Rugby Hospitality Suite Challenge Sends Victoria Scott Home On Interior Design Masters
The five remaining Interior Design Masters contestants kicked off week five at the Allianz Stadium in Twickenham, west London, where, on the whistle of head judge Michelle Ogundehin, were tasked with upgrading hospitality boxes for rugby fans into ‘super-smart and swanky’ hangouts.
Michelle wanted ‘to feel the passion behind this ancient game’, so with a budget of £2,000 each, Victoria, Rita, Craig, John and Briony touched down to start their transformations.
Joined by guest adjudicator, restaurateur Nisha Katona, Michelle reluctantly called John – for the third week running – to the sofa, plus Craig, whose 1950s-inspired cocktail lounge failed to hit the spot, and Victoria Scott, 32, a project director for a commercial property company from Glasgow, who sadly had to pack up her kit bag and go home.
You admitted you had ‘a disaster’. What happened?
VS: Well, there was the wallpaper that wouldn’t stick. I think the problem was it was too shiny; we had to use double-sided tape to get it to stay on the wall in the end. And then there was the mirror that broke. I’d tried and tested it in a previous challenge, but it just went wrong. Piers, my carpenter, was not loving life that week.
There was another disaster before I even got there. When the wallpaper came back from the printers, the stripes were purple, not blue. Obviously, it was England’s stadium, so red, white and blue was the colour scheme. I spent hours and hours painting 40 metres of stripes blue.
Nisha thought all your research might have shackled you a bit?
VS: After episode one, I totally had that kind of approach. I just wished I’d managed my idea this week to come across the way I’d envisaged it. I did enjoy doing the research, though. I was honoured to look around Scotland’s national stadium at Hampden Park. And another local stadium, where I got a bit of inspiration for the darker wood, gentleman’s club feel, and the bar. I was really chuffed with the bar. The backing bits that were upholstered were pallets, free from the farm where I grew up.
Tell us one thing that goes on behind the scenes viewers don’t know about
VS: The magic of TV makes it look effortless. The edit is very kind; you don’t see anybody having a meltdown. But people do. With the first challenge, I spent the entire time consoling someone [a contestant], who cried consistently for two days.
Victoria with host Alan Carr
What’s the most surprising thing you’ve found yourself doing?
VS: Never did I ever think I would be trawling the back lanes of Glasgow’s West End looking for a rug. It was for the first challenge. The budget was super, super tight. I’d run out of money – my hostel room was twice the size of everyone else’s – but I really wanted a rug for the floor, as the carpet was pretty horrible.
I found one behind a bin in the end. I lugged this rug back to my flat. There were bugs in it and woodlice. It was minging. I’ve not got a back garden, so I had to ask my neighbour if she would mind me hanging the rug over her garden fence. I had to beat the bugs out of it, then wash it. Then I had to dry it in my flat; the smell was horrible.
What does interior design mean to you?
VS: It’s a channel for me to express my creativity that allows a lot more people to appreciate it. I find it especially exciting in commercial property. In offices, restaurants and lounges, you can really make a difference to so many people’s experiences. You can absolutely have a ball picking amazing colours and screening with plants.
I’m very privileged to do the job I do. I’ve started in the company I work for 13 years ago, as the managing director and chairman’s personal assistant, and worked my way up by graft. The people I work with know I’ve got a creative eye.
Time to manifest… Tell us, where do you hope to be this time next year?
VS: I’m having a baby in July, and we’re moving house to a beautiful period property in Ayrshire. I hope to put my stamp on my new home and showcase what I can do. My husband, Adam, an agricultural contractor, has given me completely free rein to do what I want with the house.
• Follow Victoria on Instagram @victoria.scott._
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Jayne specialises in features for Country Living and House Beautiful, writing about a wide range of topics, from gardening and DIY to decluttering and mindfulness. Based in Yorkshire, she has recently renovated a 1920s house, where she lives with her family.
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