Amanda & Alan’s Greek Job

Besties Amanda Holden and Alan Carr have packed their boiler suits once again, raring to spend a summer on the idyllic Ionian island of Corfu. Having bagged a slightly smaller property this time, they have high hopes for an easier ride, but their dreams of lounging by the beach are soon shattered as they discover a big fat Greek renovation lies ahead. With ivy growing through the windows, hay and mud as a floor, a sewage pipe running through the downstairs plus a roof on the verge of caving in, their new project resembles a stable more than a house!

With big aspirations to turn their Corfiot wreck into a gorgeous family holiday home, Amanda and Alan kick off the renovation as they aim to transform the main ground floor room into a Greek chic living and dining area. They have their work cut out, though, as the space resembles a drab barn more than a habitable home! Undeterred, the best pals get down and dirty, donning their crowbars to take down a dividing wall and jackhammers to expose the historic Greek stone walls. It's not all hard work as Amanda whisks Alan away to the picturesque island of Paxos for his birthday to take in the turquoise waters and celebrate another milestone. With Scott on the island, the DIY duo aim to modernise the living room with a polished concrete floor, but time is of the essence, as the baking hot temperature puts the pressure on. And somehow Amanda’s background in gymnastics proves to come in very handy!

Amanda and Alan let their imagination run wild as they live out their inner child and design their first ever children’s bedroom. Drawing inspiration from Gerald Durrell’s love of wildlife, the best pals manage to track down his widow Lee and unearth some fascinating tales of his childhood on the island.

With cracks in the walls, ivy growing out of the windows and a roof on the verge of collapse, Amanda and Alan need to show some love to the heart of the home, the kitchen. For the first time ever, the pals want to go all out with a super-sleek modern design, and Stamatis gets a taste of Amanda’s assertiveness as she’s let loose in a kitchen showroom. Meanwhile, Alan feels the heat as he attempts to make the traditional Corfiot dish Pastitsada with a Greek grandmother who takes no prisoners.

Amanda and Alan’s creative juices are flowing as they go all out with the master bedroom, designing an Aphrodite-themed suite for parents to reconnect on holiday, inspired by the goddess of love, beauty, pleasure and procreation, Alan is still determined to have a summer romance of his own and whisks Amanda away to a tourist hotspot known as the Channel of Love. Legend has it that if you swim through the tunnel, you will meet the love of your life on the other side, but Alan’s experience is far from a fairy-tale ending.

Taking on their most ambitious space to date, Amanda and Alan aim to turn the unloved patch of land at the front of the house into a Mediterranean garden. Whilst Alan’s keen to attract the island’s biodiversity, Amanda wants to bring the bling, decorating the ancient olive tree with multiple chandeliers! But plants and lights are the least of their worries, as the land resembles a lay-by and is continuously being used as the village car park. Hoping to put the parking debacle to an end, Alan wastes no time roping in Stamatis to help work out the boundary line of their plot and tries to grab a little extra land in the process.

The best friends go head-to-head designing two separate spaces. Alan pays tribute to Greek mythology by turning the landing into an intellectual reading room, while Amanda embraces advanced technology for a Greek-themed bathroom! Taking a deep dive into the world of myths and legends, Alan whisks Amanda away for a tour of the iconic Achilleion Palace, built by the empress of Austria in 1880 as a shrine to the Greek gods. After a fascinating tour of the gardens, the claws are out as Alan questions if the gods are smiling down on some of Amanda’s design choices!

Amanda and Alan take on their last space and aim to turn the overgrown patch of land at the side of the house into a gorgeous outdoor dining area. As always, the best friends don’t hold back, with big plans for a bespoke pergola, a stone barbecue, and for the first time ever, a custom-made plunge pool! Before they tackle the huge task at hand, the DIY duo take to the sea for a lesson in fishing. As fish is a staple of Corfiot dishes, it’s the perfect food to cook up a storm on their barbecue, but upon catching a red snapper, Amanda gets cold feet, and much to Alan’s disappointment, throws their catch of the day back in the sea!