12 December 2023 , 00:01
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Alan Carr and Amanda Holden say the second Italian property they have renovated for a TV series is haunted – by a “friendly” ghost.
The pair are this time doing up a 17th century property in Tuscany for their BBC1 series, The Italian Job, after tackling a flat in Sicily for their first challenge last year. And just like before, the property has been bought for a Euro, and after being totally transformed, will be sold for charity.
On the spooky goings on, Amanda, 52, explained: “We felt a presence – it wasn’t ominous, it felt like a friendly energy. But things did start happening, the lights went on and off a lot.” Alan agreed: “A few things flew around. When I said it was a mix of Wish You Were Here and Grand Designs, well, add in Most Haunted.”
They say that this series, which starts in January, will be quite different to the first one. “The Sicilian location last year felt, in a lot of ways, a lot more glamorous,” Amanda said. “This one was more tranquil and secluded, it was literally in the middle of nowhere and it was a medieval house, which was so much bigger a project than we ever thought it would be.”
'We felt a presence,' says Amanda (BBC/Voltage TV)Comic Alan, 47, said that the age of the property – which he chose – made the job far harder. He said: “We were peeling back problems that had been bodged up over the centuries. We were just finding more mistakes.”
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Actor Amanda said the worst moment came was when they pulled the ceilings down. “It was just thousands of years of toenails and skin dust,” she shuddered.
The pair said they felt huge relief that the audience had enjoyed the first series, confessing it would have been a huge blow had the audience not warmed to them as real people. Alan said: “People know who I am, but they never see this side of us. We bickered.”
Amanda agreed, adding: “I think when you’re under stress, you’re bashing walls down and really being your authentic self, it’s more worrying because you are totally exposed. Then if people don’t like you, that would be upsetting.
“It was just so lovely how everyone accepted us. We both said, out of everything we’ve done in our careers, we’ve never had such a huge reaction on the streets as we did for this.”
- Alan & Amanda’s Italian Job, starts on BBC1, Friday, January 5.