Dermot Bannon on feeling 'intimidated' meeting Joanne and Vogue
Speaking ahead of the second episode of his new series, Dermot Bannon recalled that he spent the Sunday "terrified" of the reception, so nervous about it that he "couldn't talk to anybody".
"I walked up and down Dollymount in fear because this is going out."
The celebrity architect's latest venture, Dermot Bannon's Celebrity Super Spaces, is a slight departure from the norm, and follows Bannon as he visits celebrity homes across the country, from comedian Joanne McNally and chef Clodagh McKenna, to actor Aidan Gillan and his wife his architect-turned-singer Camille O'Sullivan.
Rather than sharing the screen with a couple from Dublin or homeowners from smaller communities, Bannon finds himself discussing design, creativity and mementos with some of the country's biggest names.
"So for me to actually shut up and listen and let them talk and let them be the thing was a new skill for me."
For such a seasoned TV star, was it nerve-wracking sharing space with such megawatt personalities?
"I was really intimidated", he says, "and I'm not normally because normally when I do Room to Improve and programmes like that, I'm the architect. Like, I had butterflies in the stomach. I suppose I still see John Boy standing there with a gun [to] my head!"
Rather than the long process of getting to know a homeowner on Room to Improve, following their decisions over weeks and months and exchanging opinions back and forth, Bannon reveals that he didn't meet his celebrity guests before filming.
Camille, Aidan and Dermot
"So the first time I meet them is on camera, the first time I see a house is on camera. a lot of the time, like, I'm left sitting out on the doorstep for half an hour while they go in with the cameras, the mics, they get the lighting set up, they do whatever, and I'm left sitting outside.
"Then I'm told, right, you can come in. And at that stage, the tension has built up so much, like, it's horrendous."
Thankfully, there's plenty to pore over in these glamorous spaces, from Gillen and O'Sullivan's theatre-esque home that feels like "poetry in architecture", to Vogue Williams' eye-catching, somewhat x-rated artwork.
However, Bannon is keen to stress that the houses are less about "bling" and more about what they tell viewers about the creative spirits of the owners.
"The premise for the show is that everybody who got involved had done something [to their home]", he says. "It's not just a nosy around somebody's house."
"They are super spaces, they're not just a home. We didn't go to kind of anybody who lives in a regular house, unless they had something that was a personal story."
He points to jewellery CEO Chupi Sweetman, who regularly dazzles her online followers with her DIY projects, like adding gold leaf detailing around her home or adding fringe to her sofa.
"I was really fascinated because she's got a really successful business, she's really busy, she's travelling all the time, but every night, all that gold and the gilding that she did, she did it all herself", Bannon says.
The same goes for McNally, whose Technicolour home filled with quirky art is "all one big bubble that she lives in of humour", Bannon notes.
Creating television shows about houses, especially expensive or lavishly designed ones, in the midst of a housing crisis, is still a point that raises eyebrows, and something that the architect is aware of. However, he doesn't believe such shows should be stopped altogether if demand for them is there.
"I don't know where you can go, or what you can do, to do with a house, in a housing crisis that isn't going to raise an eyebrow", he says.
"I'm an architect, I design houses for a living, it's what I do. I design housing estates, I design small houses, I go and see houses all the time. I love it. And I think an audience wants to see it for lots of different reasons, for design, for voyeurism, for whatever their reason is, they enjoy it. Whether it's something we talk about in the production, it's something that's in the back of my mind always."
He insists that none of the houses are about showing off how wealthy the owners are: "None of the houses that we went to were about bling. Okay, Vogue's house might be in Howth ... but it was about her, like, buying a piece of art for 50 quid.
Clodagh McKenna and Dermot
"Chupi's house was a perfect example of intergeneration. They lived on one floor of their house, you know, and her mother lives downstairs. That's a solution to the housing crisis.
"It was about how people use design in their home and how they did things. I'd love somebody to suggest to me how can we make design programmes, or how can we make programmes about buildings and not get a reaction that is to do with the housing crisis because you can't."
He continues that some shows will feature homeowners who cut costs by doing the work themselves, but "not everyone has those skills".
"So I really don't know how to handle that because I still want to make [these shows]. There's still an appetite for it. There's people who still want to watch it, but you're going to get shot down regardless, aren't you?
Dermot Bannon's Celebrity Super Spaces airs Sunday, 3 May at 9.3pm on RTÉ One and RTÉ Player.
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