Will Kirk, star of BBC’s The Repair Shop, has become so successful that his wife has jokingly threatened to hire a carpenter for their home repairs.
Despite his on-screen success, Will finds little time for DIY tasks in their Surrey abode.
The 39-year-old craftsman has been a show regular since 2017, and has proved popular with viewers, including with King Charles.
However, Will is now so busy that he has no time to fix up the Surrey home that he shares with wife Polly and their two young children.
Speaking of his homelife, the antique furniture restorer divulged: “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.”
But his wife did offer a solution, saying: “You know if you can’t sand the floor and you’re not happy with it, we can always get someone in?”
However, Will wasn’t having it, explaining: “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.”
The young family moved from Wandsworth in London to the countryside last year, with Will taking to social media to share pictures of him in a flatcap and Barbour jacket, in front of rolling hills.
The Repair Shop expert Will Kirk shares wife’s frustrations as he’s ‘too busy’ (Image: BBC/Ricochet)
And, like most new parents, Will was originally full of ambitious ideas, saying: “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.
“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”.
When not filming for One’s The Repair Shop, Will runs his own furniture restoration business, reports the Mirror.
The Repair Shop star Will Kirk (Image: BBC)
The stars of The Repair Shop are embarking on their first-ever UK tour. Various experts from the show, including horologist Steve Fletcher, ceramics expert Kirsten Ramsay, and art conservationist Lucia Scalisi, will join the live events at different points.
Will, used to the relative calm of filming in a barn with a crew he knows, confessed to feeling nervous about getting on stage in front of thousands of people. He explained: “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.
“But actually standing in front of people who all love watching the show and talking about it is definitely new to me.”
But the craftsman was keen to state that fans shouldn’t bring things to repair, saying: “Any time I talk about this tour I keep mentioning the fact that 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.”
Understandably, he’s keen to show fans the extensive work that goes into his craft: “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.”
The Repair Shop airs Wednesdays on One from 8pm.