The Big Interiors Battle, hosted by AJ Odudu, sees eight amateur designers compete to win a £250,000 apartment. AJ is a self-confessed design obsessive so who better to host her own interior design competition that will see the winner bag a swanky apartment where they can live mortgage free?
AJ Odudu will oversee the eight contestants as each week they are tasked with doing up a different room in their flat, with the results judged by top architect Dara Huang.
“It’s an amazing opportunity for someone to win a home done to their specification. I mean it's unheard of!” says AJ. “I’m so excited to be involved in a series that has the potential to genuinely change the winner’s life, especially in this day and age when it’s so hard to get on the property ladder.”
Here’s everything you need to know about The Big Interiors Battle on Channel 4 including our interview with AJ Odudu…
The Big Interiors Battle release date
The Big Interiors Battle is an eight-part series that starts on Channel 4 on Friday April 21 at 8pm. So it's a real spring treat for 2023!
The Big Interiors Battle — how it works
The Big Interiors Battle takes eight designers, who have never owned a property before, are given the keys to an apartment in an old Sheffield cutlery factory. Each week they must design a room in the flat. The first task is a race against the clock to design and fit their dream bedroom to a strict £3,500 budget and whoever performs the weakest is locked out, never to return again.
AJ Odudu says: “It's so fun because everybody’s styles are so different. I loved seeing the rooms take shape."
Interview: AJ Odudu gives the lowdown on The Big Interiors Battle
What can you reveal about the contestants in The Big Interiors Battle?
Aj Odudu says: "They all stood out for different reasons, and they’re all really determined to win. So there's a young guy called Jordan, who lives with his mum. Then there’s Tara, who’s a single renter with two kids, and Patricia, who has never lived away from home. I feel like everyone will be able to relate to someone’s situation, or their design style."
It’s such a big prize. Does that add to the tension?
Aj says: "Yeah, so they have a key card to their apartment and the door goes green and allows them to enter if they’ve got through to next week, and red if they haven’t. And they’re trembling, bless them! There are a lot of tears and tension, as you can imagine. But I'm just so glad that I didn't have to break the news to them, and that it was just left to the door!"
What’s your personal design style?
Aj says: "I’d describe it as bright, bold and quite retro. All my walls are white, but there are pops of colour everywhere, and lots of texture, so I've got a bright orange hallway carpet and orange settees. Currently my bedroom is white with lots earthy tones, but I change my mind about it all the time. Sometimes I'm like, oh I want it really dark and moody, and sometimes I want it really bright and bold. But I definitely think my next investment will be getting a more luxurious, expensive mattress!"
Have you picked up any interiors tips from the series?
Aj says: "Absolutely! I feel like every single one of the contestants had something unique to offer, and I loved stealing ideas from them. There are some contestants with a really eclectic, bohemian style, while others go for that stripped back lime wash look, and then there’s Jordan, who just loves his LED lights! When you walk into someone's home, you want it to feel like it reflects them and that's what's so interesting about this show."
Have you ever had any personal design disasters?
Aj says: "Yes, I put down some brand new flooring, which I spent all of my saved up pennies on, and then my downstairs neighbour was like, ‘there’s a leak in my living room!’ It turned out my pipework had been done all wrong and I had to rip up the brand new floor. It was a nightmare and annoyingly expensive to fix!"
Is there a trailer for The Big Interiors Battle?
Sadly there's no trailer for The Big Interiors Battle released by Channel 4.
All about The Big Interiors Battle host AJ Odudu
Early in her career radio DJ and presenter AJ Odudu hosted Big Brother’s Bit on the Side with Rylan Clark-Neal and Emma Willis. In 2021 she competed on Strictly Come Dancing but had to pull out with an ankle injury. She won the second series of Celebrity Karaoke Club and also presented the revised edition of The Big Breakfast. She also took part in the series Emma and AJ Get to Work, hosted The Bridge and competed in The Great Celebrity Bake Off for Stand Up to Cancer. In 2023 she was one of the hosts of Comic Relief's Red Nose Night in 2023.
