Crafting is not a niche, middle-class thing...
PRESENTER KIRSTIE ALLSOPP IS COMING OVER ALL FESTIVE AGAIN. SHE TELLS GEORGIA HUMPHREYS WHY EVERYONE SHOULD SEEK SOLACE IN CRAFTING
KIRSTIE ALLSOPP hangs up on me not once, but twice, during our phone interview. The first time, the Londonborn TV presenter, 49, has another call come through, and she rings me back two minutes later, flustered.
“So sorry Georgia, that was a No Caller ID call, which always freaks me out! I’m like, ‘Oh god, what’s wrong, is it their school?” babbles the star, who has two children with her partner Ben Andersen, a property developer (she is also step-mum to Ben’s two children from a previous relationship).
Not long after, I hear her kids in the background and, following some exasperated-sounding words from Kirstie, she’s suddenly gone again...
“The joys of working from home,” vents the star when she returns. She explains how her kids – Bay, who was born in 2006, and Oscar, who arrived in 2008 – are off school today.
“One of them was violently sick at 1am this morning. The other one, there’s nothing wrong with him, but you just can’t (send him to school) because it’s irresponsible.
“The schools are trying so hard to keep children in school that if you introduced vomiting and norovirus, they’d never forgive you.”
So, yes; you could say chatting about Kirstie’s two new TV series didn’t exactly go smoothly. But I don’t mind one bit, because not only is she hugely apologetic, she’s great value, whizzing between all sorts of topics; hair masks, coronavirus, the perils of social media...
As for her TV work, fans of the crafting queen – most famous for her property programmes with Phil Spencer, including Location, Location, Location – will be delighted to hear we’re getting a double dose of her Christmas cheer on Channel 4 this year.
In Kirstie’s Christmas: Quick and Easy Craft – a one-off programme airing at primetime – she is joined by Phil, to create some cocktail magic.
Meanwhile, her sister, florist Sofie, helps with some festive floral displays, and baker Nancy Birtwhistle reveals some of her favourite recipes, tips and tricks.
“We made that in February and now, of course, we’re thrilled, because we have got this one very sparkly, very warm show where everyone is incredibly relaxed and it’s just very genuine,” notes Kirstie, who is strikingly posh (her father is British peer and businessman Charles Henry Allsopp, 6th Baron Hindlip; her mum, Lady Fiona Hindlip, died from breast cancer in 2014).
Her other show airing this month is Kirstie’s Handmade Christmas, a daytime series which will air Monday to Fridays for two weeks.
She is once again joined by Phil – who tries his hand at ice sculpting, woodworking, and metalwork – and it also features a daily competition in which we see four of the country’s best crafters battle it out to be crowned champion.
The series was filmed in early October, and Kirstie recalls how they had to “jump through massive hoops” because of Covid-19 restrictions – including filming in an open-sided marquee, which was “cold and damp”.
I suggest it must have e been frustrating to not be able le to make TV in the normal way right now, and although Kirstie is a little careful at first with her reply, it’s clear she agrees.
“How it works with filming craft is that it’s often very detailed on the small stuff, so I will be working on something, ing, or the crafter will be working orking on something, and the cameraman will get very close. And that’s not possible with social distancing.”
She continues: “It was obviously very, very different and quite... slow.
“And, er, there were times when you just wanted to scream.”
Animated Kirstie doesn’t hide her exasperation as she goes on to describe in length just how cold it was. But, she adds, she’s “glad for the crafters. I’m obviously glad for the work, and for the crew and the production company.
“Everybody needs to work. And, there’ll be something new on telly!”
Kirstie and her sister Sofie
When we chat, it’s a few days before nationwide lockdown measures are re-introduced in England. Kirstie isn’t afraid to share her opinions on Covid-19 on her Twitter account; recently her focus has been on the impact it’s having on children’s and adolescents’ mental health, and issues of isolation for new mums.
She sometimes faces a backlash for her tweets. When, for example, in the summer, she suggested that office
workers who are working from home because of the coronavirus pandemic need to “prove their worth” to employers in order to keep their jobs, she found herself defending and explaining her comments.
She’s also made headlines for clashing with Good Morning Britain’s Piers Morgan on the social media site too.
“Ooh yes, we don’t talk about him,” she quips hastily, when
I bring Piers up.
Asked if she ever has regrets about what she tweets, she muses: “You can’t live with regret. We all know we all make mistakes and therefore if you’re going to engage, you’re going to sometimes make mistakes. That’s a given.”
What about trolls on Twitter – how does she handle hurtful comments from them?
“I really don’t want to say this because it’s like, it will drag them
out from underneath – but I am amazingly untouched.
“You know, the people who really suffer with it are female journalists.
“Every now and again, somebody will be disagreeing with me or someone will tell me I’m a stupid b**** and should go back to knitting, but it’s pretty rare, actually. I’m very lucky.
“But I am shocked when I do see it happen to people I know, and people I work with. And I think a lot of it is profoundly misogynistic, to be honest.”
Kirstie – a self-confessed “control freak” – knows all too well about how people are struggling with their mental health during such a turbulent year. But, “crafting is a huge help” and “it’s not a niche, middle-class thing,” she professes.
“I think that was one thing that was very clear out of lockdown; people really saw that all sorts of people craft and it can really, really help,” she elaborates.
“It (coronavirus) can be very muddling, very confusing.
“(There are) lots of different messages; you’ll hear that one minister says this and another minister says this and you’re promised this won’t happen, and this does happen. It’s sometimes really hard for people.
“But crafting is a solace, to just have a bit of clear brain time.”
Kirstie’s Christmas: Quick and Easy Craft is on Channel 4 tomorrow at 8pm. Watch Kirstie’s Handmade Christmas on the same channel, weekdays for two weeks from Monday, November 30.
Leanne is devastated
LEANNE remains adamant she wants to fight the court’s verdict, despite the fact that every local solicitor refuses to take the case.
She also lashes out at those closest to her, horrified by what she perceives as a lack of support, but she’s forced to rethink everything when Oliver suffers another blow.
Steve eventually persuades her that letting their son slip away is the best course of action, although it will be the
hardest thing either of them have ever had to do.
Johnny tells Jenny he feels guilty about the suffering he caused during his life of crime, and believes the only way to lift the burden is by making a full confession, even if it means a spell behind bars.
Tim apologies to Yasmeen for not believing her. He also offers to be a defence witness, which angers Geoff.
But the bully may be about to get another shock when Ryan uncovers valuable information that could help Alya and Tim find Elaine.