HOW WOULD YOU SUM UP KIRSTIE'S CELEBRITY CRAFT MASTERS?
IT'S a celebrity craft challenge show, so we are given various tasks to do in our houses, and then we do another head-to-head task in a studio. And anything we make is judged by very tough judges. I think it could definitely kick something off; look at the Bake Off, that was so huge, and got people back into baking cakes with Mary Berry. This could get people back to basics, doing something fun, having a laugh and using some old bits and pieces from their house that they can turn into something else.
HOW LIKELY IS A 'HANDMADE REVOLUTION'?
Everyone is busy, I get that. But everyone has got time to be swiping up on their phones all the time? I've even come off Instagram for a while now – it won't be forever because I need it for work – because I felt myself constantly drawn to this thing. I just think we all need to have a look at what we're spending our time on. And that's the thing with this craft show, it's almost going back to a couple of decades ago.
ARE YOU COMPETITIVE?
No, I don't think I am. I am terrible; it drives TV directors mad because they expect me to be this uber-competitive guy and they're desperately trying to gear me up and say, 'Come on, you've got to win this, Rav' and I'll be like, 'Nah, not really'. I'll try my best, don't get me wrong, but I'm not the sort of ultra-competitive person that say a sports star would be naturally. I'm just not that guy, I'm too laid back for that.
HOW DID YOU HANDLE THE CONSTRUCTIVE CRITICISM DISHED OUT BY THE JUDGES?
They were pretty tough, but you know what? I did Strictly and I had Craig Revel Horwood, so anything compared to that is a walk in the park.
THIS IS AN ENTIRELY DIFFERENT LINE OF WORK FOR YOU. DID YOU EVER FEEL OUTSIDE OF YOUR COMFORT ZONE?
Oh yeah, definitely, because I don't really get the chance to do that sort of thing. But then that's exactly why I wanted to do it. A lot of what I do, I turn up, I get handed a script that's been written by someone else, and told, 'These are the words, say them'. Whereas at least here I could have a bit of fun, try something different, and have a go at a totally new area for me. I never thought I would be sat in my kitchen making a flowerpot!
WHAT WAS THE MOST CHALLENGING ASPECT OF THE PROCESS?
My head is weird thing. I've got this thing called dyspraxia, so I have a hand-eye co-ordination disorder – I'm dyslexic as well – so I find it very difficult to do anything intricate. The only way I can do anything is if I can see it, visualise what I am supposed to do. So when the challenges were given to me, and I was told, 'You're going to do this', because I couldn't see what it was going to be like at the end, I did find that really hard. But I knew it was a bit of fun. I didn't take it too seriously; I knew it was a laugh and it was a family show.
:: Kirstie's Celebrity Craft Masters starts on Channel 4 on July 1
