You are in the Special Features section - Carol Smillie Interview

Carol Smillie is well-known to millions of TV viewers. As a presenter on countless shows, but primarily as a result of her presentation of the 'pioneering' Changing Rooms, a programme which arguably changed the face of modern TV by establishing a new TV genre. Dozens of lifestyle, makeover and property-themed programmes were to follow, but Changing Rooms was the original.

 

   

Carol Smillie

 

 

 

Carol started her working life as a model and got into TV via Wheel Of Fortune. Since that early non-speaking role as a hostess, she has appeared regularly on TV and her sense of humour and sharp brain are much in demand. These days, as well as hosting satellite TV shows she does corporate work, has toured with The Vagina Monologues and has also gone back to her original roots as a model for the Edinburgh Woollen Mill. She is also heavily involved in a number of charities.

Carol kindly agreed to an interview with Digger at www.retrosellers.com and here is that interview.

 

 

   

Carol with George Clooney (okay, his waxwork!)

 

 

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Digger: I've had a look at the video blog on your website and it's very effective.

Carol: Thank you. It's just been changed in the last couple of days. We change it once a month or so.

Digger: I remember you vividly on Wheel of Fortune and the fact that you weren't 'able' to speak. Actually, my friend was a contestant on that show and was very cheeky to the host, which was absolutely hilarious. Host: "Richard, you were pipped at the post - what can I say?..." Richard: "Goodbye?!" Having also been involved in the Lottery, how much of a gambler and risk taker are you?

Carol: I'm not really a gambler I must admit. I'm very careful with money. I take risks sometimes in life but not with money. Just the way I am - probably my Presbyterian Scottish upbringing. We weren't exactly breadline, but we didn't have a flush lifestyle as kids and my parents instilled in me the value of money and looking after it.

Digger: What sort of risks have you taken in life? Can you give us an example?

Carol: Em, I think sometimes you take risks with friendships, you take risks with your children occasionally. You've got to let them spread their wings a bit and can't smother them and I'm sure I did that at that age. With the way life is nowadays, I don't always like it but you have to push yourself. I go ice skating every week and that's a risk every single week I can assure you.

Digger: Are you into all the winter sports?

Carol: No, I'm not sporty at all. I hate sports. I just think skating looks rather beautiful and I always fancied being able to whizz around the ice looking graceful and feeling very free. In fact, I whizz around the ice looking terrified feeling that I might die at any minute and it's quite scary. But I do think you should scare yourself once a week.

Digger: Getting out of your comfort zone, they say, don't they?

Carol: Yes. Every Thursday afternoon.

Digger: I'd say that the business you're in is very risky anyway. In terms of putting your reputation on the line and waiting for calls for work, so in that sense. Not like a nine to five career.

Carol: No, I don't think I could have done that though. Not the kind of person I am.

Digger: How would you rate the way women presenters are treated in the media these days compared to previous decades?

Carol: (Laughs) I think Joanna Lumley hit the nail on the head when she said it had always been that way. We pretty much knew that so you can't really bleat about it when you're there. You know, it would be ludicrous for me to assume that I would get a job for a young girl when I'm not a young girl. But equally there are things that you can bring to the table as an older woman that others don't - sometimes experience is a good thing. The Arlene Philips thing was, I believe, possibly a bad call because it shouldn't matter how old she was. It's her experience that matters.

Digger: You wouldn't think that would happen in this day and age or that the public would let it happen.

Carol: I think there was quite a furore but it didn't seem to make much difference.

Digger: The show will carry on regardless.

Carol: The show should change because life evolves. If we don't move on... I know it hurts, like with Terry Wogan leaving and you think "Don't end, don't end" but life DOES. 'Strictly' will change one day when Bruce Forsyth eventually gives up. 

Digger: You've appeared in a hugely diverse array of shows. Is there anything that you have turned down that you are glad you did?

Carol: I turned down a lot of shows, particularly I'm A Celebrity Get Me Out Of Here and Celebrity Big Brother.

Digger: Why?

Carol: I couldn't quite see why I would. It was a very easy decision, even though they asked three or four times. My children were a lot younger then and I suspect I would have got a lot more aggro at home had I been asked now. The children are aware of programmes like that and they weren't when they were younger.

Digger: Pressure from them to go into it?

Carol: Possibly. "Oh, you'll be fine, mum. We'll get a great trip to Australia." 

Digger: What didn't you like about the prospect? They were dangling carrots in front of you, I should imagine?

Carol: I didn't get that far down the line and I'm sure they put calls out to loads of people to start with. But it was a no from me from the very outset. I don't like being humiliated and to me it's one step removed from the bearded lady at the circus. Big Brother is even more like that now - it's a freak show. And the people in there don't seem to know better.

Digger: It's also sad. People are going in there to resurrect their careers. The only thing I really enjoy about I'm A Celebrity is the comments from (Said in unison) Ant and Dec.

Carol: ... Yes, I love them. I'm not saying I don't watch them, 'cos I do. So turning that down was very easy. I actually turned down Strictly Come Dancing the year before I did it because I hadn't really watched it and I thought I couldn't dance. I turned it down and then regretted it and fortunately for me they came back and I didn't have to go to them. (Laughs)

Digger: What would you love to be in that you havent?

Carol: Ooh, that's a good question. What would I love to be in? Oh, I'd love to do a comedy show. And Loose Women, just to be on the panel and have a natter with my pals.

Digger: That must be a possibility? Have you sent any signals to people to let them know you're available?

Carol: Oh, yes, yes, yes. You never know. But I don't worry about it.

Digger: Give us a clue about your favourite comedies.

Carol: Fairly mixed. I love Catherine Tate. (impersonates the old lady in the show) Love that. The trouble is there's not a lot of good comedy around, I think. Michael McIntyre is great and I find it fascinating that a lot of modern day comics make a fuss about him being old-fashioned. I think that's what we need a lot more of, less of the effing and blinding.

Digger: I worry about him, because when you watch him on the stage he is very physical for a chubby bloke tearing around the stage and he seems to get quite out of breath.

 

    

Retro Carol

 

 

Carol: I think he's brilliant. And Billy Connolly, even though he does eff and blind, very funny. Just that observational humour. If you're going to go for something stand-up. Otherwise, The Office, things like that which are clever. Old-fashioned humour like Morecambe and Wise I can watch and think "It was funny in it's day but it's very dated now."

Digger: You have obviously embraced the web and blogs but can you tell us how good are you with technology?

Carol: RUBBISH! That's not quite true, I've moved from PC to Apple Mac a few years ago and I get lessons in the store once a week. One-to-one.

Digger: I go over to see my sister in Cork and I have a PC, she has a Mac, and I'm totally bewildered by the Mac. 

Carol: It's so seductive and I had no interest in PCs before and shared it with the kids. Had all sorts of cereal packets jammed in the hard drive and such. But now...

Digger: Have you got an iPod and a SatNav?

Carol: Yes...

Digger: Well, there you go, you've fully embraced technology!

Carol: ...I have a SatNav and I take my laptop with me and edit films on it and I make music on it and Photoshop pictures on it... yeah, I'm okay!

Digger: If you came back from holiday and somebody had completely transformed the way your house was decorated, what reaction might result?

Carol: It depends if it was a good transformation or a bad one. I would say "How the hell did you get the keys to my house? Someone must die!"

Digger: (Laughs) If it was a relative?

Carol: If it was a relative that would be absolute hell. (Laughs) No I don't like people interfering in my home. My home is my castle and it's mine and my husband's. I never have photo-shoots or whatever at the home. When I did Okay magazine with the children it was never at the house.

Digger: You seem to be making an entrance back into modelling again. Who were your inspirations for your original choice of career as a model?

Carol: I think my choice of career was very much born out of fluke. I went to art school when I left school and I wasn't really good enough, if I'm honest. I didn't understand the whole 'You need to dye your hair green and walk funny' thing. I just wanted to make nice pictures but living the whole lifestyle as well - no. 

Digger: What was happening then in pop culture?

Carol: In pub culture?

Digger: (Both laugh) No, in pop culture. 

Carol: Spandau Ballet and all that sort of thing. So I did one year at art school and I thought "Oh God, this isn't what I thought it was at all. I don't want to drink my grant on a Saturday night in one night and have no money the rest of the time and living from hand to mouth on baked beans." So I worked in a posh wine bar - talk about a square peg in a round hole.

Digger: Where was this?

Carol: Glasgow. So I failed my first year exam and my tutor said "Look, you've got two options here. You can repeat them, but do you really think this is for you?" (Both laugh) In that slightly subtle 'hoping that I might take the hint' sort of way. So I stared modelling then to make some money because I was broke. I joined an agency and in a slightly conceited 'I've got what it takes' kind of way that comes with the confidence of youth. I was way under height and just a bit gobby really. 

Digger: I never understood the height thing because people come in all shapes and sizes.

Carol: Samples are made in those sizes because it hangs better on a tall girl rather than a short one. So the models they use are tall and slim and make the clothes look amazing. If you want to model for these companies you have to fit the clothes. That's why I modelled lingerie - because they didn't have any hemlines and the height made not a jot of difference. So I fell into that career and it seemed to me an awfully easy way to make money. In Scotland it's very different from London. The majority of the work is promotional work so you could be standing in Tesco's flogging 10p off a can of Coke one day and then doing a catwalk show the next. From the sublime to the ridiculous. And actually I think the promotional work was the making of me because if you can stand in Tesco's and do that then you can do anything. You can talk to anyone. I could bore the hind legs off a donkey, as you're probably guessing now! I find it easy to go to a party and mix and know it will be fine. 

Digger: You never find yourself at a loss for words?

Carol: No. It was character building. Even if people didn't know me for what I do already, even if I didn't do that I would be fine.

Digger: Are you nostalgic or do you tend to look forward?

Carol: A bit of both really. I do like a bit of nostalgia and in fact this week just gone I went to my 30th year anniversary for my school. Only my year, a big dinner, no partners. So it was really brilliant and one guy pulled out all the stops to arrange it.

Digger: Was it a mixed school?

Carol: Funnily enough our year was the last year where the schools were separate and a year later they amalgamated the boys and girls schools. My children go there now. But it was very funny to see everybody - I didn't know who all the old bald blokes were (Both laugh) No idea who any of them were. There were only one or two of the girls where I thought "No, you don't have a badge on and I have absolutely no idea who you are." 

Digger: I suppose you were at an advantage being on telly?

Carol: Yes, they were very good about it. Nobody was particularly over gushy or gave me any nonsense.

Digger:  Do you tend to get privacy and people respecting your space or can being recognised in public be a pain?

Carol: I think people are pretty respectful of space. You get the odd one. Often they're plugging for a charity or they have been asked by someone but there are the correct channels to do these things and I don't like it when they send stuff direct to the house or say that I know so-and-so. My good friends are aware of that and they know how to deal with that. 

Digger:  Do you collect or hoard anything?

Carol: Nothing. I come for a family of hoarders. My father was chronically a hoarder (Laughs) and so as a backlash I am completely different.

Digger: Was it claustrophobic?

Carol: Yes. He's in a care home now at 91 but when he and my mother moved out of the house I was born in some 35 years later, clearing out his stuff was unbelievable. His school books were in there. What the hell was all that about? He couldn't bear to throw stuff away and my brother is just the same. 

Digger: There's that joke about the bloke drawer.

Carol: The man drawer. I know a lot of girls like that too. Perhaps my children will be back to that as a backlash against me, I don't know.

Digger: Maybe there's going to come a time when you wish you'd kept that item?

Carol: Of course it does happen, but I think "Oh well, it's not there, I'll survive." But really, if I haven't worn something in my wardrobe in the last two years then I'm not going to and there's a wardrobe in the spare room that it goes into and it sits there and gets disposed of.

Digger: The departure lounge. Very disciplined... You are synonymous with a smiling face. But what makes you sad?

Carol: Oh, lots of things really. Divorce makes me sad. Badly brought up children. Maybe they don't make me sad so much as just annoy me! You know, rude, spoilt kids. I'm a bit of a stickler for 'You look someone in the eye, say hello and answer them when they speak to you'. And empty the dishwasher too while you're at it.

Digger: It is disappointing when they're rude but it's a nice surprise when children are polite and kind, and often they are.

Carol: Yes, and that's usually when they're not in your sight and it's you that gets it. What else makes me sad? I'm doing a campaign at the moment for a company called World Vision which is about sponsoring a child in a third world country and we have a big campaign where  we're trying to get 1,000 Scots to spend 60p a day to sponsor a child. So that kind of thing makes me sad. I think there's a lot of kids in the world struggling and they shouldn't have to because your childhood should be carefree. Regardless of who and where you are. And the whole dichotomy of how little they have and how much our children have. I think that's my fault and it's the pressure of society today and a balance between letting them have enough, if they've earned the money and behaved well and worked hard, and keeping hold of them before they disappear into cyberspace with their electronic wizardry. They do change personality and I think that's quite sad. They feel they need all this stuff and if we can just get them away from it for a while they change personality, it's just amazing. I'm quite strong on allowing them to have some electronics as long as they balance it out with some outdoor activity.

Digger: And what makes you angry? 

Carol: Oh, people who chuck rubbish out of cars. That incenses me.

 

 

     

Carol as hostess and with Robbie Coltraine

 

 

 

Digger: Do you get yourself into trouble?

Carol: Yes, I have done. I have picked it back up and put it back in the car and said "I think you've dropped this." 

Digger: Did they recognise you?

Carol: I wish they didn't. Road rage. I blow them a kiss.

Digger: Some lads drove down our road, stopped and dropped a glass bottle out of their car onto the road before carrying on.

Carol: I would be... not good at things like that or bullying when your kid comes home in tears. 

Digger: So what makes you hopeful?

Carol: Oh God. Hopeful... When you raise money for a charity and they actually use it for some advancement in technology and you think "Wow, scientists do some amazing things" and you read about a breakthrough in cancer and things like that. The other thing that makes me sad, if I can go back to that. My dad's in a care home at 91 and that's really sad, cos there's a man who had such an active life and was somebody. And institutional care - and I'm not by any means saying anything against the care home because it's great - but people live so much longer than they would have done before and I'm not sure if it's a good thing. 

Digger: Doesn't that go back to what you were just saying about all these cures for things? They are able to make people live so much longer.

Carol: Yes, they are. But the old age thing is just the next chapter and quite depressing to think that's what's coming next.

Digger: Better to have 65 good years rather than 90 poor ones.

Carol: Oh, I'd have more than 65! As soon as you are mentally incapacitated I think it's perhaps not a good thing. 

Digger: And what makes you belly-laugh? I presume some of the things you mentioned earlier?

Carol: Stupid things. Yesterday (Laughs loudly) I went on a ladies' driving challenge for another charity, me and a bunch of pals and we drove an articulated lorry, a fire engine and a police car. It was very funny. I love being with my mates and there was a bunch of us and we belly-laugh our way through the day. Wherever we go and whatever we do. It is just wall-to-wall.

Digger: What do you think are your best characteristics and what are your worst ones?

Carol: My worst ones are easier to list. I can be impatient. I hold a grudge.

Digger: (Laughs) Yeah, I think I read about that somewhere.

Carol: I shock myself sometimes. I don't think about them day-in and day-out, but the time will come. When it comes, boy, I love it! Revenge!

Digger: A dish served cold, they say. Don't tell us who it was, but give us an example of someone who upset you that much.

Carol: When someone really hurts me in a cynical or spiteful way and I don't say much at the time, but it's logged. And my day will come. There's only one outstanding at the moment. (Both laugh loud) 

Digger: I've got a rule of three strikes and they're out. 

Carol: It's just a ten years outstanding. (Both laugh) He's a journalist. He knows who he is. And my best qualities... I'm a very loyal friend. I think I'm quite generous. Oh, I'm not the best person to answer this, really. I think I'm a good mum. I don't get it right every time, but I like to think I still remember what it was like to be a kid and tread that happy line between mum and best pal. 

Digger: There are so many parents that need training.

Carol: Everybody likes to think they're good parents, don't they? I like to think I can be proud of my kids.

Digger: That's all you can hope for... If you could host a dinner party of guests living or dead, real or fictional, who would be there and why?

Carol: I'd have Eddie Izzard. 

Digger: Did you see him as a German officer in that movie last year?

Carol: No. Oh, I did actually, yes!

Digger: I was expecting him to start doing his stand-up.

Carol: I've met him once and I find him strangely attractive (Laughs) I wasn't expecting that, but he has a very enigmatic personality and I love talented people. Whether it's comedy, or serious drama, or documentary-style stuff, he's got it all really. I quite like Richard Branson - I've never met him and it's quite an odd one. I admire his self-made empire and his work ethic and I find him...

Digger (Laughs) I thought you were going to say "Strangely attractive." (Both laugh)

Carol: ... No, when interviewed he looks awkward and embarrassed.

Digger: He does, I have noticed that.

 

 

 

 

Carol: And you think "How can you be all that and dress-up as a bride to promote your business and yet be embarrassed to answer questions about your business?" 

Digger: He's even a little clumsy and stammering when he's answering 'professional' questions.

Carol: I'd have thought he would be absolutely slick.

Digger: That permanent smile gets to me a little bit.

Carol: I'd like to spend a little time with him and get to know the real Richard Branson. I admire his achievements... What women would I have? Joanna Lumley, maybe? She's great. She's got grace, she's got her principles and I like all that. I'm not all that interested in having any dead people there. (Both laugh) Apart from the fact they may be a bit whiffy. 

Digger: What about pretend people?

Carol: Maybe Catherine Tate's Nan. Ooh, let me see, who else? Rupert Penry-Jones, who used to be in Spooks. And I just want him there because I could look at him all day.

Digger: Eye candy?

Carol: Totally. I saw him in the flesh about a year ago in the Apple store, funnily enough, and there was a slight dribble coming out the side of my mouth. (Both laugh)

Digger: He probably went back home and said "You'll never guess who I saw today. Carol Smillie, and there was a slight dribble coming from my mouth."

 

 

Rupert Penry-Jones

Sir Richard Branson

 

 

Carol: I very much doubt it. I'm a fan in a way and I thought "Get a grip." 

Digger: I like it when I hear people who are involved in the entertainment business and they're sucked-in by the dream. And they can get past all the mechanics of it and just enjoy something for what it is.

Carol: Maybe I'd also have Take That because they make me laugh and they look like a bunch of guys who are having a great time.

Digger: I'm very pleased they've come back bigger and stronger than ever.

Carol: Their concert was one of the most incredible things I've ever seen.

Digger: It's a shame that Robbie couldn't be a part of it, or at least have been friends with them.

Carol: I'm sure he will when he grows up.

Digger: Yes... How do you relax?

Carol: I paint. I've been going back to art school for four years at night.

Digger: You're doing a lot of training, aren't you? The Mac once a week, the painting...

Carol: Ugh huh, and the skating. I'm not as busy as I used to be on TV and I don't want to be a lady who lunches. I can't bear big groups of women, that brings me out in hives. I would rather stick red hot coals in my eyes, honestly. So, I just think, going back to what you were saying earlier and why would I want to do the 'Celebrity ... jungle' thing, apart from the humiliation, I don't think there's anything to be gained from that except humiliation. And I don't want to learn how to starve and survive. So I like to teach myself about things I'm interested in. Now I can choose what I want to learn. I always knew the art thing would come back in a different way and I started to go to shows and buying and collecting other people's pieces of work. But I was invited as an ambassador for the Prince's Trust to paint a Status Quo album cover for an auction they were doing. They'd been in showbusiness for '150 years' or some big anniversary had come up! There was a concert for the Trust and they invited all the ambassadors to paint an album cover, regardless of ability, so I did and that started my interest back in painting. I'd done very little of it in my one year at art school. So I've done a few paintings and a lot of life drawings and sculpture.

 

 

Status Quo

 

 

Digger: How important is your Scottishness to you and how does this manifest itself?

Carol: Em, not as important as you might think. I love Scotland, I love things about being Scottish, but there are parts of it that I'm ashamed of. It's just the whole insular, us and them attitude at times. I really hope that we don't get devolution and I think people sometimes don't see the bigger picture.

Digger: My sister's in Ireland - our mum was Irish - and I go over there from time to time. That's one of the things that makes her think of leaving. There's a lot of underlying racism towards the English, often not even intentional, but sometimes as a throwback to times past.

Carol: In a way I love the Scottish humour and the patriotism and the identity but this thing that happens when there's football and the Scottish will support any of the 31 other teams rather than England. I find it mildly racist.

Digger: It is offensive.

Carol: And ignorant.

Digger: You know that the English would support the Scots.

Carol: Yes, of course they would. These are people who have never travelled anywhere or done anything. A hatred born out of ignorance. 

Digger: A chip on the shoulder from way back and understandable in a way.

Carol: Oh, come on. Things have changed.

Digger: Move on! 

Carol: Exactly. So that makes my heart sink and even gentle teasing. "Oh, you English" and I think "Why did you need to say that? You wouldn't say that if he was black." 

Digger: When you go up to Scotland, and I've been a few times, there are so many English who have settled and run businesses and shops up there. I don't know what they must go through.

Carol: We're better than that and we don't need all that nastiness.

Digger: What music is on your iPod and what shows are programmed to record on your Sky box?

Carol: Dramas, 'Strictly', Spooks (although Rupert's not in it anymore.)

Digger: I bet you were gutted when he left.

Carol: The kids like the X-Factor although I can get too much of it. What else do I love watching on TV? I'm not a fan of sports. The only reason I do ice skating is because I don't have to change my clothes, I don't sweat too much and I'm in a shopping centre! (Both laugh)

Digger: You cope well with a career and a young family. Do you think that all women should be able to achieve this?

Carol: Don't set yourself goals that you can't achieve. Everyone's situation is different. Some people have enough money to afford good child care, some people are single parents and trying to make ends meet and struggling with the guilt. Guilt is a female thing - it doesn't happen the other way around. Men are wired differently and there's no point in getting upset about it, it's just the way it is. Whatever works for you is alright and don't judge yourself by other's standards because it's different for them... I didn't answer your question about the iPod. A mix of old and new, I like Grace Jones. I love (Laughs) ... mad stuff I've got on my iPod here... I like The Script, they're very modern. I'm going to watch Coldplay this week in Glasgow. Who else have I got here?... Barry Manilow, but only one or two songs. When I go to the Apple store and they help me sync they're impressed. (Both laugh) 

Digger: I hate musical snobbery. It wasn't that long ago that Abba and The Carpenters were looked down upon.

Carol: I like things like Groove Armada, and I've got Peter Frampton. I got very excited when I heard Frampton Comes Alive. I played it so much I couldn't get it out of my head (Laughs) Supertramp - your own era is what makes you feel good but I also think there's a lot of fantastic music around now.

Digger: And a good thing is you can test music out on iTunes and Youtube and so on. Like the modern equivalent of going into the old record store booths but without leaving your house.

Carol: Yes.

Digger: What projects have you got lined-up for the future?

Carol: (Laughs) That's a question you get asked often and you think "How can I make this sound really busy? (Both laugh) I'm into my third year of modelling for Edinburgh Woollen Mill, doing all their catalogues and TV commercials. I do work for AXA, the pensions people. I've just done a ten-part TV series for Wedding TV and I've done some presentation on This Morning. It's a real mixed bag. Not any commitments on any big series or anything because it's changed and I'm realistic enough to realise I've had my moment doing Changing Rooms and not many people could dream about a break like that. I've had a fantastic time and any bits and pieces I can get now are great but it's not the be-all-and-end-all. 

Digger: You're still in the public consciousness, which is good.

Carol: I don't know how. We shall see. It would be nice to get a series but I don't fret about it and I can spend more time with the kids. I used to think when I was younger that they needed me when they were toddler age, but they didn't and they really need me now. Julie's ten this weekend, Robbie's Eleven and Chris is fourteen. I'm the taxi driver, confidante and bank (Both laugh) 

Digger: Interrogation terminated. We have got some nice pix of you from the early days, Carol, courtesy of RexFeatures.

Carol: Oh oh! 

Digger: You really have changed in appearance. But you know that, of course. But I genuinely think for the better. It's been great talking to you Carol. Good fun. Have a good day.

Carol: Okay. Bye David.