Helen Skelton's Welsh home renovation almost ends in disaster as couple admit it almost broke them
Helen Skelton's Welsh home renovation almost ends in disaster as couple admit it almost broke them
A couple who moved from London back home to their roots in Wales struggled whilst making Helen Skelton's Forever Home.
(Image: Below The Radar )
In a step away from her usual Morning Live slot, Helen Skelton along with architect Patrick Bradley from Northern Ireland, try to help one young couple create their dream home in the hopes of returning to their roots in rural Wales. Knowing the struggle of renovating a house herself Helen was quick to offer comfort to the couple who struggled through a life-changing process.
Jess and Colin, who are originally from Powys decided to move back to Wales after living in the hustle and bustle of London. In the new programme, Forever Home, the couple's relationship suffered as a result of the pressure of the renovation.
The handy pair assisted the couple in creating their dream house and swapping the excitement of city life for a more settled lifestyle. For the latest TV and showbiz gossip sign up to our newsletter .
The 59 minute pilot episode shows Jess and Colin facing the reality of a large-scale restoration project. Not only that, but they also need to navigate their life back in the Welsh countryside, after leaving their friends and busy London life.
Jess said: "It's not just getting out of London, it's home."
When deciding to start their restoration project, the Welsh couple were overwhelmed when they realised they both had family connections to the house in Powys. They thought it was fate when they realised Jess' grandfather used to live in the house and later so did Colin's family.
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When asked why they chose the house, Jess said: "I suppose all our family is around here, and then kind of a funny story that we came across."
Helen Skelton and architect Patrick Bradley are helping a Welsh couple return to their Welsh roots by renovating their dream home.
(Image: Below The Radar )
Colin said: "To start with my grandparents moved from Liverpool, then my great uncle moved down too and they lived here. All my life I can remember growing up in this house."
Jess added: "Obviously, I'm from here too and my grandad came back from the war and I was looking through his homecoming pictures last Summer, and I was like 'that looks like this house' and he was like it is."
The pair didn't know that they had the connection to the cottage when they met in London in 2020.
Things soon started to turn south when their goals of a budget of £150,000 to renovate the house and 8 months to do so, quickly changed. This was a result of the house flooding after a burst pipe and costs started shooting up. The pair were unlucky as the cost of building materials shot up 22% following the COVID-19 pandemic and the war in Ukraine.
Colin, who is an electrician, took on the job, almost like a project manager when their funds were sinking to save some budget. Jess, who is a solicitor, couldn't take on as much of the workload due to various exams taking place at the same time.
The project eventually cost a lot more than they expected, at around £220,000-£250,000 and it also took a lot longer to complete, the renovation taking over three and a half years.
Colin said: "Am I surprised it took longer? No. Would I have liked it done quicker? Yeah."
He continued: "Me and Jess have been through... to hell and back really. Relationship wise, Jess was still working away when we were working on the house and I felt like I was always here, working harder than Jess.
"Looking back on it, it wasn't really a fair thing to say, Jess is not going to be doing the stuff I was doing. She was there emotionally and she's not had me around as much as she probably wanted. So, it's now nice to be able to take your foot off the gas a little bit and enjoy the house and live in it, have breakfast together. We've not had our own space in a long time."
Whilst the renovations were happening the pair moved in with Jess' parents in Newtown, as the workload was so overwhelming and they didn't want to live on a construction site.
Jess shared: "It was tough, there were definitely days where I think we both just didn't want to do it., but, now it's like we made it and it was so worth it."
When discussing the show Helen said: "Bringing old properties back to life is always something that has fascinated me, I love a property with a story to tell.
"Watching Colin and Jess create their forever home with Patrick's guidance and ideas has been a total privilege.
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"It is not always straightforward creating a dream property. I have lived the restoration highs and lows myself having completed my own project so getting a ring side seat for this one was a total joy."
Forever Home will be available to watch on BBC Two from 7pm on Thursday, May 15. However it is already available to watch now on BBC iPlayer, as the programme aired on BBC Northern Ireland earlier this year.
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