We talk to Kirstie Allsopp about crafts and controversy
The property expert talks crafts, controversial tweets and cabin crew with Jordan Paramor
If there’s one thing you can’t accuse Kirstie Allsopp of, it’s being shy and retiring. heat has barely asked a question before she’s waxing lyrical about everything from the weather to politics. As well as being super-chatty, she’s funny, sweet and likeable, which is why we were shocked when Love Island ’s Amy Hart recently named the mum of two as the worst passenger she’d ever had when she was BA cabin crew (more on that later).
The 47 year old is about to return to our screens as the host of Kirstie’s Celebrity Craft Masters, which sees celebs pitched against each other in a series of craft challenges. But, she reveals, it’s a show she never thought she’d make…
The likes of Scala radio’s Angellica Bell and MIC’S Sam Thompson are appearing on Celebrity Craft Masters, but you weren’t sure about it at first? When I first heard about it, I did say, “You are kidding me? I haven’t avoided all these celebrity shows for all these years to then have one of my own – that’s not happening.” But then I thought, “How do you get more people into craft? Celebrities!” I have to say, we’re quite proud of it. You know you do that thing where you switch on a family celebrity show and you think, “I don’t know who that is, and I certainly don’t know who that is”? But, actually, we were so blessed. We got a really fantastic selection of guests, from young to old, with different talents. How did you get on with all the celebs? I felt a little shame-faced after we did the filming, because the levels of professionalism were off the charts. I’ve always swanned around saying, “I’m not a TV presenter, I’m an expert. I don’t go the opening of an envelope.” I basically had a superior attitude. Then all of these people arrived on time and were beautifully behaved, and I was like, “Oops!” Who was the best celeb crafter? I can’t say whether or not I had
favourites, but Natasha Kaplinsky made a needle felted alpaca mum and baby that were so cute, we had to put them in a special place, because we thought someone might steal them. Also, Susan Calman made a cat bed, which was a triumph. It was lovely when people said they thought they would be rotten at crafting and they weren’t. It was so much fun – plus it was a hotbed of Strictly gossip, because we had six people who have been on the show. Any Strictly gossip you’d care to share with us? I can’t possibly comment. You must have been asked to do Strictly in the past? [Laughs.] Luckily, I’m exclusive to Channel 4, so I don’t have to make that decision. Can you dance? As a keen viewer, I don’t think that’s a prerequisite for going on Strictly. I don’t know. I can mum-dance with the best of them, but not like they do on Strictly. I’ve had a few friends that have been on the show and I’ve gone along to support them. I know how much work is involved, and I just wouldn’t be able to do it. You caused a Twitter storm when you suggested that women should ditch their tights for summer. What’s your issue with them? It’s not a loathing of tights, but in the summer, you have to go from boots, tights, dress, coat and scarf to dress, shoes and no tights. And once you’ve transitioned, you can’t go back. You can’t then put tights back on. A lot of people say that my legs are too white, but my theory is that you just have to brave it. I’ll start off with a maxi dress or maxi skirt and then, once I’ve got a bit of colour, I’ll go up to the knee. I don’t ever go above the knee, though. I’m too old. You get a lot of flak about your tweets, and you briefly deactivated your account last year due to the backlash after you admitted smashing your kids’ ipads… Sometimes, when I tweet, people say, “Oh, you’re just being a controversialist.” But I never, ever tweet expecting a reaction. A couple of weeks ago, I was in a house and the people who owned it had painted it grey. I was just so fed up with grey I put out a tweet telling people to tread carefully, because I’ve rarely seen grey done well. That’s all I said, but it went crazy. When Phil and I started out on Location, Location, Location 20 years ago, social media didn’t exist and the world was a completely different place. If you’d said to me back then, “You’ll have this thing called a smartphone and you’ll be able to make a comment about the colour of someone’s walls, and 400,000 people will like it,” I’d have thought you were daft. Do people’s reactions ever make you want to stop tweeting? [Shakes her head.] Television audiences are shrinking, and if you work in television, you have a responsibility to generate activity around your shows with social media. If you don’t do that, you’re nuts. I do always try to do tweets that are family or property orientated, and I am careful about every single tweet I send, but there’s no way you can judge what will kick off and what won’t.
It’s amazing that Location, Location, Location has been going for 20 years… I know! I couldn’t have predicted it. I only agreed to do the show back in the beginning, because they offered me £600 a day to film a pilot, which was a fortune. I thought, “I’m going to be rich!” Also, the show was going to be on Channel 4, so I didn’t think anyone would notice it and it wouldn’t impact my life in any way. I decided that if I didn’t like people coming up to me in the supermarket and knowing my name, I was going to stop. And now look! What’s the worst thing you’ve ever seen while looking around a house? Our cameraman once put his camera down on the floor and it pointed directly under a bed. Quite a few “things” popped up on our director’s monitor. I didn’t see what she saw, but her face was a picture. Amy Hart from Love Island dissed your behaviour on a BA flight and it kinda annoyed you... [Amy said that Kirstie tried to
blag an extra seat for her son to be with her in business class, despite only buying him an economy seat.] I know. I mean, really? Poor thing. The worst thing was how annoyed BA were. I was flying to Geneva with BA the following day and when I arrived at the terminal, there was a line of lovely people from BA saying, “We’re so sorry, we know it’s not true.” They were horrified, but I said, “Look, it’s just one of those things.” I fly a lot and I’ve done some internal films for BA, and I’m one of those people who really likes cabin crew. It did get to me, because I can’t bear the idea of anyone thinking that I’m not going to be nice, because that would really wobble me. why do you think Amy said it? I think she was doing it to be controversial, because she thought it would be funny to say that I was the worst passenger and Piers Morgan was the best. She totally misinterpreted the episode she was referring to. She got the wrong end of the stick and it wasn’t that I had behaved badly or had done anything. For the record, I rarely sit in club class and I never sit in first. I’m usually in premium economy, two rows ahead of my children. But some people have even given you stick for that? I have this very firm thing that I don’t think you should spoil the kids [sons Bay, 12, and Oscar, nine], so as soon as they were old enough, they sat at the back with their brothers [Kirstie has two teenage stepsons, Hal and Orion]. Someone sent me a message saying, “You shouldn’t get your stepkids to babysit.” You don’t babysit your siblings – you’re a family! My children want to sit with their brothers watching unsuitable films and drinking copious amounts of Coca-cola. After that happened, my children said, “Mum, you’re not going to start sitting with us, are you?” I said, “No.” I regard the plane as my last opportunity to get some work done, and the last thing I want to do is sit next to my nine-year-old watching Baywatch and laughing at jokes I don’t like to think he understands. the Love islanders are about to be thrown into the crazy world of fame. what advice would you give them? Be nice about everyone. And if you can’t be nice, be smiley. Also, think of the long view. We all know those people who have started on shows like this and are still around. Don’t jump at everything and say yes to whatever you’re offered. Really try and think who you are and what would suit you. Also, if someone invites you to the premiere of Downton Abbey, don’t say yes unless you’re a keen fan. There are other people who would like those tickets. n
Kirstie’s Celebrity Craft Masters is on Monday-friday, Channel 4, 5pm
‘Amy Hart criticised me because she wanted to be controversial’