'Changing Rooms' to return with Davina McCall as host

Hit DIY show Changing Rooms is returning with Davina McCall replacing Carol Smillie as host.

Rumours about the 90s hit being resurrected have been swirling of late and it has now been confirmed that it is coming back, with McCall joining designer Laurence Llewelyn-Bowen.

The former Big Brother host said she was “so excited” to be presenting the programme, which sees two sets of homeowners from the same neighbourhood work against the clock to renovate a room in each other’s houses.

“It’s a classic!” said the 52-year-old in a press release.

“It’s the perfect time to bring it back, everyone is going DIY and decor mad!

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“I can’t wait to see all the amazing transformations – I might even get stuck in myself if I’m allowed to be let loose with a paint brush!”

The original series aired on the BBC from 1996 to 2004 and was a huge hit. It is being brought back on Channel 4.

Show bosses said it would be given “a fresh lick of paint for an era of pinspiration and insta-interiors”.

Llewelyn-Bowen, 55 – who was both a designer and presenter on the show – admitted he had to be coaxed back.

He said: “There’s no room for beige in our homes and, just as it was in the 90s, Changing Rooms is once more the homestyle antidote to Britain’s blues (and greys and taupes, and even Magnolia).

“It’s taken quite a lot of coaxing to get me under the Changing Rooms banner once more, but nothing like as much coaxing as it’s going to take for me to squeeze those leather trousers back on.”

The announcement has been welcomed by fans of the decorating programme, but some have expressed their disappointment about Smillie not taking part.

“Feel a bit bad for Carol Smillie why couldn’t they have had her back for changing rooms too? Unless she didn’t want to go back, which in that case it’s fine and I’ll shut up,” said one person on Twitter, while another posted: “Justice for Carol Smillie.”

“I am generally against reboot culture, and I want justice for Carol Smillie but I'd be lying if I said I won't watch this,” said another person.

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Earlier this year, Smillie hinted that she would be interesting in returning to Changing Rooms if it was rebooted, telling The Sun: “I’d love it because I would be able to see all the people again, which is what it was about for me: The team - not just on camera, but off camera too.”

Watch: Would Davina McCall ever do Big Brother as a contestant?