VIEWERS AND CELEBRITIES ON SOCIAL MEDIA SHOCKED AT THE WINNING DECISION IN THE FINAL OF THIS POPULAR PROGRAMME 12:42, 30 May 2025Updated 16:41, 31 May 2025 With the latest series of popular

BBC property programme, Interior Design Masters, over viewers were surprised by the outcome after a finale that saw contestants make over a Welsh property. Hosted by comedian Alan Carr and

judged by Michelle Ogundehin, plus a famous guest judge every week, Interior Design Masters features 10 novice designers tackling various 'real world' commercial and residential

design challenges, with one being awarded 'outstanding space' and one being sent home at the end of each episode. In the latest series, as well as the chance to learn and grow in

BEST KITCHEN IN WALES YOU MIGHT ALSO LIKE: INSIDE THE AMAZING COLOURFUL HOUSE NAMED ONE OF THE BEST IN WALES Article continues below The 10 became two - Rita Millat and John Cooper - who

were each given the brief in the grand final of transforming a holiday cottage in the enchanting north Wales village of Portmeirion, a magical place designed by legendary architect Clough

Williams-Ellis as a slice of Italy on the Welsh coast that has become a popular destination for tourists as well as known as the backdrop for the cult 1960s TV show The Prisoner. Four times

on the sofa of shame - reserved for the two lesser designs with the designer deemed to have the worst scheme booted off the show - John was surely the underdog with most viewers settling

down on their own sofas with a brew to watch the final. His time management was called into question on numerous occasions with rooms left unfinished. But still, over the course of the

series John was seen developing his skills and his creative thinking and epic stand-out features were beginning to break through. In the final Rita's design for her cottage was muted,

calm and cocooning, looking out towards the landscape of mountains and water, but John's looked towards the colour, pattern and quirkiness of Portmeirion that is truly unique and

visually distinctive. John explained the design for his cottage was all about referencing the colours and vibrancy of the village. Having learnt from his mistakes about time and budget

management through the series, the 47-year-old DT teacher from Stockport, Greater Manchester, planned to paint the kitchen units and use stick on transfers over the dated tiles, as the

maximum spend for this make-over was only £6,500. His design combined a palette of sunny yellow, fresh cobalt blue and striking red on the ground floor of the cottage, with John cleverly

using the blue as an accent in every room to visually tie the spaces together, creating a relationship between the rooms and a seamless visual flow. Upstairs the main bedroom became calmer,

with the cobalt blue the accent to a mostly white space and a gorgeous shade of aqua chosen for the window frames, creating the perfect way to frame the incredible waterside view without

distracting from it. The second bedroom was memorable for its delicious combination of a warm shade of pink-toned terracotta with the cobalt blue as an accent, and visually lifted by the use

of a cute ditsy print. Time could have killed John's design yet again, as the wallpaper from company Mind The Gap was coming from Transylvania, which kind of seemed perfectly quirky

for a project at this most unusual location. Luckily for John, it arrived on the final day and was the visual key that unlocked the overall cohesion of his design. Guest judge for the final

was the queen of minimalism, colour and pattern, Sophie Robinson who said: "I want to feel completely transported,' she told the finalists. 'This isn’t home from home; this is

about going somewhere magical. It’s all about dreaming big. I want to see all the colour, all the passion, that can match the energy and wonder of the rest of the village." Michelle

decided each week who goes home based on the particular project and fulfilment of the brief for that episode and not on the bank of designs already created through the series, and on that

point John was felt to have perfectly encapsulated the essence of the village and was announced the winner. Michelle explained the winning choice, she said: "The key of this brief was

to capture the essence of this incredible, magical, mystical place and John did that using colour, pattern and texture and design." Viewers on social media had a mixed reaction with

many shocked that the underdog had secured the win. Even celebrity viewers were caught out, with popular comedian and actress Jenny Eclair saying, 'Not who I had my money on, but

definitely who I thought should win tonight - excellent job'. Some expressed annoyance that Rita had been more consistent through the series with designs that had impressed, with one

saying, 'Gutted Rita didn’t win Interior Design Masters. She was consistently head & shoulders above everyone else week after week'. Some viewers thought that Craig, who

wasn't even in the final, should have been the overall winner, with one saying, 'Still disagree Craig wasn't in the final ! Did great through out the series! Craig winner of

this series!' But in the end the majority of viewers on X agreed with Michelle, that John had nailed the Portmeirion brief, with one saying, 'Yeah Johns design was perfect for that

location, Rita's was nice but it was totally wrong for Portmeirion' and another commenting, ' Having stayed in a few of the cottages at Portmeirion over the past 16 years, I

can say that John’s cottage is exactly what I would expect to see. It was really bl**dy good'. On winning Interior Design Masters 2025 John said: "My ambition is boundless right

now, there's so much that I want to do and this feels like the first step. I've actually done it, I'm an interior designer, oh my goodness! This is life-changing, it changes

everything." He went on to tell House Beautiful: "Every week after the show, my sixth-form students would give me a mini-breakdown of my performance, including what they liked and

what they didn’t. My form, Year Eight, would tease me and say, 'You were on the sofa again.' Article continues below "What’s been most surprising, though, is that some of the

school’s more challenging kids have clearly got wind of it [_Interior Design Masters_]. They’d be like, ‘nice one, sir, I watched that programme you were on.' Hopefully it’s helped them

see that whatever the setbacks, if you really want to do something, go ahead and do it." FOR MORE HOME CONTENT, INCLUDING PRODUCTS, JOIN OUR AMAZING WELSH HOMES FACEBOOK GROUP HERE.