Saturday Magazine – August 10, 2019

INTERIOR DESIGN

MASTERS Wed 8pm BBC Two

NEW

Words by: Tricia Martin

I

f you like the mix of creativity

and competition on Bake Off

and The Great British Sewing

Bee, you’ll love Fearne Cotton’s

latest programme.

It sees 10 hopefuls competing

to be the chosen one who gets to

create the look for a bar at a top

London hotel. But they’ll start by

working in teams to design the

decor for show homes.

The main judge is design

consultant Michelle Ogundehin,

and this week she’s joined by

fashion designer turned interiors

expert Matthew Williamson.

Everyone wants to shine –

and Fearne can sense that the

contestants are stressed.

‘You’ve not made it easy for

yourself,’ she says (not very

helpfully) to contestant Kyle, who’s

adding wood panelling to a room.

‘I’m feeling a bit tense for you.’

Meanwhile Nicki’s bold design

is for a bedroom with black walls

and a pink ceiling. ‘I’m thinking

luxury, contemporary, modern

home,’ she says. ‘Gorge!’ reckons

Fearne. But will the judges be

equally enthusiastic?

Aside from wrangles over

whether their designs work

together – with a particularly

spiky exchange when Brazilian Ju

refuses to change her wild floral

wallpaper – the teams share a

decorator, a builder and an

electrician. Everyone’s very polite

through gritted teeth, but tempers

are fraying. As the judges pick their

winners – with one loser leaving –

Fearne sums up the challenge.

‘Solid teamwork is a must for

professional interior designers,’

she says. ‘But this team don’t

seem to be up to scratch.’

With bitchy asides and some

very out-there ideas, this is a great

watch. And we reckon the

tension’s only going to build as

the hopefuls head for that

coveted hotel commission...

House of fun...

Will ‘team work make the dream work’ as

Fearne Cotton’s wannabes compete to

be the next big name in interior design?

‘You’ve not

made it easy

for yourself...

I’m feeling a bit

tense for you!’

You gotta

roll with it...

Decor duo

...Michelle

and Fearne

...you gotta

take your time!

‘What’s a

spirit level?’

FEARNE’S ‘HELPFUL’

WORDS TO A HOPEFUL

SATURDAY MAGAZINE 11

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