A Life less Ordinary

With very impressive viewing figures for DIY SOS, which regularly draws eight million people each week, and the two series of UK's Worst for the BBC, which set record figures for an investigation programme at seven million, Nick is pretty much in demand. His career has been varied to say the least and he loves nothing more than a challenge. One of his most memorable films was on orangutans for the BBC's Saving Planet Earth and his love of Africa is paramount. He went to Zambia in 2004, where he shot a heart-rending report for Sport Relief, and says: "It's hard to explain just how awful the situation was there, I truly felt there was no hope, and it made me quite ill for a while, and when they asked me to return in 2005 I tried quite hard to find reasons not to go." He did return, though, and the change he saw in Zambia through Comic Relief and Sport Relief was astounding.

So, with his notable career, how did it all begin? "I grew up in Southall until I was 11, and then we moved to Tunbridge Wells. I have a brother and three sisters, and my mum and dad were always there for us. I remember my dad doing three jobs to earn enough money to pay for Christmas presents, and he never stopped working. I had a bit of an attitude at school and was called motor mouth, but I had the corners knocked off me. I was always passionate about sport, rugby in particular, and I was music mad and played in various bands. I eventually teamed up with my brother when I left school and played in bars and clubs, and then I tried a bit of acting but I couldn't really make up my mind what to do. My brother is now a professional musician, and my sisters are ballet dancers, so I think I was the least talented."

Eventually Nick managed to get a job at the BBC as a runner and then moved on to become a researcher. "I then decided to take off and go to Australia to play rugby. I got a job on a news station as a reporter and then as a producer and director. I had some lucky breaks, but I don't think I ever approached anything by the normal route, and I had a pretty unusual view of the world!"

Nick's real passion, though, was for social history. It was a subject that had long interested him and, in particular, he was fascinated by tribal customs. While he was in Australia, he went to live with aborigines in the Outback. "I ate witchity grubs, which look exactly the same as maggots but are better when they're roasted on a fire as they taste like sausages. I also lived with some Navajo Indians in Arizona. I lived in a wooden teepee with an old couple in the 80s. They were pretty amazing, and it's a shame that the young people get caught up in alcohol and drugs and have huge problems. They always have to face a great deal of conflict."

Nick bought his first home in 1986 for £29,950. "It was a three bedroom semi in Hawkhurst, Kent. During the boom years, it was worth £90,000, but then there was the crash and I eventually sold it for £45,000. But that's the way of the world, and property prices are often like that. I then rented for several years and then bought a property in Chiswick, west London, which was a wreck. Nothing had been done to it for 80 years, and it didn't even have a bathroom. I completely gutted it, and at one point it had no roof so you could see the sky, but I turned it into a very modern, fabulous home. I bought it for £340,000 and sold it for £725,000. Now I'm renting again and not rushing into anything as I want to find exactly the right house. I'm keen to live in the country, but I may need to compromise."

He is very aware of how difficult the first time buyer market is at the moment and says: "It is very normal to have that nesting instinct and want to do up your own home, but there is a lot of pressure on first timers. They somehow feel they are duty bound to buy a property. But the market is very volatile at the moment and renting might be the answer for a while or living with parents so they can build up some savings, although that isn't always a practical solution. I think it's far better to hold on and wait and see what happens."
Nick is very aware that the money market is also close to meltdown. "There are some serious issues with the euro, and some of the European countries at the moment are going through very tough times. There are also many cutbacks in the UK and redundancies. So this may not be the time to speculate on buying a home. The high streets are also having a difficult time, and there is not much money around. The thought of not being able to pay the mortgage and having to give the keys back is pretty awful. I had a friend in the 80s who had to do just that, and it took him 10 years to pay it all off.

"Obviously there are many first time buyers who are in a stable situation and can go ahead and buy their first home. These first timers should look carefully at what mortgage deal they get. I suggest that they go for a fixed-rate mortgage, and then you know what you have to pay each month and can budget accordingly. At least then you know you are safe for five years or so and, hopefully, we should be out of the fix we are in now! Also, I suggest going to sympathetic lenders who are keen to help first timers as it may make life a lot easier."

His new series of Original Features, which will be on the Home Channel from 17 October, encompasses all that Nick is fascinated in. He delves into the history of homes across the UK and helps restore houses to their former glory. In each episode, he explores a different home, from a Tudor cottage to a Georgian townhouse, and reveals that each has a story to tell. Nick helps the owners transform their property, educating them along the way. As the renovations progress, he researches the lives and times of all the previous residents and unearths a rich seam of social and design history.

"Every house has an amazing history in itself, and basically we are just caretakers for a building," he says. "Each home that we visit has a story to tell, and I want to find out why the house was built and the way in which people lived in it. It is astonishing how there are links through history that we don't know about. We start by doing up parts of a house, with an eye on trying to reinstate some of the original features from the time it was built. Then I do some investigation on the house and research who lived there in the past and whether there are any connections between the new owners and the house itself. Very often there are, even if they don't know it yet. The owners are totally unaware that they have links to the house, and it comes as a real surprise. I think that by finding out the past it means they can build something more true to the personality of the house. I love delving into the past, and I'm always pretty knocked out myself by what I uncover."

Nick's career has been extremely diverse, and it is hard to keep up with all his different ventures. "I'm a self-confessed history nut, but I also support many different charities and I have written a book. I have never wanted to be associated with one kind of programme - it's important to challenge yourself and make sure you are not pigeonholed. It means it takes longer to develop a career and profile with viewers and commissioners, but it's a much firmer, broader base. I can never understand presenters who will only work with autocue or will only work in a studio - it's like being a carpenter and only making wardrobes! I don't like to stand still and try to make the next thing I do completely different from the last. I like to take risks with my career and live a life less ordinary."

Nick Knowles' Original Features is new and exclusive to Home, weeknights at 10pm from Monday 17 October (Sky 246, Virgin 265).