BBC‘s The Repair Shop have employed an on-site security guard after fans were caught getting too close during filming.
Speaking to Express.co.uk, the show’s upholsterer Sonnaz Nooranvary detailed a time she and the team were on set when an overly eager fan made their way onto the set with no warning.
Having no security at the time, Jay Blade‘s co-star said the team had to inform the person they had to leave.
She explained: “I remember years ago when we didn’t have a security guy, [the show] wasn’t really as big, this was before lockdown.
“I think we were on lunch or something and me and a few others were sort of at the front of the barn, and somebody walked straight up to us.
“And they were like, ‘Hi, we would like to look in the barn’ and we were like, ‘No that can’t happen, we’re actually filming at the moment’.”
She added the show has since employed a security guard who ensures fans are kept at a precise distance away, mostly to prevent them from taking pictures of items yet to be aired.
The much-loved programme is filmed at The Weald and Downland Living Museum in Court Barn.
Due to the open space, Sonnaz said there had been times when people had wandered in by accident.
She added: “I mean mistake is questionable, but that actually genuinely has happened as there are a couple of fields nearby that people can walk through, but they can’t walk through there anymore.
“There’s a very small fence and then a rope across a pathway to stop people from coming in.”
Sonnaz went on to say she understood why fans were so keen to visit, due to the show’s ever-growing popularity.
Highlights on the programme so far this year have included visits from King Charles and Dame Judi Dench.
While Sonnaz was “gutted” to miss the episode with the monarch, she very much enjoyed meeting “down to earth” Judi and hopes more big names come forward to visit.
As well as more episodes in the pipeline, the upholsterer is preparing to launch her own company House of Sonnaz in 2024, an eco-friendly furniture and home furnishings range.
The business will design and supply home furnishings and furniture with the aim to becoming the first interior lifestyle brand to innovate with the use of bamboo frames, economical design and a ‘buy back’ scheme.
Sonnaz is also writing her first book, which will feature up to 25 DIY projects for the home. She is also in the process of fronting her own show with a title currently in the works.
Express.co.uk has contacted a representative for the BBC for comment.
The Repair Shop continues today at 4.30pm on BBC One.
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