Alan Carr’s signature sense of humour has made him something of a national treasure. Outside of the comedy circuit, he’s been getting stuck into all things interior design in shows like Amanda & Alan’s Italian Job and Spanish Job, which he presented alongside Amanda Holden, and Interior Design Masters, which is soon to return for its sixth series on BBC One.
By Rachael Davis, PA Assistant Lifestyle Editor
Once again Carr, 48, is welcoming 10 interior designers on the ultimate crash course, tasking them with transforming a range of spaces for discerning clients across the country, with their design creations being judged by guru Michelle Ogundehin and a bunch of celebrity guest judges.
Ahead of the show’s return, let’s find out more from the hilarious host.
ALAN, THIS IS THE SIXTH SERIES OF INTERIOR DESIGN MASTERS – WHAT KEEPS YOU COMING BACK?
I think the way they push the envelope, just keeps me excited in it. Because it is the sixth series now, and I think they need to excite me, they need to excite the designers, and I think they need to excite the audience. So that’s why I keep coming back. It’s a laugh, and it’s a giggle, you know?
YOU CAN TELL YOU’RE HAVING FUN! TELL ME ABOUT SOME OF THE PROJECTS IN THIS SERIES.
We’re doing youth hostels, and then we also do a dog’s transition room at Battersea Dogs & Cats Home. We do comedy clubs up in Edinburgh. We do quirky cottages up in Portmeirion for the final, which is so surreal, so fabulous, so fantastic.
(Battersea Dogs & Cats Home) was heart-wrenching for me, because, you know, you’re trying to be on your game, and then you’ve got these dogs!
But this was really interesting though, because it wasn’t just a kennel. What they designed was (for) the dog that was transitioning from being in Battersea Dogs & Cats Home to having its new home, so they had to create a room that looked simulated like a normal room to bring them gently into: ‘You’re going to have your forever home now’. So you can imagine how emotional that was…
You’ve got a charity, a fantastic charity like Battersea Dogs & Cats Home, they’ve got what they want, but what does the dog want? And how do you stop a dog that’s nervous or angry, calming it down, ready for its new home? I mean, that is such a curveball, isn’t it, for any designer.
SOME BIG PROJECTS, THEN… HAS THE STANDARD GONE UP?
The standard has gone up, which makes it hard for me, because I do like the weird and wonderful ones, just from a comedian’s angle, where we like to go in there and someone’s gone, what the hell’s gone on here? But you find as you get people who love to do it so much, and who have clearly watched the show and want to win, the standard does go up, and you can’t really take the mick so much because they’re bloody good. Damn!
DO YOU HAVE TO BITE YOUR TONGUE SOMETIMES IF YOU SEE SOMETHING YOU FIND FUNNY OR UGLY?
Yes, I do have to bite my tongue! I do have to bite my tongue, and they don’t warn me, I go in there and what you see is what you get. I mean, you know my poker face is not the best.
I think the reason I got the job was (because) they said: ‘Alan, you are the people at home’… I’ve got no filter. It’s got me into so much trouble before. But like I said, I go in there and, you know, if they’ve painted it the colour of baby poo, then it’s baby poo! If it looks like the inside of a nappy, what can I say?
But, yeah, I try not to be too cruel… But, I mean, sometimes I can’t help myself. You know, there’s so many WTF moments and you’re going ‘really?’ But I think that’s the joy of the show.
You get people who inspire you, you go: ‘Wow, I’m going to do that in my house’, to people like: ‘Oh my God, do not come anywhere near my house!’
DO THE ELIMINATIONS GET EASIER AS TIME HAS GONE ON?
Every series I say: ‘Can we just have a trap door put in?’ It’s just quicker, swifter, you know, one pull and they’re gone, and you don’t have any awkward goodbyes. Or gunging?
I just hate confrontation anyway, and it’s the worst bit when someone has to go home. And I do sit there sometimes like a child in a divorce proceedings. I just sit there with my hands between my knees looking awkward. I just hate people going home.
And of course, the longer you’re there, you know them. You know them so well, because we spend all day, whether it’s in Bristol, Glasgow, Edinburgh, we’re there. So, yeah, I mean, it never gets any easier, even though it is six series in. I mean, my toes are so curled up, I can’t bear it!
AS YOU SAY, THIS SHOW HAS YOU TRAVELLING ALL AROUND THE UK, MEETING ALL SORTS OF PEOPLE – WHAT DO YOU LOVE ABOUT THAT?
Yes, you do get to spend (time in) some lovely places, like Rye, I’d never been to before, and because it was streets, everyone in Rye came out to see the transformation, and they did something with the front of the shop. You’ll see it on the show, as the camera pans round, I think the whole of Rye was there and just gave a massive round of applause because they approved of what they’d done. So that was a real emotional moment for me, Michelle and the people, you know, you can’t get a better endorsement than that!
And then Edinburgh, went to comedy clubs, and they were actually doing up some comedy clubs that I had performed in when I was back in the Fringe, back in 2003 and 2004, so that was really, really emotional for me.
And then in the final I spent three days in Portmeirion, which is just so surreal and fabulous and everything, right on the outskirts there in Wales.
See, I’m so lucky. I get to spend time in these lovely places.
Obviously the industrial estate in Bristol with the containers – you know, it wasn’t Vegas, but you saw a different side of Bristol!
Interior Design Masters with Alan Carr returns to BBC One on Thursday, April 10 at 8pm
