Laurence Llewelyn-Bowen set for TV comeback and with exciting new show

Laurence Llewelyn-Bowen, renowned for his bold interior designs, declares that he is utterly unshockable when it comes to decor. His upcoming Channel 4 series 'Outrageous Homes,' however, aims to stagger its audience with a peek into some exceedingly distinctive homes, hidden behind seemingly ordinary facades.

Laurence said: "I'm not going to lie, anyone who has seen my work would say I'm unlikely to be shocked but when we were compiling the show what kind of took us all by surprise was how eloquent people were about their eccentricity, how powerful they were, and how honest. They were open and quick to tell their truths about how they wanted something that other people didn't want but that is fine for them."

Back in the late '90s, Laurence graced our screens almost every week on 'Changing Rooms', regularly surprising flabbergasted homeowners with breathtaking transformations of their chosen rooms. Want the most recent property stories delivered to your inbox?

READ MORE: Match of the Day's Gary Lineker halts BBC show for 'tough' update on TV pundit Get all the latest TV and showbiz news and gossip from Chronicle Live with our free newsletter

Laurence Llewelyn-Bowen's flamboyant designs on 'Changing Rooms' frequently diverged dramatically from the participants' simple tastes, leaving viewers on the edge of their seats, anticipating the homeowners' astonishment. Since then, Laurence has brought his unique style to projects worldwide, including a 'Changing Rooms' reboot, and collaborated with major brands on homeware lines.

However, LLB's latest venture, 'Outrageous Homes', takes the element of surprise to a whole new level. The show features designs so audacious that they are likely to polarise viewers.

LLB relishes the prospect of this divisive reaction, stating: "You can see Outrageous Homes as the kind of interiors version of Naked Attraction, it's shocking and you're going to see all sorts of interior design dangly bits you never thought you'd see. You should be outraged because these aren't your homes, this isn't where you live, you should be shouting 'oh I hate that! ' and you should hate that because it's not you - it's them (the show participants) and isn't that marvellous, because they will probably be outraged by your beige! ".

Laurence Llewelyn-Bowen has admitted to being surprised by the subjects of his new Channel 4 show, Outrageous Homes, which started last night. He said: "When we started thinking about the show my concept was it would be just 'wow that's unusual', but I'd forgotten how ridiculously eccentric we all are and that we're terribly good at hiding it behind a very conventional exterior."

The flamboyant interior designer added: "You can be walking down a very ordinary suburban street, with identical houses and the same set of net curtains but actually each one could be a pulsating, ululating hot bed of a personality, and sometimes even extraordinary eccentricity."

From a house designed to look like Treasure Island to a subterranean Venetian palazzo, Laurence has seen it all. He said: "So we've found everything from a complete shrine to the 1970s to 14th century Transylvanian goths, to a subterranean Venetian palazzo. We had an absolutely perfect recreation of a 1910 shopkeeper's house, we had a house that was turned completely into a massive fish tank. We are all absolutely bat poo bonkers and Outrageous Homes was a fabulous opportunity to make a programme that was a celebration of that."

"We decided very early on to make it feel as much like the TV show Eurotrash as possible so there's no explanations of property values or how people of done stuff or why people have done stuff - this is just a total celebration of the fact that wherever you are you'll meet some crazy people who have done some crazy stuff, and thank goodness for that! ".

But in this era of social media where individuals can easily and anonymously share their opinions and emotions, often harshly, one wonders if the show's participants are prepared for potential criticism. LLB offers them guidance, suggesting that those who wish to create a unique home that might not be everyone's cup of tea should simply not worry, be bold, and go for it.

LLB remarks: "The people on the show are the ballsy definition of brave, taking on the world, and they are happy with who they are. Having built a career over the last 30 years based on not caring what people say about me, it makes your life much happier. At 60 I feel terribly content at who I am. I've had people say the most awful things about me for the last 30 years and it's only made me worse! If you're going to slag me off it's only going to make me worse! ".

Having travelled the globe making TV shows and observing how interior designs vary based on location, LLB confidently asserts that Welsh interiors often stand out as more distinctive and unique compared to other regions in the UK. They tend to embrace more colour and pattern, showing less obsession with modernism.

So, could your home be so outrageous that it might be considered for the second series of his new show?

Laurence Llewelyn-Bowen's programme, Outrageous Homes, airs on Channel 4 on Thursday, June 20 at 10pm and can be caught up on via the channel's streaming service.