooms set to return with Carol Smillie and Laurence Llewelyn-Bowen?

The original BBC show was on air from 1996 to 2004

Online Digital News Director
August 27, 2020

Changing Rooms, the original home makeover show, could be set to return to our TV screens. According to reports, the BBC programme is being considered for a revival by Channel 4 – and bosses are said to be keen to get original presenters Carol Smillie and Laurence Llewelyn-Bowen on board.

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Watch: Linda Barker's Changing Rooms Teapot Disaster - © BBC

A Channel 4 spokesperson confirmed to the Radio Times: "We are exploring the idea, but nothing is confirmed."

Changing Rooms ran from 1996 until 2004, and still retains something of a cult following. The premise saw neighbours or friends decorating a room in each other's homes with the help of an interior designer – and with some seriously over-the-top designs included, there were often mixed results!

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In one memorable episode, Linda Barker was tasked with creating a room that would accommodate the owner's large collection of tea pots. Shockingly, the shelf collapsed, however, destroying the entire valuable collection.

© Photo: Getty Images

Laurence Llewlyn-Bowen was both a designer and host on the show

One of Laurence's more outrageous designs upset another couple, when he famously decorated a room entirely in animal print, leading the horrified owner to describe it as resembling a "tart's boudoir".

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Carol hosted the show from 1996 until 2003, when former designer Laurence took over at the helm. In a 2017 interview for the Daily Mail's Weekend Magazine, Carol described the show as "the best TV experience of [her] career".

© Photo: Getty Images

Carol Smillie was the original Changing Rooms presenter

She said: "In 1996 I was the original presenter of BBC2's Changing Rooms – it was one of the first reality shows and is credited with starting the DIY craze of the late '90s.

"It was the best TV experience of my career – we were a happy bunch who went into it naively but came out the other end as household names with a BAFTA nomination and invitations to both Downing Street and Buckingham Palace. It was the stuff of dreams, and all from watching paint dry!"

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