Five minutes with… Angela Scanlon

The second series of Your Garden Made Perfect is more ambitious than ever, teases the returning host. Gemma Dunn digs deeper to find out more.

IF YOU'RE contemplating an outdoor makeover, the return of Your Garden Made Perfect could well plant the seed of inspiration.

For those unfamiliar with its concept, the BBC Two makeover series – presented by Angela Scanlon – sees skilled designers use cutting edge virtual-reality technology to compete to transform a participant’s back yard into the garden of their dreams.

The idea: to showcase how the space could look before it undergoes an often-costly renovation in real life.

But it’s not all sweeping lawns and manicured hedges; the six-episode run (a greenfingered spin-off of Your House Made Perfect, also narrated by Scanlon) looks at how we can extend the indoors outside, whether that’s a shared community garden, a budding wildlife haven or a small-space expert guiding a tiny concrete yard. And with the pandemic underlining the importance of outdoor space for all, the second season couldn’t come at a better time.

We find out more from Irish star Scanlon, 38, who’s also known for hosting The One Show and Robot Wars.

What can viewers expect from the second series?

We’ve got six episodes and a real variation. We’ve got two new designers joining the lineup, so six designers all in, and an extra guy who does all of the smaller spaces – the more urban spaces, community spaces – which is something we’ve focused on this series. So yeah bigger crew, bigger ambitions. We’ve got people who have a real sense of what they want and what they can get. It’s exciting.

Tell us about your role as presenter…

Well we’ve got the designers who know everything that anyone needs to know about gardening, so I am the woman of the people; I can be the dummy and I can ask the questions that hopefully, if I’m thinking them, somebody else at home is thinking them. I’ve certainly learned (along the way) but I wouldn’t say I’m into gardening. I love being outdoors and I have managed to keep a cheese plant alive for seven years, so there’s definitely an interest there!

Have recent times changed your outlook on outdoor space?

Yeah, over the past couple of years I have a newfound appreciation of garden spaces, whatever they are. I think that’s why Your Garden Made Perfect worked so well the first time around; we’re not just with a traditional gardening audience, but with people who have suddenly gone, ‘Oh my God, my little balcony was my refuge during lockdown. It offered so much to me that I never considered before’. So yeah, gardening to my mind has opened up massively. It’s not just about sweeping country lawns, it’s about urban spaces and shared gardens in flats and courtyards and miniscule balconies that still feel like joy.

What’s your favourite part of the show?

I love the competition between the gardeners – there is fierce rivalry. And then it’s the reveals; the realisation that when it comes to these places and these gardens, it’s not just about planting some nice flowers and trimming their borders, it can have a massive impact on families and the way they live and interact together. And, again, it’s probably been brought to light by the past couple of years, where there’s home-schooling, working from home, somebody upstairs, someone downstairs, the kitchen overrun with people… No matter what kind of a house you have, I think we’ve all felt like we’re on top of each other. So to then suddenly have this gorgeous place that they can have family dinners together and see the kids playing, it can be quite emotional.

You’ve had a busy time of it lately – and you’re pregnant with your second child. How are you feeling?

Grand, mostly. I say that now, with a couple of months to go. I’m definitely feeling it more than I did the first time around and I’m groaning like an old lady as I bend down to the oven or roll in the bed. Really attractive. But yeah I’ve had quite a busy year, lots of new things and whatever else, so I’m quite looking forward to, I naively say, some quiet time… with a four-year-old and a new born. But yeah so far, so good.

Career-wise, what else would you love to tick off?

I’d definitely love to do a big entertainment show that feels a bit more frothy and silly, I suppose. I did my own chat show last year in Ireland and that was a big moment for me. Something that I had wanted to do forever. So it was surreal and a lot of pressure, and also a lot of fun. I also would love – I don’t know how I’m going to do this with two children and other stuff – to get back into documentaries. I started in documentaries, and I do that slightly in Podcasts, but to get that longer form opportunity to hang out with people who you might think you hate or just mad communities (would be great)!

Your Garden Made Perfect returns to BBC Two on Friday, February 4.