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Hi Laurence! How are you doing today?
"Hello! I'm very well, thankyou. It's quite funny doing these interviews on the telephone. I'm used to doing these things in Notting Hill with people wandering in and wandering out. It's difficult for me, because I can't stare into the whites of your eyes!"
It's a little less formal, isn't it?
"Someone said to me the other day that because the interviews are on the telephone you don't need to dress up, and I was like, 'What do you mean? Do you think I'm going to do the interview in a pair of dungarees or a shell suit?'"
What attracted you to work on I Own Britain's Best Home And Garden?
"I think it's a really fascinating concept. Gardening is huge in this country. British gardens are iconic. I think in design terms, it's one of the few things the nation can stand up and be proud of. It's less easy to make a fuss about British cooking!
Why is this show different to your average gardening programme?
"For the first time ever with this series, we're shooting British gardens in a very high fashion, elegant way. There's no odour of the potting shed to this. It's not courdroy baggy jumper gardening at all. This is about Britain's best gardens. This is the vogue of gardening, it's pushing the envelope. The thing that will really help this show is that for the first time gardening is given a healthy and vociferous dose of criticism. By the end of the show, it all goes a little Dragons' Den, if not a little X Factor. Our judges really don't beat around the bush! No pun intended, although that was rather a good one."
So is it the usual reality show judging format, with two nice ones and a nasty one?
"They are not nasty for the sake of being nasty, but they are very, very frank. Each judge has their own attitude and approach. Mark Gregory is very gentlemanly, but he's not a soft touch. Laetitia Maklouf has an emotional response to things and is looking at overall design. Then there's Anne Wareham. I haven't seen the final cut, but I am anticipating Anne will have her own theme tune, which has a 'Bat Out Of Hell' feel to it or something that conjures up spikiness. If she were a plant, she'd be something poisonous."
What's the most outrageous garden in the series?
"There's a fantasy garden in Wales that I think will cause an enormous amount of comment."
Why's that?
"There's some very interesting elements to it. There's a life statue of the owners of the garden and let's just say, they are not wearing very many clothes. I didn't know where to put my eyes!"
Are you any good in the garden? I can't imagine you sat in a shed with your trowel.
"I am a designer and have been for 20 years. I've designed gardens and outdoor spaces and am passionate about it. But I'm not a gardener. My wife Jackie is a very good gardener, so we're a very good team. I'll look at the structure, the architecture, etc., then she does the hard work. It's great!"
Would you consider getting involved in a Changing Rooms reunion?
"I absolutely love Changing Rooms and think it was great television. However, I fear I may be getting a little too old for it. The idea of squeezing my 45-year-old butt into a pair of leather trousers... in fact, I don't think they make them big enough for me now. You'd need five or six cows stitched together. It would be funny to get everyone back from the old people's home, though. Linda Barker with her false teeth and Handy Andy with his ear trumpet and zimmerframe. It would be a lot slower than it used to be, with regular loo stops."
I Own Britian's Best Home Garden airs Thursday at 8pm on Five.
