Hit BBC series forced to tighten security after die-hard fans crashed set
BBC’s hit series The Repair Shop has been forced to tighten security after die-hard fans crashed set to get a look behind the barn doors.
The popular BBC One show is filmed in a barn which is “surrounded by fields,” which made it easier for passers-by to gain entry to the set. Some fans even interrupted filming before a security guard was hired for the show.
The Repair Shop is hosted by Jay Blades, alongside a team of experts, including Sonnaz Nooranvary. In a recent interview, Sonnaz, who is The Repair Shop’s resident upholsterer, revealed that the BBC show had pretty lax security prior to the Covid-19 pandemic – and, as a result, some fans were getting a bit too close to the set.
The show now has full-time security on site, but Sonnaz recalled an incident before that was the case where eager fans burst onto set in the middle of filming and asks for a tour.
With no security, it was down to Jay, 53, and his team to tell them to leave.
“I remember years ago when we didn’t have a security guy, [the show] wasn’t really as big, this was before lockdown,” Sonnaz recalled to Express.
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She continued: “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.’”
The much-loved programme is filmed at The Weald and Downland Living Museum in Court Barn.
Alongside the introduction of a security guard to their filming location, there is reduced access to the surrounding areas, which includes a few large fields as seen in the show.
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Sonnaz said there were other times where passers-by had accidentally wandered in.
“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.”
People taking pictures of items still to be revealed on the show was a particular concern.
Sonnaz has been a regular fixture on The Repair Shop since it launched in 2017. Alongside her work on the show, the upholsterer has been working hard behind the scenes and is planning to launch her own eco-friendly furniture company House of Sonnaz in 2024.
Additionally, she is also writing her own book, which will detail DIY projects that can be done around the home.
