DIY SOS: The Big Build Ireland, the show that rebuilds people's lives by rebuilding their homes is back for a second series. Presented by Baz Ashmawy, it will return to RTÉ One on Sunday April 3rd at 6:30pm, introducing viewers to families based in New Ross, Meath, Santry and Waterford city.
Chief-motivator Baz Ashmawy is joined again by some familiar faces in designers Aoife Rhattigan of Restless Design, Kerry Hiddleston of Hiddleston Interior Design, Peter Doneghan our garden designer, and Helena Ryan, our health and safety officer.
Ahead of tonight's episode, we caught up with Interior Designer Kerry Hiddleston.
RTÉ viewers may recognise Kerry as a finalist on Home of the Year 2020 thanks to her modern period home in Dublin. In fact, it was this TV appearance that moved the mum of four away from her career in finance to one in interior design.
"On the foot of that programme, a few people asked me to design their house so I thought I would give it a go. I went back to college and retrained and ever since it's been incredibly busy."
Soon after she had started her new business, Kerry was approached by RTÉ producers to take part in Ireland's most wholesome show, DIY SOS.
"Of course I said yes. It's absolutely brilliant and it's such a nice change. I love my job but it's such a different brief from what I usually do."
A different brief indeed. The challenge posed to the DIY SOS team is this: create a fully functional home for a family in need in nine days, depending solely on the generosity of volunteer trades and supplier donations. The stakes are high and the pressure is on.
"You're talking about a short time line where you don't really know your client that much, and you're trying to make it that they love it because they're having such a tough time. You're trying to make their life easier, and source everything for free and get it all there in time, and do it in nine days. I don't know how we do it but it's an amazing feeling afterwards."
"Myself and the amazing production team basically just have to beg, borrow and steal," she adds, laughing. "I needed to get grout, tiles, sofas, paint - absolutely everything has to be sourced beforehand and sourced so quickly. And things fall through!"
As well as making the home beautiful, Kerry must keep the home owners' very particular needs in mind.
Tonight's episode features the most challenging build to date for the DIY SOS team in Kilkenny. The build started in an empty field, which was gifted to Johnny Alyward by his uncle John.
Johnny was diagnosed with Motor Neurone Disease in November 2020, and discovered in early 2021 that he has the most aggressive type. He and his wife Lynn have two young boys together, one of whom is on the autism spectrum and for whom Lynn acts as full time carer.
The family were living in New Ross when Johnny was diagnosed and they were left with no means of adapting or owning a house that would cater for him as the disease advances. Uncle John decided it was time for Johnny to come home to his beloved Kilkenny and so he gave them a field on his land, adjacent to his own house.
"Johnny is in pretty much in a wheelchair now even though he wasn't when I met him," Kerry explains. "My brief, for that in particular, is that it would be a small dorm or bungalow but it needed to be wheelchair accessible. His wife needed a pantry, for example, but I needed to make sure he could get into it."
"My big thing was that I wanted to walk into that house and not know that it was wheelchair accessible because it's about the whole family living there, but I also have to try and find the space."
Speaking on the wholesome nature of the show and those involved, the Scottish woman says that Johnny was the life and soul of the party and that the final day of shooting was one to remember.
"It was such a community thing. We had over 150 people on site which I've never seen before. Johnny was just so popular, such a showman, such good craic and always wanted people to party."
Watch DIY SOS Sundays at 6.30pm on RTÉ One.
