A date with Sarah-Kate; Kate’s home truths
Sarah-Kate prefers her telly programmes to be real
Aconfession: I’m a bit of a Grinch when it comes to reality TV. I have no interest in random groups of people cooking at speed, stuck on desert islands or getting married at first sight. Take me to an island with a couple who got married the normal way and are trying to cook something – without knowing they’re being filmed – and I’m in. Anything else is fake reality and I like the real sort.
These days, that means renovation shows. LoveIt
orListIt, Nate&Jeremiahby Design and SellingHouses Australia are top of my list.
For the uninitiated, LoveIt orListIt features couples who have different opinions about where they live. One likes it, the other wants to sell and move on. One host (Kirsty or Phil if it’s the UK version, Andrew or Neale if it’s Aussie) then renovates the place while the other takes them house-hunting. My favourite bit is when the couples start bitching about who hogs the bathroom or never goes near the pokey little hole of a kitchen. Now that’s reality TV! In this show, the clincher comes at the end, when the couple has to decide if they’ll love their renovated home or put it on the market. One person has to pretty much do a 180 turn for this concept to work. Ooh, the tension!
Nate Berkus and Jeremiah Brent are a fabulous US couple, both interior designers, who swoop in and help homeowners who’ve made some horrendous mistakes with their renovations. As well as the disasters they are sorting, you get to see their own swanky pad, complete with two adorable children and more good taste than you can poke a swizzle stick at. Never a hair, hat or high waistband out of place, the banter between them is hilarious. I like Jeremiah. The Ginger likes Nate. And we both like their style. I want to be their friend so badly, but they’re based in Los Angeles so that’s lucky for them.
Which brings me to my personal top of the how-badis-that-house pops, Selling HousesAustralia. Cheeky host Andrew Winter arrives at a disaster area of a home that just won’t sell. And for most of us watching, the reasons are plain as day. So why don’t the owners see it? Therein lies the deliciousness of this quick flip feast for the eyes. Would you buy a house that has kitty litter in the bathroom, paint falling off the walls and no living room? Probably not.
Having identified the issues – and a usually paltry budget to fix them – Andrew brings in the queen of the plumped-up cushion, Shaynna Blaze, and our man in the garden, Charlie Albone, and in three days, they whip the dump into shape and put it up for sale again. The Ginger has issues with Andrew’s use of the term “meals area”, but I’m in it for the things you learn about people – that and the perfect indoor/outdoor flow.
Yep, this type of TV ticks all the boxes for me. And ticking boxes is important in renovation shows. Just try counting the number of times this is mentioned. Fun for all the family!