When Grand Designs first started, presenter Kevin McCloud nervously thought perhaps “one surveyor and his dog” would tune in.
Now the property show is about to celebrate its 25th series and Kevin admits he simply cannot imagine his life without the Channel 4 favourite. Asked if he still loves his job, he declares: “Yeah, I do. I do. I do. And also, I’m very proud of it because it isn’t a job. It’s a thing which is partly me and I’m partly it. And it’s a bit like being in a relationship, I couldn’t bear to be separated from it, if that makes sense.
“They’re going to have to prise me out of that.” Luckily, there is no suggestion of any imminent prising. The series remains hugely popular. Kevin adds: “I know it’s not necessarily healthy, but I do define who I am with work.” The 64-year-old may have spent a quarter of a century poking around in other people’s extraordinary houses, but when it comes to his own living arrangements, he remains coy.
He will say he currently lives on the Welsh borders, in Herefordshire, with his wife of three years, Jenny Jones. And he certainly has no plans to throw open the doors to viewers. “Why would you do that?” he asks. “It’s like walking around with your trousers down. Why would I, knowing full well 30% of anybody out there is going to say they don’t like it, and they’re going to be quite vitriolic?”
He says he’s been approached many times by enthusiastic producers and has always resisted. “Of course, they have asked, again and again. I think professionally it’s an exit strategy. If I did it, I could never get it back.” All he will reveal is that he spent a year putting in a new kitchen, bought from Ikea, and he was inspired to copy a Grand Designs feature from an ancient property in Warwickshire.
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The property show is about to celebrate its 25th series (Channel 4)“I was absolutely blown away by the staircase in Astley Castle, which was a wreck,” he says. “I thought if I could have one thing, it would be that. So I’m sort of borrowing some ideas.” Doing his own projects always reminds him just what the intrepid participants on Grand Designs put themselves through. During his year without a kitchen, Kevin struggled.
"It’s hard to express and to understand, there was a very deep sense of threat,” he explains. "It came from the fact that we didn’t have a kitchen, we didn’t have a heart to the home. It was as though something had been taken away from the building that made it feel more dangerous to be there. I can’t describe it in any other way, and I talk to people about this – it’s a very common feeling.”
Cambridge-educated Kevin has four grown-up children and the elder two are both in the industry – son Hugo is an architect and Grace is a design journalist. “Whether that’s in the blood, I don’t know,” he says. “As kids, I bored them rotten, taking them to look at piles of stones in fields saying: ‘Look at this fine piece of archeology.’ I realise that was a terrible thing to do as a parent, but inevitably some of it does rub off.”
His younger two, Elsie and Milo, grew up in Somerset, where Kevin and his former wife of 23 years, Suzanna, lived until their marriage ended in 2019. During the pandemic, unable to stay in hotels or use public transport because of his asthma, he rented a camper van instead. “I needed to work to earn some money, but also because I was going mad,” he says.
He said he wouldn't show his house to viewers (Channel 4)“You’re wondering ‘is this the end of my world, is this the end of my working life?’ I was so determined it should come back. I rented a camper van for three years and drove around the country living in it, just to be able to film.” The experience was not fun. “It was in February, in the mud. It was bloody, bloody cold. Camper vans, they’re designed for summer touring holidays. Never again.”
When he’s not filming, he likes to remain anonymous and sits incognito in his local pub. But that’s not to say he doesn’t like mingling with the show’s loyal audience. “People just want to talk about their project,” he says. “And I don’t mind the selfie thing at all.” As he prepares for London’s Grand Designs Live, which starts on Saturday, Kevin, who grew up in Bedfordshire in a house his father built, says: “When we started it, some smart-arse said to me: ‘Exhibitions are dead. The internet’s killed them. But people love a live event, to feel they’re part of something.”
He believes Grand Designs remains beloved by the audience because it still serves up surprises. “It sort of has its own energy derived from the build and out of the stories of the people,” he muses. “So what we end up with is a kind of a freshness. We’ve all got a little older. But I still find it very energising.”
And he still can’t resist sharing his own opinions with the contributors. “I give people advice and they ignore it because they’ve already disappeared somewhere in their head and their eyes are glazed over,” he laughs. “My great love is old buildings and I get hot under the collar if I see people doing stuff which is not good. I’ll wade in.”
- Grand Designs Live, May 4-12 at ExCeL London and October 2-6 at NEC Birmingham.
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