Alan Carr and Amanda Holden chat design, dating, and DIY ahead of their new renovation project in Amanda & Alan’s Greek Job

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Alan Carr and Amanda Holden chat design, dating, and DIY ahead of their new renovation project in Amanda & Alan's Greek Job

Besties Amanda Holden and Alan Carr take on a big fat Greek renovation on the idyllic Ionian island of Corfu. It’s tearing down walls by day and smashing plates by night!

Amanda & Alan’s Greek Job, an 8×30’ series for iPlayer and BBC One, is made by Voltage TV Productions. It was commissioned by Catherine Catton, Head of Commissioning, Factual Entertainment and Events, the Executive Producers are Claire Walls, Sanjay Singhal and Tom Cullum, and the Commissioning Editor is Ricky Cooper. BBC Studios is handling the global distribution.

Interview with Amanda and Alan

How did the idea for doing a show in Greece come about, why Greek Job?

Amanda: As a country we love it, I holiday there every year, Alan and I have holidayed there. We were fantasizing, saying oh, wouldn’t it be amazing if we could do a show in Greece… we never actually thought it would be a reality!

Alan: Yes, it was lovely. Although the house is probably the worst one we’ve had to tackle! Well I don’t even think it was a house!

Amanda: It didn’t have stairs inside, it didn’t have windows… oh yes, and there was a message in blood written on the door outside!

Alan: But the transformation really was the best! What makes this one really special is that even though we’re getting better at DIY even when we saw the state of house at the beginning – my heart genuinely sunk – but the transformation was mind-blowing.

Amanda: Yes, it was great. We’re always heartbroken when we leave a renovation project, but this was the worst one to leave. I’m already booked up to go on holiday next year and I think I will actually drive past and see who’s bought it!

How did you find becoming immersed in the Greek culture?

Alan: Out of all the renovations we’ve done, even though Greece is geographically further away from us I felt they were so like us Brits, they love to party, they love their family, and they have a sense of humour!

Amanda: Yes, they’re very funny. They really get us British.

Alan: All the builders had a sense of humour too! The Greek like to drink, they’re friendly, they like to laugh and they had a sparkle in their eye. They made it so enjoyable.

Amanda: You know how we’re very sarcastic as a nation, they are so similar in their humour and also their generosity, we were welcomed in. Everyone waved to us out of their cars, it was just the best.

Alan: And of course this one was all about the greenery and surroundings as it’s got the connection with The Durrells.

Amanda: I rescued two cats, I flew them home! You nearly brought a donkey didn’t you Alan!

Alan: Every morning Amanda would feed the cats on the step of the hotel we were staying in! She would have brought them all home if she could.

And Amanda put me on a gay dating app… Amanda had to guess some key measurements…

Amanda: …that was an eye opener! They’re very detailed on these apps…

Did you have limitations on what you were allowed to do to the house you were renovating?

Alan: Well it had to be a certain colour, a certain height etc, you can’t go mad with the skyscrapers! The really interesting thing that Stamatis (the Greek property developer this series) told us is that you can’t just build a new resort there or anything. You can only build a house where there is already a house there. So that’s why so it’s never going to get ruined. They really care about the surrounding environment.

Amanda: Yes, we had to be respectful. When you’ve got a grade two listed building or grade one, you know, you just have to go with it, don’t you? It’s their heritage. So this was one of those old traditional houses they needed to keep.

Alan: I thought the houses are a bit like Corfu itself, aren’t they? They’re unpretentious. Simple. Simple but lovely. Everything you want in Greece, like when you see those white and blue shutters on the houses, you’d instantly think I should be singing ‘Give Me a Man After Midnight!’

Amanda is known for her creative eye. Alan, did you manage to get in some of your interior design ideas a bit more this series?

Alan: The thing is, me as an interior designer, I’m more suck it and see, that’ll do. Amanda is genuinely into mood-boards and she would often ask me ‘Alan, what about this wallpaper? What about that?’ Even at the airport, off camera she’s like that. I want it to look amazing, but you know, (jokes) my downtime is my downtime, Amanda! But no, I love the enthusiasm!

Amanda: I had a mood-board for my bathroom which is typically Greek and I wanted a round bath and then I was told by Stamatis (the Greek property developer this series) that what I had chosen was AI. That it didn’t even exist! …But let’s see whether it exists now, shall we??

Did you genuinely go into the house at the start and envision something there? As it looked like a big project initially!

Amanda: It’s my favourite thing to see potential in a building and just know you can take out that wall, put a window there, take out that, do this. Oh I love it. I love seeing where it could all be and whether we can do it.

Alan: You’ve got the vision. I don’t have the vision. I can’t picture it. But Amanda is really good at that.

Amanda: I think you’ve got better at that! Alan’s much better at DIY.

Alan: Yes, I’m getting there. That was another challenge for the show as well, because you don’t want to be patronising. I am getting better and I do know some of it. We also saw people who were on the same flight as us getting a house and doing it up because they’ve sort of been inspired from the show. That happened in Sicily a lot (for Amanda & Alan’s Italian Job).

Amanda: Yes, in Sicily, everyone was buying one-euro houses. This is absolutely the truth – wherever we go every year the tourism goes up. I know I’ve shot myself in the foot doing the show in Corfu – everyone’s going to go! Because it’s just so gorgeous… It is beautiful!

Interview with Executive Producer Claire Walls

What initially inspired the idea for Amanda & Alan’s Greek Job?

We wanted to go to a new location that would offer sunshine and blue skies but that would feel culturally different. We also loved the idea of Corfu as we knew it had a strong connection with Gerald Durrell and Amanda and Alan both love animals.

Can you describe the process of selecting the property featured in the series?

We looked around a dozen properties before deciding on the one we bought for the series. As always we needed to make sure that the renovation could be achieved in our 3-month time frame, and we were keen to be as close to the sea as possible, and this house had wonderful sea views from the first floor.

What were the toughest construction challenges during the project?

I think it was the amount that we needed to do, including replacing the roof and all the floors, plus Amanda wanting her round bath, and the challenge of turning the front garden from effectively what was being used as a car park, into a dreamy Mediterranean garden!

How would you describe the series to someone who has never watched it before?

I would say it’s like soaking in a warm bath, it’s feel-good telly that is perfect viewing for those midwinter days when everyone is craving some summer sunshine. It gives you fabulous renovations with aspirational interiors, as well as some amazing travelogue scenes, and the fun friendship and humour of Amanda and Alan.

What distinguishes Amanda & Alan’s Greek Job from other celebrity renovation/travel shows?

Combining the renovation with the travelogue feels unique to this series, usually you see one or the other but not both in the same show. Their friendship is authentic, they always throw themselves into the local community, and they are always hands on with the renovation. Amanda and Alan often also share some more personal conversations which offer some more emotional and surprising moments across the series.