- 4 days ago
Category
📺
TVTranscript
00:00Buzuki, auto, search for the phone.
00:05Bluetooth connecting.
00:07Look at us being technical.
00:09Oh my God!
00:12Shoot!
00:13This is in my will to be lowered into the ground.
00:16Bluetooth connecting.
00:17Just remember that.
00:21Disconnected.
00:22Oh for f***s sake.
00:25Bluetooth connecting.
00:26Dancing Queen.
00:41Dancing, designing and demolishing our way through the summer in Kofu.
00:54Amanda and I are transforming a run-down ruin.
00:59Push it.
01:01Oh my God, can you do this please?
01:04Into a luxury family holiday home.
01:06Oh it's like the cow pack.
01:09We've completed the living and dining room.
01:13The children's bedroom.
01:15And the kitchen.
01:17Oh my God, this is better than I ever thought it would be.
01:21And now we're taking on the main bedroom.
01:26Are you sure we can't repurpose this bed?
01:29No.
01:30I know, but disgusting.
01:32Cow.
01:32You work better when there's a theme.
01:35This is a bedroom, so I'm thinking Aphrodite.
01:37Oh, so what, like love and lust and...
01:42And pleasure and...
01:43Oh.
01:44Calm.
01:45Well if the earth moves in here it'll be subsides.
01:47It looks like it has moved though, look.
01:49The parents' bedroom, I want it to be a sanctuary.
01:53I want them to go in there and go,
01:54Oh my God, I remember you.
01:56You know how you do that sometimes?
01:58You just go, Oh my God, this is who we were before we had children.
02:02Let's remember the good times.
02:03That's exactly what Aphrodite said to...
02:09Who did she go out with, Hercules or someone like that?
02:12I love the idea of a full poster.
02:14That would be really nice.
02:15But with...
02:16Every time I see this room I see the windows open
02:18and I see soft muslin curtains just blowing gently in the wind.
02:22And I think if you're a parent
02:24and you've been really good with your kids all day
02:27it needs to feel like a place of calm
02:29and a hopeful place.
02:32Hopeful, okay, yeah.
02:32Hopeful, you're not too knackered.
02:34No.
02:35But it might be...
02:36You're praying you'll get some.
02:37One half of you's probably praying
02:39and the other half's going,
02:40Don't touch me!
02:43I think they're like a love seat.
02:46You mean like a window seat?
02:48A window seat.
02:49Could we both fit there?
02:50Should we see?
02:51I think we should call it like the Aphrodite suite.
02:55A room for love, you know?
02:57To think about love, to talk about love
02:59and to make love.
03:01And look at the sea.
03:03Don't you think that's nice?
03:04The kids are playing.
03:05I do think it's big enough for a love seat.
03:06Mummy and Daddy can have a bit of...
03:07And Mummy and Daddy can play Mummies and Daddies.
03:10Yes.
03:10Oh, yes.
03:11Now you're talking.
03:11Go back round there.
03:13And then I'll just, after being all romantic,
03:15I'll just squeeze past this person.
03:17Let's squeeze past, squeeze past.
03:20Ooh!
03:21Ooh!
03:22Nearly Daddy became a mummy.
03:24LAUGHTER
03:25To get us in the mood for love,
03:37I'm taking Amanda on a road trip
03:39to the north-west of Corfu.
03:42Memories from Spain
03:44Well, it's, um, Sadari.
03:47Now, I went back here in 1997
03:49and there is this tunnel of love.
03:53And if you go through this tunnel of love,
03:57who you see at the upper end
03:59is your love of your life.
04:01You find love.
04:02If you go in together,
04:04we will have eternal love.
04:07With each other?
04:08With each other.
04:09Don't take this the wrong way,
04:10but I'm going alone.
04:11LAUGHTER
04:12I still haven't found love on Corfu,
04:17but hopefully things are looking up.
04:20Canal de Moor is a popular destination
04:22for tourists in search of a soulmate.
04:26Oh, wow.
04:30Oh, my gosh.
04:32We're going in that hole.
04:34Is that it?
04:35That hole?
04:35Is that the hole?
04:37Isn't it weird?
04:37No, this is a tourist area.
04:39I'm here to find love
04:40and no-one's turned up.
04:42LAUGHTER
04:42Do you reckon someone knows
04:44I'm here looking for love
04:45and everyone's gone,
04:46let's...
04:46Back off.
04:47Get out of Sadari.
04:48Alan's here.
04:49LAUGHTER
04:49I can remember when...
04:55It's too choppy to swim today, Alan.
04:57You're going to get smashed against those rocks.
04:59It's not worth being injured for love.
05:02Well, I'd do anything for love,
05:03like Meatloaf said,
05:04but I won't do that.
05:07LAUGHTER
05:07I'm not going up there.
05:14Look at that.
05:15You can't.
05:15No, you can't.
05:17I think we should just have a paddle.
05:19Yeah?
05:20Just dip your toe in.
05:21Yeah.
05:22This could be foreplay.
05:26Ooh!
05:27Cold.
05:27That's quite chilly still.
05:29See, it is like your love life
05:32in that once you get in,
05:34you get used to it.
05:35Yeah!
05:36Right.
05:37Very shallow.
05:38LAUGHTER
05:39I am just going to get this
05:49because it's not good for the ocean.
05:52Look.
05:53This is bad.
05:57Let's hold hands.
06:02We go, we go together, Alan.
06:04Whee!
06:06What was it like in 97?
06:08How many homes were there in 97?
06:10Oh, my...
06:10Well, this...
06:11This was all rock back in the day.
06:13LAUGHTER
06:14This wasn't even here.
06:15It was fields.
06:17Do you know what?
06:18I remember back in 1997, yeah?
06:21Right.
06:21I had this lovely green towel
06:23that I used to take everywhere.
06:25LAUGHTER
06:26And...
06:27LAUGHTER
06:28LAUGHTER
06:29Oh, my God.
06:31LAUGHTER
06:32And I've always...
06:35LAUGHTER
06:36Where?
06:37What happened to it?
06:37What happened to it?
06:38LAUGHTER
06:39LAUGHTER
06:39I might not have found love,
06:53but Amanda and I are inspired
06:54to find ways of bringing romance
06:56to our bedroom design
06:58using Corfu's natural beauty.
07:01This is lovely.
07:02So I'm on the beach foraging for driftwood
07:04for an idea I have for our bedside lamps.
07:07Yes, I love that one.
07:09The things I do for aesthetics.
07:13While my inspiration is literally on my doorstep.
07:18Now, do you remember these doors?
07:20They're at the top of the stairs.
07:22Yeah, but I think they're...
07:23We can't reuse it.
07:24It's that...
07:25You can, you can.
07:25What do you want to do with them?
07:27Headboard.
07:29Make a minute, because, you know,
07:31it's like the Aphrodite Swede.
07:32Right.
07:33You know, we want it to be all about love.
07:35And we need a sturdy headboard.
07:37Do you get what I'm saying?
07:38Yeah.
07:39Okay.
07:40If the headboards are rocking,
07:41don't come a-knocking.
07:43So...
07:43Everywhere you look in Greece,
07:45when you look at the houses,
07:46you get these shutters and the doors,
07:49and they seem to really care about them.
07:51You see them in all different kinds of colours.
07:53So I think to bring that outside in
07:57is quite clever, really.
07:59This is what I was thinking.
08:01Yeah.
08:02Cutting across here where the letterbox was.
08:04Yeah.
08:05And then putting that up there,
08:06it's like that, that, that, that,
08:08all in a line.
08:09It's repurposing, it's reusing,
08:12it's recycling,
08:13it's everything that I love as a designer.
08:15It's ridiculous.
08:19That was quick for you.
08:20Yeah.
08:21I believe in second chances,
08:23so I think it's nice that we've given those doors,
08:26you know, a new lease of life.
08:28Lovely.
08:34I've left the headboard design to Alan,
08:37so I can bring my beach treasure to local artist Sakis,
08:42who creates lighting from Corfu Driftwood.
08:44We make two lamps.
08:48Two lamps from this one?
08:50Yeah, left and right of the bed.
08:51OK.
08:52Lighting is a game changer in a room.
08:54Just little pockets of light, subtle lighting,
08:57and you can do it really inexpensively.
09:00To make a lamp like the ones in his shop,
09:02Sakis first cuts the wood to size.
09:05Great.
09:05Making sure the ends are flat so he can attach a base.
09:12Then he drills a hole down the centre
09:14for the cable to run through.
09:16Let me have a go at doing this.
09:18Ah.
09:19Yeah, you see?
09:20Ooh!
09:21There she is.
09:25Perfect.
09:26Hello, and welcome to Mandy's whittling hour.
09:31It could be wittering.
09:32And now...
09:37Perfect.
09:38Do you want me to do the light switch on?
09:40Yes.
09:40People pay good money for this.
09:42Yep.
09:44Da-da-da-da-da-da!
09:46Oh, it's working!
09:48Well done!
09:50That's so good!
09:52And now it's for...
09:53No, no, no, no, no, no, no, no.
09:54It's mine.
09:55You're not selling that.
09:57That's so cool!
09:59Another one.
09:59I know Alan is very fond of rustic,
10:05but you've got to make the parents feel like
10:07they're in a special, bougie little hotel room.
10:10Not some sort of fisherman's shack.
10:16No more rustic now.
10:17No more, no more.
10:18Perfect.
10:18Oh, my gosh.
10:19I love them.
10:20I love them.
10:21At the house, we've cut the old doors down into panels,
10:26given them a quick sand and spruce,
10:28and my headboard is taking shape.
10:30That's great!
10:31Yeah?
10:32Love it.
10:32Okay, middle one.
10:35This is the only intimacy I've had in Corfu.
10:40Stop, stop, stop!
10:44There you go.
10:45Oh, my God.
10:46Lovely, right?
10:47Next one.
10:48Right, I'm going to really just push it now.
10:50I don't care.
10:55What?
10:56Maybe try just, like, doing it a little bit
10:57and a little bit and a little bit.
11:00There you go.
11:01That's noise.
11:02Did you hear it?
11:03It's like a...
11:04If it's going in,
11:06or a...
11:07If it's not.
11:08And even blindfolded, operating a screwdriver,
11:11I would know.
11:13And that is a real skill.
11:14This is already looking amazing.
11:30It's tools down for the afternoon
11:31because I've had a call from Julie at the donkey sanctuary
11:34where we've been volunteering for the summer.
11:36She wants me to meet a new resident
11:39who needs some help settling in.
11:43This is a new horse that arrived yesterday.
11:47Oh, so young.
11:48Oh, my gosh, has someone just abandoned him?
11:51Hello, darling.
11:53He's just adjusting, I think, at the moment.
11:55Oh, my gosh, you're in the right place, darling.
12:00You're in the right place now.
12:03Are you spending time with the donkeys rather than horses
12:06because the horses are a lot older and...
12:08Yeah.
12:08..a lot bigger than him?
12:11Sometimes a foal is abandoned
12:13when its mother is a working horse
12:14whose owners don't want her taking time out to nurse her young.
12:19What's his name?
12:20Diogo.
12:21Diogo.
12:21Diogo.
12:22Yes.
12:22Diogo.
12:23There.
12:23He's got a lot to get used to.
12:26I know.
12:28At just three months old,
12:29Diogo's main source of food will have been his mother's milk,
12:33so he's been reluctant to eat since arriving at the sanctuary.
12:37You've got a lot to get used to,
12:38but you'll be the kingpin when you'll get bigger.
12:41You'll get bigger and then you'll be fine.
12:44Your lovely red hair.
12:47Oh, it's beautiful.
12:49So beautiful.
12:50It's heartbreaking.
12:51Julie's hoping that by feeding him alongside the donkeys,
12:56he'll feel safe enough to start eating again.
13:00This place is surrounded in love,
13:02but the animals that have come here haven't been that fortunate,
13:05and the way they still trust humans
13:07and still have an open heart
13:09is something we can all learn, I think.
13:13I feel like the trolley, you know,
13:14when it comes round the hospital.
13:16All the goodies.
13:17Un-conditional love and truth.
13:20Yeah.
13:21And we're here to protect them,
13:23not abuse them.
13:26I don't need to make myself cry.
13:29It's true, though.
13:30You're being followed.
13:36Come on, then.
13:42Is the trolley the same?
13:45Yes.
13:46Are you scared to join in?
13:55Yes, would you like some?
13:57No?
13:58Would you?
14:00You'll have your own little portion.
14:03Yay.
14:04There we are.
14:05I think he's a bit nervous to eat with the other ones.
14:11Even though I don't normally like people crunching in my ear,
14:15I don't mind you crunching in my ear.
14:17Me and Alan are both animal nuts,
14:20and to be able to come down here
14:22and just feel something in your soul,
14:24it's just beautiful.
14:26It's a really beautiful part
14:27of this whole experience for me.
14:32Ooh, I love that.
14:34Dance.
14:36Good.
14:37Ooh.
14:38Good.
14:39At least he's eating.
14:41You know he's all right.
14:42Yes.
14:43Yeah.
14:43He'll settle in.
14:44Yeah.
14:53While Amanda spends the afternoon at the sanctuary,
14:56my parents are in town,
14:57so I'm taking them to dinner in Corfu's oldest village.
15:03You've got your sensible shoes on, Mum,
15:05because it's quite cobbly.
15:06Yes, I have, yes.
15:0714th century.
15:09That's when the village was built.
15:11I know you like history, Dad.
15:13What did you call Pompeii?
15:15Oh.
15:16The wilderness, right?
15:17Oh, you talk about embarrassing.
15:20Embarrassing.
15:25The ghost village of Old Peripheria
15:27lies near the top of the island's highest peak,
15:30Mount Pantocrator.
15:31Populated since the 1300s,
15:34it was abandoned in the 1960s
15:36when tourism hit Corfu
15:37and its villagers went in search of their fortunes
15:40nearer the coast.
15:41F***ing hell.
15:48Oh, it's the road.
15:53Oh, and the handbrake's on, see?
15:55Right, yeah.
15:57Now preserved as a historic monument,
15:59life is returning in the form of the odd B&B and Taverna.
16:05This is cute, isn't it?
16:07What a lovely place.
16:08So I've booked a dinner to give my parents
16:10a true experience of rural coffee at Cuisine.
16:15When it comes to food,
16:17my dad will be quite adventurous,
16:20but my mum will not try anything new.
16:24I'm starving again.
16:25Here we go.
16:26Oh, here we go.
16:27It'll be delicious.
16:28My mum likes fish fingers.
16:32She's like a five-year-old when it comes to food.
16:35I have Greek salad here.
16:38Lovely.
16:39Very creme-aisek.
16:40This is pork with Greek local societies
16:43and red spicy sauce.
16:45OK.
16:47Now, Mum, I know you're not a fan of feta,
16:49but do you want some of this?
16:50Just a...
16:51Just a...
16:53No, I won't.
16:55There you go, Dad.
16:57Do you want some of this, Mum?
16:58No.
16:59I'll...
17:00Come on.
17:04I am.
17:05Big mouthful.
17:07In comes the train.
17:08Choo-choo.
17:10She's suspicious.
17:11We say,
17:12this restaurant wants you to have a nice meal,
17:16so you come back.
17:18But for my mum, it's like a bush tucker trial.
17:21I have rabbit's seal.
17:23Yeah.
17:24Oh, nice.
17:26This is stuffed vine leaves.
17:27Oh, thank you.
17:32This is traditional vine leaves.
17:35Well, don't take the vine bit off.
17:38That's rabbit stew.
17:40Oh, yeah?
17:40Yeah.
17:41Do you want a bit of rabbit?
17:41No, thank you.
17:44Dad, what do you think, love?
17:46Very nice.
17:47Yeah.
17:48We're going to get dessert.
17:49There's a rabbit moose.
17:52Oh, no.
17:54Oh, my God.
18:08At the house,
18:09the old bedroom ceilings come out,
18:11the internal walls are primed,
18:13and Amanda and I have a plan
18:15to give the bedroom a calm,
18:17yet seductive feel.
18:23Right.
18:24Are you all right, Mary Poppins?
18:25No, listen.
18:27I've got to carry the...
18:28Look, what's this?
18:29Roller.
18:31Gloves.
18:32Whatever that...
18:33Ashtray.
18:34We're going to start on there because
18:36I really love that.
18:38Really?
18:39I love that.
18:40Because it was a gamble.
18:41I thought, I'm going to go for it, you know.
18:43It is very rustic.
18:45Yes.
18:46But I actually love it.
18:48We're applying a colour wash technique to the walls
18:51to give a textured appearance of raw plaster,
18:54and we've chosen two subtle shades of off-white paint.
18:58So we're just going to go swish, swish, swish, swish, swish, swish.
19:03Swish, swish, swish, swish.
19:04That is my favourite noise in the world.
19:07What?
19:08That.
19:09What, what's it called, cicadas?
19:11Yeah.
19:13They never stop talking all day long.
19:16Hmm.
19:17I wonder what that feels like.
19:22How very day.
19:23I think you found your spirit animal, Amanda.
19:29Are you sure this is right?
19:31Swish, swish, swish.
19:32These colours are a bit...
19:33This is not doing anything.
19:35Do you know, this is like a room that's meant to be, like,
19:38love, passion.
19:39This is like...
19:40This is insipid.
19:41I think this is boring.
19:43Shall we stop?
19:44Because I do think you're right.
19:46We're brave enough to say no.
19:48It doesn't work.
19:49I think as an interior designer, you've got to learn to say no.
19:53And I think sometimes saying no...
19:54As a human, you've got to learn to say no.
19:56Yes.
19:57We've both got to learn to say no.
19:58No, we are people pleasers.
20:00We say yes to everything.
20:02Yes.
20:03Rosé.
20:03I don't know.
20:04Wine, beer, vodka.
20:07Ouzo.
20:07Ouzo, limoncello.
20:09Back in the room, back in the room.
20:10There was no passion in there.
20:11It needs a bit of passion.
20:12Yeah.
20:12To try and ignite the passion, we've made a trip to the paint shop
20:17and opted for two shades of blush pink instead.
20:22Right.
20:24Now, this is the worry.
20:26I didn't look at it when she mixed it.
20:29Ooh.
20:31Ooh.
20:32Ooh, it's purple.
20:33It is purple.
20:35Well, that is the colour of lust, isn't it?
20:37Purple?
20:38It is now.
20:39It's salt of lilac.
20:40Mm.
20:42God.
20:45Oh, bloody hell.
20:47I feel stupid.
20:48But we can't stop.
20:49It looks like a mistake.
20:51It is a mistake.
20:54Yeah, the thing is, it's gone like corned beef purple.
20:58Do you know, I'm wondering whether it should have been pale green.
21:05Oh, dear.
21:07Right, then.
21:09Oh.
21:12To give us time to rethink, we're whisking ourselves off to the dramatic sea cliffs of north-west
21:29Corfu.
21:30Oh, look.
21:36Sitting on a rocky headland, Palioka Stritzer Monastery dominates the coastline with its striking facade and sweeping views.
21:47Look up here.
21:48I know this is going to make you laugh, and it isn't a joke, Alan, but there was a moment when I was young where I had a little cross and a bible, and I would sit in front of it, and I had dreams of becoming a nun.
22:02But I think loads of kids go through that.
22:04What, like Sister Amanda?
22:07Exactly.
22:08I think you'd quite like it with no make-up and just like...
22:11No, that's when I knew.
22:12I couldn't be a nun with a lash.
22:14No.
22:14That's not going to work.
22:16Oh, look, this is the entrance.
22:18Shall we have a look?
22:19Let's have a look.
22:23Founded in 1225, the architecture combines Byzantine and Venetian styles.
22:29Oh, gosh, look how opulent that is.
22:35And Palioka Stritzer remains one of the few active monasteries on the island.
22:41Oh, my gosh, is that an olive tree on that sea?
22:45I love that.
22:46Shouldn't you be covered up a bit more being in a church?
22:49As if there's a wimple in lost property or something.
22:56I don't know what it's for.
22:58Is it a prayer?
23:00Oh, you have prayers.
23:01Well, it's all in Greek.
23:03All deceased is people who've died.
23:07Oh.
23:07Sad, isn't it?
23:10I'm going to do my nanny and grandad.
23:12And then I'm going to do my little boy.
23:15Theo.
23:18It goes there and then we just get a candle out.
23:24We'll just light them over here.
23:26Oh.
23:28It's so lovely, I always think, whether you're religious or not, to come to a place, a church,
23:49anywhere, where you can actually have a moment of still.
23:52Yeah.
23:53And not think, and just be grateful.
23:56Oh, yeah, yeah.
23:57I always feel like my heart is slowing down.
24:00I know, and that's what we need.
24:02Yeah.
24:02Because we're both always hectic.
24:05I don't want to get maudlin.
24:08But when we lost Theo, there wasn't one moment where I thought, why has this happened to me?
24:18Mm-hmm.
24:18But there also wasn't a moment where I sort of blamed God or anything.
24:27And I just, the way I accepted it was to say that he chose me just for those few months to see what it was like to live and develop and be in the universe.
24:43And then the universe took him back.
24:45Now, I don't think that's religious.
24:48No.
24:48But I let him go back.
24:49Yeah.
24:50And that was my belief rather than, like, he went back to heaven as such.
24:56Yeah.
24:57I felt like he went back into the universe and he's out there and he's still part of our family.
25:01Yeah.
25:02You've got to process it some way.
25:04You've got to make some kind of sense, haven't you?
25:06You've got to make sense of it.
25:07I was like, gosh, I was so lucky to have him for all that time.
25:13And even though he was born sleeping, he was perfect.
25:28And I always, always say I'm a mother of three.
25:32Yeah.
25:33Always.
25:34Because I am.
25:35Oh, come on, you.
25:42Love you.
25:42It's been a labour of love getting the Aphrodite suite ready.
26:08Our horrible purple wall is gone, replaced by a more serene shade of green.
26:14The love seat is almost done.
26:17And I'm ready to build my romantic bed canopy.
26:21Ooh, I love it.
26:26This is like a princess bed.
26:28I love it.
26:28It looks amazing.
26:30Ready for the finishing touches.
26:32God, I look good in this.
26:36Oh, it's nice, isn't it?
26:37That's for two.
26:38I made these, Alan.
26:39I made these, Alan.
26:41Isn't he clever?
26:43Because I'd never even think he looks quite good and rusty.
26:45I made these, Alan.
26:47I made these, Alan.
26:48Oh, yes.
26:49She may be the face I can't forget, betrays the pleasure or regret, may be the treasure
27:00or the price I have to pay.
27:03Well, we got there in the end.
27:06Oh, my gosh.
27:06It really works.
27:08It really works.
27:12I think this says romance as well.
27:15Like, doing the canopy is like an affordable way of having, like, a four-poster bed.
27:20Yeah, and the wafting curtains as well.
27:22I wanted the wafting muslin.
27:27That was a stroke of genius, that half.
27:30I did that.
27:31I know.
27:31It feels chic-rustique.
27:35Greek chic-rustique.
27:38We set out to make this essential room for two people to reconnect and rest.
27:47In honour of Aphrodite.
27:48Yes.
27:49Might want to put her feet up here, do you reckon she might?
27:51Well, move her legs up, hopefully.
28:01Is she...
28:03Next time, we make a splash.
28:14Whoa, whoa.
28:15Why is my horse river dancing?
28:18And I learn the art of beekeeping.
28:20Oh, get away from that.
28:23Oh, it's your hand.
28:24As we pour our hearts into the front garden.
28:27I love you.
28:28I love you.
28:29I love you.
28:30And maybe I was that...
28:34Oh, it's your hand.
28:50Oh, it's your hand.
28:51I love you.
28:52Oh, it's your hand.
28:52Oh, it's your ham.
Be the first to comment