A ‘floating suspended shelf unit’ and ‘prized antique teapot collection’ has disaster written all over it, but that didn’t stop designer Linda Barker from proceeding with the idea on Changing Room’s most memorable moment.
The home improvement show is set to return to our screens this week when a reboot of the classic BBC series comes to Channel 4.
Naked Attraction host Anna Richardson will be on presenting duties alongside designer Laurence Llewelyn-Bowen – who found fame on the original run, which launched in 1996.
Anna will no doubt be crossing everything that she doesn’t have a repeat of what happened to one unlucky homeowner on the show back in 2000.
Seventeen years after the show left our screens, people still talk about the episode in which designer Linda Barker was tasked with redecorating a South London flat belonging to a lady called Clodagh, along with the help of her two neighbours.
Before taking part in the show, Clodagh had written a letter to producers asking for her lifetime’s collection of teapots to be housed in a corner cabinet, but Linda had other ideas.
Clodagh’s neighbours knew the sentimental and monetary value of the teapots (over £6,000) and were wary when Linda suggested shelves suspended from the ceiling by wires.
“It was going to be absolutely great,” Linda reminisced in a subsequent interview.
“I’m painting such a great picture because, of course, the whole thing ended up in complete disaster.”
Not half, Linda...
Surveying the damage as she arrives at the flat the following day, a nonchalant Linda says: “I think we just have to out our hands up on this one.”
Probably best Linda, unless you have a lot of superglue handy.
Relive the full horror in the clip below...
The all-new Changing Rooms starts on Wednesday at 9pm on Channel 4.