Brian Dowling has landed an exciting new TV gig.
The former Big Brother star will front Virgin Media Television’s show ‘The Salvage Squad’, which premieres in October.
The Ireland AM presenter and his fashion-forward team of interior designers, up-cyclers and tradespeople are on a mission to prove you can achieve the home renovation of your dreams, without it costing the earth.
‘The Salvage Squad’ will transform Ireland’s tired, old rooms into unique and stunning showstoppers.
The twist; they can’t buy anything new. With a maximum spend of €1,000 and just three days, they must only use second-hand, free-cycled, salvaged, up-cycled, homemade, or pre-used materials to create their dream rooms.
This is the home makeover show for the world we live in today, kicking off as part of Climate Action Week in October.
Speaking to RTÉ, Brian said: “When I was asked to do the show, to be honest, I was thinking: is this really a good fit for me? I really didn’t know.”
“I was always good when it came to sustainability with clothes. I would really invest in clothing, especially bags, designer bags – stuff that I’ve had for years – shoes, coats.”
“I remember with my Big Brother money I blew a lot on a lot of designer stuff that I still have now. Over twenty years later! So I think I was being sustainable when I didn’t realise I was being sustainable.”
“When it comes to interiors and makeovers, on the whole, I wasn’t as sustainable. Because I used to always think everything had to be brand-new. I want this. I want that.”
“My husband Arthur is more about vintage pieces and pre-loved pieces. And I think what I’ve learned from making the show The Salvage Squad is that – I used to always think that if something was second-hand, or vintage, you’d go ‘Oh no, you know I don’t want that’.”
“But we had pieces of furniture on the show that are second-hand that are still brand-new. Still have their tags attached. That would still come covered in the original packaging.”
“So I’m getting so much better at that. I’m definitely more aware of sustainability when it comes to like curtains. Or up-cycling. For example, if you look at a character and say you don’t like it – and I’m really bad at stuff like that.”
“But when you know what you’re doing, you can up-cycle anything and make it look incredible,” he added.
