A couple who reduced Kevin McCloud to tears on a recent episode of Grand Designs has spoken out.
The couple appeared in what viewers have since called the ‘saddest episode ever’ of the hit renovation show.
In the episode, aired on 16 October, Tony Searby, 65, admitted he would never have started work on the ambitious project if he had known the impact it would have on wife Ara’s health.
Building a house ‘dedicated to wellness’ had conversely ruined the couple’s health and Kevin was left emotional after hearing Ara had been diagnosed with cancer during the build.
Speaking to The MailOnline following the show, Tony said he couldn’t help but question the toll the £1m self-build project had taken on Ara.
He said: ‘The way things have worked out specifically around Ara’s health and wellbeing does create a level of questioning.”
‘If I had known what would happen to Ara’s health maybe I wouldn’t do it over again.”
“The whole irony was how the house was being built for wellness but there was the negative impact it was having on Ara.”
The episode followed the couple as they decided to knock down Tony’s late parents’ house near Henley-on-Thames to develop their new ‘forever’ home.
The aim was to create a wellness space for Ara who suffers with an autoimmune condition.
The aim was to create an eco-friendly home that the couple said would: “Draw inspiration from the healing power of nature,” after admitting her condition meant she needed: “A tranquil and peaceful place to heal”.
As a result the couple planned a six-bedroom, two-storey ‘horseshoe-shaped’ home.
Large windows looked out at the surrounding woodland while they told how high tech features, including state-of-the-art biodynamic lighting that changed colour: “Would reflect the shift of daylight to help preserve the body’s natural circadian rhythm”.
Once completed, the long-term aim was to run wellbeing programmes and retreats at the space.
The build was fraught with drama, however, as Tony fell from a trolley, fracturing his tailbone, and was rushed to hospital.
A month later after he was able to return to work, Ara revealed she had been diagnosed with cancer.
During the show Ara is seen telling Kevin: “I went to have a lump investigated that had been there for some time, but was getting bigger. I was told straight away that it was a cancer.”
She continued: “It really forces you to look at what’s really important in life and I really just have to do the best I can to take care of myself and try and step back.”
“I think it’s really necessary for me to put it to one side.”
Since the show aired Tony has praised his wife for helping him with the ambitious plans: “I wouldn’t have been able to do it all by myself. Before Ara became unwell she gave me a lot of help.”
The project, which started in 2019 is yet to be fully completed, with Tony saying: “Knowing what I knew at the time it felt the right thing to do.”
“All the indicators that I got at that point all fell in place to say this is the project that should be done.”
‘With hindsight I’m not so sure, but you can never turn the clock back in life. Life is what it is.”
“With any project you have things you can look at with a level of satisfaction, achievement and pride, but you have other things that you look at and think if I had my time all over again I would have done it differently. That’s life.”
Ara added: “I think it’s quite awesome what Tony has achieved. It’s a lovely space. My main focus is to be as happy as I can because I think being happy helps your immunity. It helps healing in every way.”
