Repair Shop favourite Will Kirk has found himself so overworked that his wife Polly has joked about hiring a carpenter for their home DIY tasks despite his on-screen carpentry skills. The couple’s new home in Surrey needs attention but Will, 39, is swamped with work commitments.
Will shared, “She says to me ‘Will, when are you going to sand the bloody floor in the front room?’ And then I have got to do stuff in the bathroom and then there’s the kitchen. There is always something that needs fixing. It is never ending.”
He went on: “My wife did say ‘You know if you can’t sand the floor and you’re not happy with it, we can always get someone in?’ And I said ‘No way! No way! Not in this house! ‘ It is hard especially with two children as well but I absolutely love it.”
And like all first-time parents, Will had lofty aspirations, which were eventually shelved. “When we had our first child, I thought ‘Wouldn’t it be lovely to make all these handmade toys for her?’ But no. I don’t have the time,” he said.
The star is attempting to get the balance right, saying: “I got halfway through one thing and then I got so busy… that’s life. And now I’ve got a second child. There’s no way that he’s getting anything anytime soon.”
Beyond his role in BBC One’s The Repair Shop, Will operates his own furniture restoration business and is tackling a brand-new project that requires his focus, reports the Mirror.
The Repair Shop stars are set to embark on their first-ever UK tour, with various experts joining the live shows, including Steve Fletcher, Kirsten Ramsay, Lucia Scalisi, Suzie Fletcher, Julie Tatchell, and Amanda Middleditch. Will, the show’s host, admits to feeling “nervous” but excited to reunite with his friends from the barn.
He said: “I am itching to get on the tour and see everyone but when I went to bed last night, it suddenly hit me that I’ll be getting on stage at places like the Sheffield Arena and talking about The Repair Shop.
“I mean, it’s a massive change from the comfort of the barn where you know the crew and you’ve got a camera in front of you and you don’t really think about the millions of people that watch it. But actually standing in front of people who all love watching the show and talking about it is definitely new to me.”
He is keen to warns fans not to bring in things to mend, saying “It’s not that kind of show. It is more about us talking on stage rather than restoring anything.
“Lots of people email me saying ‘I feel like we really know you because we’ve been on the TV for a couple of years now’ but this is an opportunity for them to really hear about what goes on behind the scenes because it really is a big process. Some people don’t realise some of the items that I work on can take 60 hours to restore but you only see a fraction of that on telly so we’re going to answer all those questions that people usually have and kind of reveal some secrets behind the barn doors as well.”