My first foray into television presenting was for Five, back in 2004, when I filmed a series called The Hotel Inspector. Actually, 'series' is a bit of a misnomer as it was only three programmes, albeit it took nearly a year to film them. It proved to be an unexpected success because despite going out with absolutely no publicity it still pulled in far more viewers than Five was used to getting. I went on to make a second and third series, before deciding I'd had enough of criticising dirty showers and appalling sausages.
Fortunately, one of the commissioners had moved to channel 4 in the interim, and wanted me to join him. Thanks to Walter Iuzzolino, a fabulously articulate English-speaking Italian, and the kindest, most charming (but ruthlessly determined) person you could ever meet, Country House Rescue was conceived.The first series went out in 2008, gaining audiences of up to 2.7 million. I am currently filming a second series, this time with eight houses, which is due for transmission in February 2010. I have also met up with the owners of the original six houses to see how they are getting on. These revisits have gone out piecemeal with the last few to be shown in spring 2010 – probably!
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