- UK’s List It Or Love it helps people decide whether to adapt their home or move
- READ MORE: Kirstie Allsopp reveals the Christmas present that her Location, Location, Location co-star Phil Spencer gets her every single year
‘This is a difficult one,’ says Kirstie Allsopp, looking across to check that her close friend and screen partner Phil Spencer is OK. ‘But for most people, when they lose a parent, the guy in the petrol station doesn’t know about it.’
Phil grunts his assent, having lost his mother and father in a terrible car accident last August. Kirstie is concerned for him. ‘You don’t mind me saying, do you?’
Phil says no, but falls back into silence as Kirstie explains how the public response to the tragedy – including from the man at the garage – made her realise the strength of the connection they’ve built up with viewers over 24 years together presenting the house-hunting show Location, Location, Location. ‘That sort of crystallised things.’
Nobody has met more so-called ordinary people than the posh girl and the chipper geezer who have become the nation’s favourite property experts.
They’re at it again in a new series of Kirstie And Phil’s Love It Or List It, helping families who’ve outgrown their homes to decide whether to expand and remodel or sell up and move on.
Along with their current show, Love It Or List It, Kirstie and Phil have spent 24 years co-presenting house-hunting show Location, Location, Location
‘I’m aware we can only go on doing this because people like what we do,’ says Phil. ‘The shows are unscripted, so when somebody says they feel like they know us, I say, “Well, actually, you kind of do. We pop up in your living room being ourselves.”’
Kirstie and Phil are in her lounge in London’s Notting Hill today, drinking tea from coronation mugs. She’s 52, he’s 54. Kirstie is as bubbly and forthright as ever, but Phil is quiet and thoughtful.
Slowly, carefully, he finds the words to say how moved he was by what happened when he lost his parents Richard and Anne, who were 89 and 82, in the accident at their farm near Canterbury in Kent.
‘I feel a lot of gratitude to people for the thousands of kind, supportive messages I got,’ he says. ‘The whole thing was overwhelming, but that blew me away. People were very loving and thoughtful.’
Kirstie glances over to check on him again and says, ‘So many people felt linked to Phil. He posted a beautifully written account of what had happened on Instagram, in a very unguarded and honest way.
‘I was full of admiration for the way in which he and the family dealt with the whole thing. He negotiated it without any anger or resentment towards those people who were curious. He told them what happened.’
Phil nods and says he put out the statement to avoid the trauma of explaining it all in person. ‘That was the idea. The thought was to say, “Here’s the story…”’
Grief can become even harder once the adrenaline wears off, but in those early days he wrote, ‘The car, going very slowly, toppled over a bridge on the farm drive, upside down into the river. There were no physical injuries and I very much doubt they would have even fought it – they would have held hands under the water and quietly slipped away.’
Phil is pictured with his mother, who, along with his father, died in a tragic car accident at their farm near Canterbury in Kent
Their carer managed to climb out of a window. Phil’s brother, a farmer, who was nearby, cut his parents’ seatbelts with a penknife. ‘He pulled them out of the river but they never regained consciousness,’ Phil wrote.
‘As a family we are all trying to hold onto the fact Mum and Dad went together and that neither will ever have to mourn the loss of the other one. Which is a blessing in itself.’
His Instagram post said they were on ‘extremely good form’ in the days before the accident, but his mother’s Parkinson’s disease and his father’s dementia were getting worse.
‘The long-term future was set to be a challenge. So much so that Mum said to me only a week ago that she had resigned herself to thinking, “Now it looks like we’ll probably go together.” And so they did. That was what God had planned for them – and it was a good plan.’ The post, which ended with a heart emoji, has received 366,000 likes.
Back in the room, Phil is just about able to hold it together until Kirstie starts to talk warmly about his mum and dad, having known them a long time.
‘When I went to the church service for them both, one of my dominant thoughts was that in 50 years’ time I hope there are still people around who are like Phil’s parents. It was a real reminder of those people who are at the heart of their community, who contribute to their local charities, their local church.’
There’s a quiet sound of distress from beside her and Kirstie stops, seeing tears. ‘Oh sorry. Sorry, love.’
It’s obvious how close these two are, and have been since Location, Location, Location started in 2000. There was instant chemistry between them on screen, which is still evident both in Location and in their newer series Love It Or List It.
In the latter show, they try to solve problems for people like the couple with a teenage daughter who, eight years before, had moved into the father’s old family home in Chippenham to care for his mother, who had Alzheimer’s and has since sadly passed away.
‘They worried whether they’d done the right thing by their daughter. That story goes so deep into the dilemma facing so many caring families,’ says Kirstie.
‘Love It Or List It should reflect the experiences of those who are watching. Sometimes that recognition is emotional, in terms of the family dynamic. Sometimes it’s physical: “Oh my God, look, that’s our house.”’
Kirstie advises them on how to adapt. ‘I’m there saying that if you only add on five feet at the back, your kitchen becomes like a Tardis.’ Phil’s job is to show them what they can get if they sell up and move on.
‘Hopefully it’s inspiring to the millions of people who live in that style of house, who can look at it and say, “We can solve our problems.”’
Longtime co-presenters, Kirst and Phil are also well aware of making their programmes in the midst of a cost-of-living and housing crisis
Kirstie herself lives in a 1950s building that was originally two separate flats in Notting Hill, while Phil lives in a £3.3 million home in Hampshire with ten acres of land and a tennis court.
Rich as they both are, they’re also well aware of making their programmes in the midst of a cost-of-living and housing crisis.
‘This is the first series we’ve made where the cost of having work done to stay in a house hasn’t necessarily been covered by a rise in the value over time,’ says Kirstie.
‘The price of materials and labour has soared and the market hasn’t lifted, so we’ve had people spending double what they expected and not getting that back in terms of value added.’
Then there’s the huge shock coming to those whose low fixed interest rates are ending. ‘A lot of people this year are going to see their mortgage payments go through the roof. The crunch is happening,’ says Kirstie.
‘I know this, I’ve had some family members whose mortgages have just gone from manageable to unmanageable. We have a system that’s not fit for purpose. It’s a sh** show. There’s a lot of noise and nobody knows what they’re doing.
‘I went to see one of the many different housing ministers we’ve had in recent years and said, “This system is shot to sh**, we need to review it.” He said, “Well, I managed [to buy a house] so I think other people can.”’
Politics aside, what’s their advice to those worried about the state of things? ‘First, if there’s a money problem coming down the tracks for you, don’t stick your head in the sand,’ says Kirstie firmly.
‘Do the finances now. Talk to your family, talk to your children, talk to your boss, talk to your bank. Be completely honest, there’s no shame in it, it’s not your fault, it’s one of those things. Do not ignore it.’
What about those who need to move? ‘How do you sell a property in this market? By being as clean and tidy, as uncluttered as humanly possible. If you’re having to move out of your house because it’s too small for you, it sure as hell shouldn’t look like that.
Find a mate with a garage and strip everything out. Make sure the place is immaculate. Paint your front door and sort out your bins and clear your path.’
Then she comes up with an idea that’s both startling and controversial. ‘I would stop the building of detached houses. They’re not environmentally practical. They don’t make best use of the sites. They have smaller gardens, there’s less community. That gap between the houses is a waste of space.’
Phil is smiling and shaking his head, unable to believe what he’s hearing. ‘You have to be brave,’ she says. ‘You have to tell the truth.’
- Kirstie And Phil’s Love It Or List It, Wednesday, 8pm, Channel 4.