Channel 4’s Changing Rooms reboot filming ‘is postponed due to lockdown’ and could ‘possibly be pushed back until next year’
The return of Changing Rooms could be pushed back to next year due to coronavirus.
It was confirmed last month the home makeover show would be making a return to our screens after a 16-year break.
The show originally aired on BBC One from 1996 to 2004 and will be moving to Channel 4, with Davina McCall and Laurence Llewelyn-Bowen as hosts.
Postponed: The return of Changing Rooms, hosted by Davina McCall (pictured) and Laurence Llewelyn-Bowen could be pushed back to next year due to coronavirus
But fans could have to wait even longer as lockdown has postponed filming and possibly pushed it back to next year, The Sun reported.
A source told the publication they were hoping filming could resume in December but may have to be pushed back to next year, depending on Davina and Laurence’s schedules.
The insider said: ‘It was all storming ahead and filming was due to start on the new version in the coming weeks. But Covid has now completely scuppered that.
‘There are some bits they can work on but much of the filming has had to be pushed back — you can’t just descend on someone’s home right in the middle of the lockdown.
Wait for 2021: A source said the show could be pushed back until next year, depending on Davina and Laurence’s (pictured) schedules
‘The safety of the cast and crew is most important for Channel 4 and, while some of it can be put together in a safe environment, the bulk of the filming just cannot happen at the moment.’
MailOnline has contacted Channel 4 representatives for comment.
It was confirmed last month the former Big Brother presenter, 52, will take over from the original host Carol Smillie for the reboot.
Davina’s appointment came despite presenter Carol hinting she’d be open to returning to the iconic series, following a resurgence in DIY in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic.
He’ll be back! Davina will appear alongside original host Laurence, who admitted producers had to ‘coax’ him back for the reboot on Channel 4
The presenter said: ‘I’m so excited to be presenting Changing Rooms. It’s the perfect time to bring it back. Everyone is going DIY and decor-mad!
‘I can’t wait to see all the amazing transformations. I might even get stuck in myself if I’m allowed to be let loose with a paint brush.’
However Laurence admitted producers had to coax him back to the show after over a decade off-screen, saying: ‘It’s taken quite a lot of coaxing to get me under the Changing Rooms banner once more, but nothing like as much coaxing as it’s going to take to squeeze those leather trousers back on.’
Carol, now 58, presented the hugely popular show from 1996 until 2003, while Laurence, 55, graduated from designer to host until the programme’s end in 2004.
Original: Scottish Carol, now 58, presented the hugely popular show from 1996 until 2003
In a 2017 interview for the Daily Mail’s Weekend Magazine, Scottish TV personality Carol described the show as ‘the best TV experience of [her] career’.
She said: ‘In 1996 I was the original presenter of BBC2’s Changing Rooms – it was one of the first reality shows and is credited with starting the DIY craze of the late ’90s.
‘It was the best TV experience of my career – we were a happy bunch who went into it naively but came out the other end as household names with a BAFTA nomination and invitations to both Downing Street and Buckingham Palace.
‘It was the stuff of dreams, and all from watching paint dry!’