Laurence Llewelyn-Bowen hits back at critics who blast his unconventional living situation and reveals the secret to his four-decade marriage with wife Jackie

Laurence Llewelyn-Bowen has hit back at critics who think his unconventional living situation is ‘strange’.

The interior designer, 60, lives with his wife Jackie, their two grown-up daughters, Hermione, 26, and Cecile, 29, and their husbands Dan and Drew – as well as their four grandchildren, Albion, 8, Demelza, 3, Romily, 1, and Eleanora, 18 months.

Laurence set tongues wagging when he first announced the unusual arrangement that the family would be living all under one roof at his six bedroom Cotswolds manor house.

In an exclusive interview with Daily Mail, Laurence delighted in speaking about his tight family unit and hit back at haters who disagree with the idea.

He said: ‘I still think a lot of people think it is a bit strange. But actually, it is a very kind of straightforward and instinctive way of a family being together. 

‘It’s a very, very odd idea that came out of the 20th century, this idea of of children leaving the home. Actually, traditionally, you stayed if you all worked on the farm together or you worked in the shop together, so in a funny sort of way, we just kind of reviving that, but it made great sense for us. 

‘You know, we live in a big house. It was very much just me and Jackie. Why do we not then bring the children and their children in with us?’ 

Speaking about how the family deal with being in each other’s company every day, Laurence added: ‘There are moments where you’ve got to work quite hard.

‘But I think that happens in any family, but we confront it and get on with them.’

Amid the madness of his busy household, Laurence still manages to keep the spark alive with his wife Jackie.

The smitten couple, who have been together for over four decades, celebrated 35 years of marriage this year. 

He said: ‘In January, we will basically been together for 41 years. So, I mean, that is that’s a big chunk of lifetime. 

‘We was very good at making a commitment, and, you know, in those 41 years, there have been moments where we’ve had to work very hard to make sure that we, you know, we were still getting on, that we weren’t still sparkling off each other. 

‘And I think that’s something that some people are quite quick to give in about.’

The designer continued: ‘You do have to find positives. It’s not a Disney movie. You do wake up in the morning and you do feel grumpy. You do kind of like have moments where, you know, things p*** you off. 

‘I’m quite a kind of tolerant person. That’s cool. That works really well. I’m quite laid back. There are times when Jackie is very energised, but, I mean, after 41 years together, you know the ins and the outs. You know the kind of warning signs.’

Laurence is gearing up for another exciting release of his property series, House Of The Year alongside judges Jane Larmour, James Fairley and Patricia McGinnis.

House Of The Year returns to BBC iPlayer and BBC One Northern Ireland with the first five episodes available to watch from Monday 5 January. 

In each episode, three new homes will compete for one of five places in the grand final where they could be crowned – House Of The Year.

The grand final will broadcast February 9.

Laurence said: ‘I am very proud of House Of The Year and was involved in the first iteration back in 2010 and it was, and still is, a brilliant way of showcasing a kind of aspirational vision of the housing landscape in Northern Ireland.

‘What I love about coming back to it now, is the fact there is such an immense ramp up in terms of individuality, personality and creativity. I think people no longer feel they must do things in a ‘grown-up’ way.

‘People are letting their ‘freak flag’ fly and are doing things their own way!’